Page 70 of Wolf's Gambit

Cedarwood and nutmeg.

How dare he smell like that. Opening my eyes, I found him in the darkness. I couldn’t see him clearly, but I knew where he stood.

“Cannon, you dirty bastard. What the fuck did you do to me?”

“You’re finally awake,” he drawled, walking forward. He wore the same jeans as before, his feet were still bare, but a long-sleeved T-shirt covered him. I had a fleeting pang of disappointment he was no longer shirtless until I remembered he had purposefully seduced me.

Sitting up, I swung my legs over the cot’s edge, pausing when I saw the fresh sheet on it. I was in another pair of sweatpants and a white tank.

“Who dressed me?” I demanded as I stood.

“You’re complaining that we put clothes on you?”

The sly smirk on his face made me want to punch him. Repeatedly.

“I hate you, you know that, right?” Pushing myself off the cot, I didn’t expect my legs to feel weak, and as I tried to catch myself from swaying, I overcompensated, causing myself to stagger instead.

“With your heat gone, I thought you’d be over wanting to fall at my feet,” he taunted, and my look of anger was met with one of amusement.

“You tricked me,” I bit out. Smoothing my hands over my hair, ignoring my momentary panic about what it looked like, I met his stare with a calm coolness I wish I’d woken up with.

“Did I?” He relaxed his stance. For him, that was legs wide apart, arms crossed, and shoulders dropped, free of tension. To anyone else, he looked like he was standing at attention, but I knew he was at ease.

How did I know that? Maybe my wolf did, but when I checked in with her, she was asleep, probably overstuffed from all that deer meat. Hog. An eyelid opened, and she fixed me with an amber eye before closing it again.

You’re still a hog.

“Pup?”

My attention snapped back to Cannon, my eyes already narrowing in a glare. “Don’t call me that.” Looking down at my clothes again, I tugged the hem of my shirt. “Whose is this?”

“Pack.”

“Did you trick her out of her clothes too?”

A lazy grin appeared. “You sound jealous, pup.”

“In your dreams.” We stared at each other as I struggled to control my body’s reaction to him. “So?” I avoided looking at him, my attention on anything but him. “Did you get what you wanted?” I crossed my arms over my chest, mirroring his pose, and hastily adjusted my stance, my arms dropping to my sides. “I shifted, I’m back, all is good. Can I get out now?”

“No.”

I kept my focus on his bare feet. Why were his feet bare? Why did I think he looked sexy with jeans, a T-shirt, and bare feet? Feet had never interested me before.

“Do my feet interest you that much?” I could hear his laughter, and what’s worse, I could feel my wolf snuffle with laughter too.

“I need answers,” I opted to change the subject. “You tricked me, you used me, and you did it in a shitty way.”

“Again, with the tricking accusation? How did I trick you, pup?” He moved closer to the cell, and I knew I couldn’t look at him. “Tell me.”

“You know you did, I know you did, so just tell me why.”

“I kissed you.” He was closer. “You kissed me. There was no trick.” He was now in front of the cage. “I can come in there and demonstrate how quick you are to kiss me, pup.”

I jerked my head up to see his cocky smirk. “Stay away from me.” With as much dignity as I could muster, I gave him my back as I went to the cot and sat.

With me sitting and Cannon so tall, he towered over me. That had not been my intent, but now I was committed to sitting, and standing would only amuse him.

“You said I was scared to shift,” I spoke reasonably. Calmly. “I shifted. You fed my wolf, and I’m human again. Now you see I’m in control. Let me out.”

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