Romano shrugged at Arturo’s questioning gaze. “I may have claimed Kalinda, and she won’t be very happy with it.”
“You are not your mother, Romano. You never have been. Get your mate underhand; that’s all it takes.”
Yeah, it was going to be that easy. Sure. Arturo left, and with him, Dominic, Zoey, and Giuliana. Until the next morning, the leaders had nothing else to do but coordinate their men. And Dominic made it plain that Romano’s job was Kalinda for now.
Despite what Arturo said, Romano couldn’t help but wonder. Sure, circumstances were different than when his mother was claimed by his father, and Born Wolves went by older laws at times than Made Wolves. But a wolf was a wolf, and they claimed when their wolf told them.
Romano understood and had been around magekind long enough to know they didn’t understand wolves completely. Most of them feared the shifters, which was why no-shift had been created in the first place. The idea shifters went around just biting and changing everyone was a perpetuated fear. He wasn’t certain where it had come from either. When wolves got rowdy at an event where mages were in attendance, most accidental bites weren’t mate bites and didn’t lead to automatic shifting.
But the fear was enough to send the masses running.
He could understand Kalinda. She’d been through enough upheaval in just the last few weeks. Adding the possibility of becoming a wolf and now having a mate would only add another layer to her world she viewed as full of shit.
Romano sighed. Yeah, having a mate was going to be the easiest thing in the world for her to fight against when death-by-Council, her new Level-9 power, and her position on the Council wasn’t really much of a choice. And he’d just taken another choice away from a woman who loved freedom.
Not the best start to their mating.
Chapter Ten
Her head was pounding, and she was not in Kansas anymore. She recognized the room she was in, at least. Always a silver lining, Kalinda. Just focus on that. But she was really over waking up like this. Granted, this time she had much more pleasant company to look at, but she was pissed.
No. Pissed was an understatement.
Wrathful? Oh, that was good.
Seething? That might be a bit better.
Explosive? Got it in one!
Romano must have sensed it because his nostrils flared out, scenting the air, and grew still. “Kalinda …”
“My neck hurts, Romano. Care to tell me what that means?”
She knew, of course. She remembered how Zoey said she’d felt after she’d been bitten and favored her backside, of all places, for quite some time. And she’d had the no-shift potion within a short period to make sure she didn’t turn wolfy. Kalinda had provided it at great expense to help her friend, of course, and now she found herself in the same predicament.
The fact she was in his bedroom without the potion already … in … her … hand told her she may have more than a little to deal with.
Romano sighed before rubbing his hand down his face. “You already know.”
Nope. Not going to run from this. Not even a little bit. She was done taking everyone else’s shit. She didn’t choose any of this, and no one cared about her choice at every step.
“You mated me.”
He nodded, and that sent her flying off the ledge directly into the deep end of molten lava. Everything burned. Acrid air met her nose, and heat pulsed off her scalp. Kalinda’s skin was tight, pulling until it itched, and she clenched her teeth.
Yeah, he was sooooo dead.
“Did you even once think of how I’d feel?”
Romano ran rough hands through his hair, dislodging the dark strands across his forehead. “It’s all I thought about, Kalinda. Did I know you’d be angry?” She snorted. “Yes. Did I know I’d have a mate who wasn’t any more interested in being in my bed than having a root canal? Yeah, I knew that too. And I still did it to save her life.”
Okay, to be fair, she didn’t know what had happened when she was out in the crazy sphere, but still …
“Was there no other way? I mean, come on, how long have you been angling to get me in bed?”
Romano’s eyes flashed and he seemed, she couldn’t quite put a word to it … bigger? His shoulders were thrust back, his jaw jutted furiously, and his fists clenched at his side.
“If all I wanted was you in bed, I would have said so. If all I wanted was to make you come so many times you couldn’t see straight and couldn’t think unless it was about me, or for you to carry the taste of my possession for the rest of your life, I would have said that too.”
