Page 27 of What a Wolf Demands

Protect. This time, the wolf put a nudge behind its message.

Dom ignored it. Rum still teased at his nose. “Sanctuary.”

She looked up. Then gave a short nod. “That’s right.”

“That won’t happen.”

She frowned. “Why not? It’s my only option.”

It was a drastic option. And a rare one. Latent or no, she had to know that. He shook his head. “That’s the sort of thing that starts wars.” He should know. Months earlier, the New York Territory had narrowly avoided one for that very reason. Sophie had showed up on their border, badly injured and in need of a safe haven. Max had granted her sanctuary. Less than twenty-four hours later, her father and ex-husband arrived at the Lodge, dozens of Hunters at their backs.

Fortunately, Remy managed to defeat her ex in one-on-one combat. Lily didn’t have a champion.

She took a deep breath. “There are fifty-nine other territories in the country. There has to be at least one that would grant me sanctuary.”

“Don’t count on it.”

Her mouth grew pinched. She stared at him a second, then said, “Thanks for your optimism.”

“It’s realism.” As unpleasant as it might be, it wouldn’t do her any favors to let her think another Alpha would take her in. Maybe if she was a pure-blood. But a latent?

“What about your Alpha?” She lifted her chin, a challenge in her eyes. “Rumor has it New York is a safe place for latents.”

And people accused his kind of being mind readers.

She held his stare. Outside, car doors slammed and people moved about, pulling luggage from trunks and back seats.

Dom barely registered the noise. As he looked into her eyes, his wolf sent a thought so clear and sharp it was like a bullet thudding into a target.

Protect this one.

In his mind, he pushed back. “Not interested.”

The wolf didn’t care. Protect.

He pushed harder. “I can’t do that.” He was both unsuitable and unqualified to protect anyone. The wolf knew that.

Protect.

“No.”

Protect.

“I won’t—”

Protect.

“No, goddammit!” He struck the steering wheel with the flat of his hand.

Lily jumped, and wariness leapt into her gaze. She put a hand on her door, as if considering making a run for it.

“Don’t,” he said. His blood was still up from his outburst, so the command came out harsher than he intended.

Her eyes darkened. “A simple ‘no’ would have sufficed. There’s no need to shout at me.”

He dragged in a breath. Then another. Finally, he managed to grate out, “I’m sorry.”

Two apologies in less than an hour. Remy was going to love hearing about this.

---