Page 29 of Mated to the Wolves

his tongue.

Is that admiration glinting in the depths of his eyes?

“What are you going to do?” Winded, I catch my breath.

“Right now?” He arches a thick black brow. “Bring you back to complete the ritual.”

“Please.” I don’t know what I’m asking him for.

Releasing my face, he holds out his hand. I grab them and he helps me rise.

“Uncle Cadoc.” I try to appeal to his sentimentality.

“I think we’d both feel better if you drop the uncle off.” His icy eyes bore into me.

I won’t be able to sway him. He’s always been about duty first.

Peppermint, camphor, and juniper berries flood the immediate area. His pheromones flare.

“Easy, Cad.” Kirk steps forward.

Kirk places a hand on Cadoc’s shoulder. His brown skin contrasts with the pale blue tunic Cadoc

poured his bulky frame into.

Former healer for the pack, Kirk’s always had a soothing presence. His cinnamon, clove, and bitter orange aroma is warm and inviting.

He’s suffered greatly with the strange sickness that refuses to budge. When he failed to save Alpha’s wife, he stepped down and became something of a hermit.

His brown eyes are full of kindness. “The Rite has been started. There’s nothing we can do, but ride it out.”

“Please.” My lower lip trembles. Life is closing around me.

“There’s nothing I can do, Ylva.” Kirk smooths back my braids. “Let me help you through this.”

“What being owned in the eyes of the pack by four strangers?” I snarl.

Kirk grunts. “When we come together, we won’t let it be like that.” His thick black brows dip and his plush full lips curve down.

Kirk’s diamond-shaped face has a wider triangular jaw that clenches and releases. I see the battle waging in his dark eyes. “I will do everything in my power to help make this easier on you.”

A burning sensation on my wrist startles me. I look down and see the backward z that’s Eihwaz rune representing trustworthiness.

“You made an official vow to me,” I remind him.

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to bring my mate comfort. This might not have been our choice,

but we get to decide how it progresses,” Kirk says.

This is a plan I can get behind. “Okay.”

“You’ve got her. I’m going to keep the young pups from ripping each other apart,” Cadoc commands before shifting and bounding off.

How could Alpha pair me with my childhood bully? The spoiled heir has always taken great pleasure in tormenting me.

Bo never let me forget I’m lacking. Everything about him has always annoyed me, including the fact that his scent smells like a decadent candy: licorice, spiced honey, and vanilla.

How can I ever trust him enough to form a mating bond?

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