Page 22 of What a Wolf's Heart Decides

“Where’s that? In Elder Lake?”

He glanced at her. “Everything is in Elder Lake.”

“Is the bed and breakfast near pack headquarters?”

The passenger seat belt alarm started dinging. Before he could say anything, she cursed under her breath and pulled her belt across her body.

They reached the fence around the airfield, and he took a left onto the dirt road that led into town. The SUV hit a rut and dipped. Fire shot down his thigh into his knee. He grimaced and tightened his grip on the wheel.

“Do you hurt?” Haley asked.

“No.”

Her voice softened. “Now who’s lying?”

Dammit, he didn’t need her poking her nose into his business. He steered the car around another rut.

Her stare had a weight to it. He couldn’t see her—not without turning his head—but damn if he couldn’t feel her. Waiting. Watching. Probably wondering why he didn’t speak.

Well, she could keep right on wondering. He didn’t owe her his life story, and he certainly didn’t care to hear hers. As soon as he figured out what the hell the Ruperts were up to, he was sticking her on a plane and sending her right back to New York.

She sighed. Fabric rustled, which probably meant she’d settled in her seat. “Do your Hunters live at the pack headquarters?”

“No.”

Ah, she was staring again. The weight pressed against his bad side. An edge entered her voice, and she pronounced her next words carefully, like she was speaking through gritted teeth. “Where do they live?”

Now he turned his head enough to catch her eye. “I don’t have Hunters.”

The blue gaze widened. “Every territory has Hunters.”

He faced forward.

“But . . . who helps you? Protects you? Who watches over your borders and your family?”

The lights from the airfield faded, and he switched on his high beams. “I don’t have a family, Miss Michaels. And I need neither help nor protection.”

“But—”

“We don’t have Hunters in the Washington Territory. End of discussion.”

The weight grew heavier. “If you don’t have Hunters, then who lives at the pack headquarters?”

Dammit, she was a nosy female. No wonder Simard had sent her packing. “I do.”

“With your Beta?”

“No.”

“Where does he live?”

He bit back a sigh. “I don’t have a Beta.” He was also starting to seriously regret promising not to kill her.

She sucked in a breath. “But—”

“Enough buts.”

“But—”

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