Page 5 of The Broken Wolf's Redemption

He’d always reacted to Seren, ever since that first time she’d taken needles to his skin and inked him. He’d kept that a carefully guarded secret, even to himself. After all this time, he should have been used to her, but the first sight of her, never failed to mentally knock him on his ass. She was one of those offhanded beauties that most people wouldn’t appreciate. Style? Sure. She liked to stand out. People probably loved that or hated it. Heavily tattooed, long pink hair, tall but wispy, striking blue eyes, and the bones of a goddess. The goth outfits were more of a distraction than anything else. If attention was drawn there, then no one was trying to figure out just whatwas so different about her.

Wolf vibes. That’s what was different. Shifter otherness. Humans so often got a shiver when they encountered it, but they had yet to figure out why.

Seren put a hand up to her face and saluted him. “Here as demanded, sir. What sick and depraved things would have you have me do, commander?”

He hadn’t expected her to lay down and let him stomp all over her. Seren wasn’t the kind of woman used to being a doormat. She didn’t tolerate it in her customers. She’d thrown more than one prick out of her shop, and that was while he’d been there to witness it.

He knew she was divorced because she’d mentioned it in passing, and once, he’d heard her talking to her mother on the phone. She’d literally said, “No, Mother, I can’t right now. I’m at work. Yes, it is work, even if you think it’s all nonsense. I’ll call you later. I love you.” She’d hung up with no I love you too forthcoming. The conversation lasted only a few seconds, but it had been telling. She could stand up for herself, even when it came to parental disapproval.

Of course, he knew much more about her after he’d come into his money and had hired someone to give him every detail he craved.

Seren had spirit and she had spine. She was beautiful, but she was also wildly intelligent and talented to the point of disgustingly so. She was a wolf through and through, which meant she had her pride.

It appeared now as she tilted her chin up when she dropped her hand, blue eyes blazing like melted sapphires.

Let Mixy imitate that exact shade. I bet he’d fail. First time for everything.

The thought of someone else looking Seren in the eye, studying her, appreciating her beauty, wanting her,made Rome feel crazy enough to stalk back into the garage and tear sheet metal off the car parked in there with his bare hands.

That. That was the reason Seren was here.

She was capable of doing the impossible.

He’d walked into her shop for pain and instead found her. It had to be her. He’d known it from the start. He’d had no idea how far he’d take it. How far he still might take it.

Not as a mate. Not even as a potential mate. That was so far off the table there was no goddamn table.

“General?” She narrowed her eyes, but he could tell it was all bravado. She wasn’t trembling on the outside, but he scented the undercurrent of her fear, sharpened only by the strong, pungent tang of disgust. She hated him for forcing her to do this. As a wolf, mostly, but as a human too. “General seems more apt. A Roman one, given your name. You’re like that. A conqueror. You came to invade. You take what you want. You force your own empire.”

She had no idea. No idea what he’d done, no idea of the depth of his darkness.

“Remember,” she hissed, staring at him like he’d just found a pool of liquid shit and rolled in it. Her nose crinkled and her lips curled up ferally. She was so beautiful that his heart gave an angry kick that nearly crushed his ribs and did a number on his lungs. “The Roman Empire eventually fell.”

He walked past her and locked the door, banging the lock in as abruptly and violently as he could. The sound was enormously satisfying, echoing through the empty space. He watched Seren start, watched it rattle through her with a new finality.

She was here. She was going to do this.

Submit. One wolf to another.

She was sure she was going to hate it.

She was wrong. She wasn’t going to hate this. She was going to love it, and for that she’d hate herself tremendously. Honestly? He couldn’t let himself care. He had to be selfish now. He had to figure out what it was about Seren that drew him, made him feel when he’d thought that even the notion of that was impossible. He had to make her fix what was broken inside of him.

For Waverly.

There was no point to an already pointless existence if he failed Lila again.

Rome edged close to her. He knew she wouldn’t move. She’d stand her ground because the wolf in her commanded it. She didn’t falter back under his dark-eyed scrutiny. Not even when he got in her personal space, invading every inch of it, lowering his head only a breath away from her neck. He inhaled her. Wolf. Wilderness. Forests. Earth. Flowers. Mango and pears. Tropical breezes.

“Yes,” he said darkly, quietly. “The Roman Empire did eventually fall. But for centuries, they had a lot of fun conquering. Look at the mark they made on history. Look at how they shaped the world.”

Chapter 3

Seren

“You think this is shaping the world? You think this is conquering?” Seren tried to be sassy, but she felt the smallest wobble in her chin. Her nose stung and her eyes burned. She was going to cry. It was the last thing she wanted. She’d humiliate herself if she let a single tear fall. Crying was fine for anyone and everyone, but not for her. Not here, not now.

The worst part of it wasn’t the tears. It was Rome’s body so close to hers. He towered over her. He’d easily dominate her physically. He was a powerful storm, potent masculinity. He smelled good. Not like other men, who wore fancy suits and spicy colognes. He smelled like oil and work. A little bit like sweat, but beneath that, like his own scent. Alluring. Intoxicating.

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