“I’m aware. Neither of you tried to hide it, and his scent is all over you. In you, as well, I suspect,” Greg said with a sneer he regretted the moment it left his mouth.
He didn’t regret it just because it wasn’t fair or kind, but Adriana packed a wallop when her palm connected with his face.
“Would you rather I snuck around and led you to believe you were the only one who could help little ole me?” she simpered the last bit.
“Of course not.”
“Good, because I won’t. This isn’t going to be easy. Of all of this, I suspect Decker will have the most difficult time with it.”
“Decker? Why Decker? He’s already been intimate with you.”
“Intimate? Is that a medical term you doctors like to use? Decker and I fucked in Colby’s office on Colby’s desk.”
“With Colby in the room?” asked Greg.
This time she didn’t slap his face, she chucked him upside the head. “Don’t be daft. I may be involved in some kind of weird menage thing, but I’m not into exhibitionism.”
Greg shook his head. “Yeah. You’re right, at least about whatever this thing is that we all seem to be involved with. I’m not sure I agree about Decker having it harder than me.”
“Trust me, he was plenty hard.”
Greg looked up to see her grinning at him. “Brat,” he chuckled.
“Look, Decker is an alpha, a warrior, the captain of the freaking guard. Alphas are not known for the ability to share well with others.”
“Perhaps Decker doesn’t think he’ll have to share…”
“I don’t think so. I think he felt my connection to you, and I was pretty clear about my vision. Eoghan is coming for me. And whether Decker likes it or not, we’re going to need to work together to defeat him.”
“Did you sense anything different about Eoghan when you were with him?”
“No, but then I never saw him shift, which I thought was odd. There is a legend about a race of wolves larger, faster, and stronger than most species, and yet not the size of the dire wolves. I have to tell you, in my vision you were about the size of most male wolves I’ve seen; Decker was slightly larger, but Eoghan was larger still. And this wound isn’t healing properly.”
Greg brushed her hair aside and peered at it, her skin warm against his fingertips. “Maybe it’s deeper, or the virus it inflicts more toxic.” He turned back to the cupboard and pulled out a small scalpel and sample container. “I’m going to take a little scraping…”
“I am not your science experiment. I don’t like needles or anything with a sharp edge to cut something off me.”
“You are not my experiment, but even you admit this isn’t normal. The blade is sharp enough that if you feel it at all, it will just be a little prick.” Before she could object again, he’d sterilized the wound and taken what he needed. He pressed a sterile bandage against it to stop the bleeding. “That wasn’t too bad, was it?”
“No, but I don’t appreciate you doing that without my permission.”
Greg laughed. “Sweetheart, you have a lot to learn about being a she-wolf. Asking permission isn’t big with male wolves.”
“Best keep in mind I was a witch long before I was a she-wolf.”
“True enough, but as I recall, the so-called fatal flaw of your coven was that you couldn’t use your magic to harm your mate. My guess is that is why you didn’t try and turn it on Eoghan, but I’d be willing to bet, you’d be able to if you really needed to.”
“You’re probably right about that. Can you and I just agree that you are not going to be the pain-in-my-ass mate? Decker is going to be bad enough. And could you ask me before you do things?”
He caressed her cheek. “I knew it needed to be done and was afraid that if you knew I was going to do it, even if it didn’t hurt, you’d tighten up or jerk away in anticipation and then it would have. How about I will try to be the reasonable mate?”
“Thanks. I would really appreciate it. Right now, I feel like the pawn on a chessboard. Everybody’s just moving me around, and I have nothing to say about it. I’m expendable.”
“Nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, you’re more like the queen, which is the most powerful piece on the board. She is iconic in most board games and combines the moves of the rook and the bishop. Decker and I are merely your supporting pieces. Eoghan knows that; it’s why he won’t give up on trying to retake you.”
“I don’t want this. I don’t want any of this. I didn’t ask for any of it.”
Not only could he hear the stress in her voice, but he could feel it coming down the tether between them. As weak as the bonding link was at this point, the fact that he could feel her emotions was an indicator of the bond they would have in the future. If she was right, and he believed she was, Decker was going to have to eradicate Eoghan’s mark if they were to have any hope of freeing her from his influence.