Page 8 of Dutiful Wolf's Mail Order Mate

A wash of embarrassment swept over me, shame coloring my cheeks. I grabbed a pillow from the bed and hugged it in front of my nakedness. “Is that not what males want?”

“I don’t. I do. Fuck.” Rafe scrubbed a hand down his face. “This isn’t what your first time should be. You should be with someone who?—”

He cut himself off with a growl and twisted away.

“Didn’t pick them out of a pile?” I asked, trying to force levity into my tone.

Rafe looked over his shoulder, and his expression stopped me dead in my tracks. There was raw hunger there, yes, but also sadness and a deep-rooted guilt.

I didn’t know what to make of it, and I didn’t have a chance to figure it out. He strode for the door, pausing with his hand on the knob.

“I have to go,” he said tightly. “But I’ll send Tara. She’ll see you’re properly settled in and answer any questions you might have. And tomorrow, we can... talk. Figure this out.”

I stood in silence as he closed the door behind him, too stunned to react.

CHAPTER FOUR

RAFE

My thoughts spun as fast and destructive as a tornado as I stalked away from the pack house, screen door banging closed behind me. Madison’s scent lingered in my nose, on my skin and clothes. Night blooming flowers and sea spray, earthy and intoxicating and seemingly made specifically to tease. I was drunk on her, my wolf snarling to go back and claim her, mark her as mine.

Desire and disgust warred in my chest. How could I lose control like that? Over a woman I’d just met.

Mate.

Possessive growls grew louder with every step I took away from the house.

From Madison.

My inner beast wanted out, wanted me to act no better than an animal. The vise around my chest constricted tighter as I imagined her breathy moans, head kicking back as I eased into her for the first time. She’d never know the touch of another male. Only me.

Only the fucker who got handsy as hell the moment she bared some ankle. Real class act.

I was the alpha. I needed stability, order. Not the instinctual chaos clawing at my control.

“That was fast.”

Elise’s snarky tone pulled me up short. I slowed to a halt, hands clenching tight as I turned to face her. “Don’t test me.”

Tara, seated next to her, flinched and dropped her eyes. That usually begged my wolf for calm and understanding, but his focus rested entirely on Elise and whatever bullshit she’d spew next.

She arched a perfect brow, lips curled in that infuriating smirk. “Or what? You’ll go feral on me like you did with your little mate? I can stand whatever you throw at me, Quickdraw.”

“Don’t.” The word tore from my throat, the growl echoing in my chest. My control already hung by a fraying thread, and if Elise pushed me much further, I’d snap. “You forget yourself.”

“Do I?” She stood, hands on her hips. “You’re the one thinking with your cock instead of your head.”

“Elise...” Tara’s soft plea went unheeded.

My nostrils flared as I caught two new scents mingling with the mountain air. The first grounded me, pulling me back from the snarling in my head.

The second set me back on edge with the swirling questions that remained after Madison booted him from her room.

Orion sauntered back from the garage, with Kai right on his heels. Kai’s eyes flitted over our tense stand-off, his expression carefully neutral, but anyone who knew to look could see the tidbit of gossip already forming behind his guarded look.

“No, Rafe needs to hear this,” Elise said. Loudly, and with a look to make sure the new arrivals heard. “Bringing in some random woman, making her your mate? Have you lost your mind?”

My jaw clenched so hard my teeth ached. “I’m doing what needs to be done for this pack.”

---