Page 18 of Wicked Wolf

“Sorry, I was just thinking. What’s going on?” he asked. There. That was civil.

She tilted her head and stared at him. There was something different about her today, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He also didn’t know why he cared about that. He’d work with her because he had to then go back to the den and ignore her. It was the best way for both of them.

“My Alpha just called. He needs Parker for something right away, so he won’t be here, and Farah’s son got hurt on the playground because he was trying to climb high in the trees. So it will just be me in the meeting. Do you want to reschedule?”

He narrowed his eyes. “So the Redwoods are getting out of their responsibilities so quickly?”

Gina growled. “Fuck you, Quinn. Parker was needed by his Alpha. That trumps us. And hello...Farah’s pup is hurt. That trumps us as well. Get over it. I’m here.”

He immediately felt like an ass. “The pup okay?”

Her face softened marginally. “Yes. He broke his arm, so he’s going to shift to try to fix it. Hannah will be there just in case. When they’re young, they don’t like using Healing all the time just in case shifting can help. That way they learn to use their wolf rather than rely on outside sources.”

“I know. My son is five, and we try to make him shift when he’s hurt.” He didn’t know why he mentioned Jesse, but it had just slipped out.

Gina looked as though he’d slapped her, and she swayed on her feet. He quickly reached out and gripped her elbow. He sucked in a breath at the heat of her skin. His wolf rubbed along their touch, panting for more.

“What’s wrong?”

She shook her head then moved from his touch. His wolf whimpered. “I…I didn’t know you were mated.”

He frowned at her reaction, but he understood her unasked question. Wolves couldn’t have children unless they created a mating bond. Sometimes, if people married and loved each other enough, over time, a bond would form with the humans first and the wolves would eventually follow. That was the only way for them to have children.

“I’m not mated.” His words were clipped, and he didn’t elaborate.

Confusion covered her face, but she didn’t ask why. She’d think that Helena had died, and, in every sense of the word, she had for him. If Gina hadn’t heard the story of Helena’s betrayal, he wasn’t going to enlighten her.

Gina licked her lips then shook her head. “What do you want to do about the meeting?”

Glad she had changed the subject, he took out his phone. “I’ll tell Lorenzo and Kimberly not to come. The two of us are early, so they probably haven’t left yet.”

She nodded but didn’t leave his side as he messaged the others.

“When do you want the next meeting?” he asked. He needed to get out of her presence or he’d do something horrific, like let his wolf have what it wanted.

“In a couple days should work, but let me get back to you on that.”

He nodded then had started to turn away when she gripped his arm. He held back his snarl and looked down at her pale hand on his darker skin.

“What?”

“Since we’re both here, how about we start on the cooperation for the Pack?”

He frowned and pulled from her touch. “What do you mean?”

She shifted from foot to foot, and he frowned. The two other times he’d met her she’d been self-assured and not so fidgety. Something had happened between the last time and now, but he had no idea what. Nor was he sure he wanted to know in the first place.

“How about you and I go on a perimeter run and then end up at the Talon den?”

He widened his eyes. “Seriously?”

She nodded. “Yes. Those two things were on top of our list to begin with, and since we’re the leaders of the council, it makes sense that we’d do a trial run. I’m not saying we become friends and have me stay the night or anything.” She blushed, and he blinked. Wherever her thoughts had gone, she hadn’t meant for them to.

He knew he should say no and wait to do something along those lines later, but for some reason, he didn’t want to. It was a damned good idea, and he had a feeling that if they’d had the meeting today, they’d have ended up doing this exact thing anyway. He and Gina had to be the first people to try out cooperating. They were in the leadership roles, and if they couldn’t get along with one another, they weren’t doing their jobs.

The fact that he knew he’d been an asshole with her didn’t sit well with him, but he needed to keep acting like one. If he didn’t, he’d let his wolf have control and do something stupid—like pull her closer so he could inhale her sweet scent.

He didn’t trust her, he told himself.