Page 86 of What a Wolf Demands

“Fine,” he told his wolf. “I definitely needed the push.”

The beast sent a vague impression of irritation.

“Okay, okay. You were right. I was wrong.”

The irritation faded a little, but it was still there.

Dom suppressed a sigh. “I was stupid and stubborn. Thank you for pushing me to protect Lily. She’s . . . everything to me.”

Now the wolf settled, its attitude satisfied. Content.

“Beta?”

Dom looked up. The Mississippi wolves were staring at him like he’d lost his mind.

They weren’t wrong. Wasn’t loving someone always a little like losing your mind?

Still, he had his reputation to consider. He glowered at them. “What.”

The bigger one shifted his feet. “Is everything okay? You were just, um . . .”

“Standing there,” the shorter one said. “Like you were lost in thought.”

Yeah, well, he’d been having an epiphany. It wasn’t every day you realized you were the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet. The thought filled him with a rush of unexpected joy, the feeling so powerful he couldn’t help but grin.

The wolves stared. The shorter one’s jaw dropped. They looked dumbfounded, as if they never in a million years expected to see him smile.

Come to think of it, he couldn’t remember the last time he had. And it felt . . . amazing.

The joy bubbled higher, until he couldn’t contain it. “It’s a new day, gentlemen,” he heard himself say, an undeniable streak of optimism in his voice. He put a hand on the bathroom door, then gave them a wink. “Give me a minute, will you? I need to go steal a kiss.”

15

New York was a lot different than Louisiana, Lily thought as Dom drove them down a ribbon of road flanked by towering trees tossed by heavy wind.

She’d known that, of course. She was over a thousand miles from the bayou. Of course the terrain was different. But seeing a place on a map was one thing. Actually leaving the only home she’d ever known and traveling halfway across the country was quite another.

“You okay?” Dom asked, glancing at her. He looked more handsome than usual, if such a thing were possible. The change was so noticeable, she’d spent the whole morning trying to figure it out. It wasn’t his clothes, although he certainly looked good in his jeans and leather jacket. There wasn’t anything different about his hair, either. It was more subtle than that.

He glanced at her again, and she realized she was staring.

“Um, yeah,” she said, tossing him a smile. “I’m fine.”

“Tired from the flight?” He grimaced. “Humans are exhausting.”

Now she laughed. She couldn’t help it.

He gave her an amused look. “What? They are.” He focused on the road as a fresh gust of wind buffeted the car, his big hands gripping the wheel.

“Sorry.” She couldn’t control her smile. “It’s just . . . have you ever seen a cat when someone tries to put clothes on it? That’s how you looked on the plane. I thought you were going to bite someone’s arm off.”

Before he could reply, his phone buzzed on the console between their seats.

Her gaze shot to it, and her heart did a double beat. Her father had been fond of saying “no news is good news.” That sentiment hadn’t really resonated with her until now.

Dom looked at the display, then slid his thumb across the screen and put the phone to his ear. “Max.”

A deep, lightly accented voice spoke on the other end. “Thibeaux’s here.”

---