Page 14 of Dutiful Wolf's Mail Order Mate

CHAPTER SIX

RAFE

“Were you following me?”

Madison twisted around—or tried to. The iron grip I had on her upper arm hampered the outrage she clearly wanted to unleash.

“It’s a small town,” I seethed. A light shove got her trudging up the steps to the pack house. “I know the comings and goings of wolves in my territory.”

And just that, it seemed.

Tara sent a text when the siblings left our little neighborhood that morning. Elise called me on Orion’s behalf, shouting at him to watch the road with equal annoyance as telling me about a stranger hiking down Mill Road.

But the woman coating the air with the sour scent of indignation? The details were scant. Twenty-five, a member of a pack struggling to provide for its members. Surface level likes and dislikes meant to entice on a dating profile.

Mine.

I swallowed back my wolf’s possessive snarl and pictured a whole damn room lit up with caution lights and warning signs. I knew even less about the brother, and nothing but the scent of the one who’d had them both cowed in their seats.

I didn’t want to imagine the what-ifs and fuck-mes of walking into that diner five minutes later. The humans of Mill Creek were happy to continue pretending we didn’t exist. As much as I hated the immediate quieting anytime my pack walked into the few places still open, I could live with the holdover fear of Marcus’s rule and a heaping dose of not-my-business.

But they’d done nothing wrong. Any of their deaths would be another mark against me, a sign of my failure to secure my borders.

I marched Madison to my office and shut the door with a decisive click. She whirled to face me the moment I let her loose, eyes flashing as her chin hit that stubborn angle that teased out my inner beast.

“I want to know what trouble you brought to my pack.” I advanced on her, backing her up with every step. “Now.”

Her eyes flickered with surprise when she bumped against the desk, but she recovered quickly and crossed her arms over her chest. “Why? So you can hand us over to Bowen and wash your hands of the problem?”

A growl rumbled in my chest. “In case it’s escaped your notice, I don’t take kindly to threats against my pack. Or against my mate.”

“I’m not your mate,” she snapped. “I’m a business transaction. A warm body to keep your bed and bear your pups.”

The words stung, even though I’d thought the same damn thing when I filled out that application. But hearing them from her lips, laced with bitterness and disdain, ignited a fury I couldn’t tamp down.

I leaned in close, caging her between my arms. Her scent—night blooming flowers and sea spray—filled my lungs, stoking the primal need to claim her, mark her, make her mine in truth. My wolf clawed at my control, desperate to assert dominance over the female who dared to challenge me.

With a growl, I reined in the impulse and shoved away from the desk. Back stiff and fingers itching to take my frustrations out on that fucker—Bowen—I stalked to the flimsy bar cart and sloshed whiskey into two glasses. I knocked mine back with a gulp, relishing the burn and trying to find my composure.

It was still mostly missing when I poured a second serving.

“Madison.” My voice was low, controlled. I held the drink out to her, then set it at her side with a hard clink when she didn’t take it. “Answer the question.”

“I’m not sure I heard anything but demands.”

A muscle ticked in my jaw. I fought the urge to slam my fist against the desk and roar my frustration. Instead, I took a measured sip from my own glass and settled into a lean against the door.

She wasn’t the only one familiar with the dark arts of stubbornness.

Madison’s lips pressed into a thin line. For a long moment, the only sound was the ticking of the antique clock on the mantel. Then, with a huff, she sat on the edge of the desk.

“It’s Kai’s fault,” Madison muttered, picking at a loose thread on her sleeve. Her gaze darted away, fixating on the clock’s swinging pendulum. “He got involved with Shauna, the daughter of our alpha. I don’t know why; they’d hardly ever looked at each other before. He’s just... reckless at the best of times.”

She shook her head, a wry twist to her lips. I sipped my drink and waited impatiently for the rest of the story.

“Only, Shauna was promised to Bowen. An arranged mating, to keep his Black Sands pack from murdering us all in our beds.” Madison’s fingers clenched, knuckles white against the dark fabric. “When Bowen found out about Kai and Shauna, he was pissed. Raging.”

She said the words with bite, like everything else from her lips, but her scent betrayed her. Real fear and heavy worry leaked through the bitterness and anger.

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