Page 18 of Claiming Claire

CHAPTER 9

JACE

She’s a traitor.

She’ll be no good for the pack.

She’s probably funneling Blackwell private information as we speak.

She’s beautiful.

She smells so divine, like sunshine and temptation.

One more kiss won’t hurt.

My thoughts waged war inside of me, both pushing me away and pulling me closer. I wanted distance to remind myself that she was bad news, but I also couldn’t help but lean into her body and smell the temptation of her skin. I could sense the change in her body, my wolf whining with his need to be close to his mate, wanting to breed with her when the time came. I wasn’t really sure if that was what I wanted anymore. If I couldn’t trust her in my home, how could I trust her with my pups?

She hasn’t even given you a reason to doubt.

Which was technically correct, but I needed to keep my guard up. Even now, as I watched all my pack shift back to human form, a pack run in celebration of our mating, I couldn’t help but watch her. I wanted her, and I hated to want her. Jealousy at what my other mates had with her only fueled my anger, adding to my internal rage.

Gabriel picked her naked form up, carrying her in a bridal hold like she weighed nothing, and she squealed, then buried her nose in his neck and rubbed her body against him. I growled.

That should be me.

It could be me, a voice deep down argued.

Fuck, I wish she wasn’t so damn sweet, even when she was pushing my buttons, comparing me to a damn pussy cat, I wanted to fuck her. I could distance myself without being outright rude, couldn’t I? Show her who the boss was while still being her actual mate?

Deep down, I knew I couldn’t resist the pull, my wolf wouldn’t let me. Hell, even now, my feet were pulling in the direction of the mates, following Gabriel as he walked toward the house. I thought about stopping, but the thought made my wolf agitated. He clawed painfully at my insides until he was sure I wouldn’t turn back.

I took the stairs two at a time, but when I made it to our bedroom, the one room I’d successfully ignored for the better part of a week, I hesitated. Would they even want me there? They all seemed to have bonded flawlessly. So flawlessly, that the man in me doubted there was room for me, even as my wolf refused to care.

I took the metal knob in my hand, turning it slowly before pushing the door open. All my mates were there, and although I wanted to feel jealous of the time they were getting with her, somehow, the sight made my heart feel full. Satisfaction at them all together, pleasing our woman, coursed through me. I growled, causing the room to still as all heads turned to me.

With all eyes on me, my back stiffened, my senses on alert. I licked my suddenly dry lips, “I . . .” I took in a deep breath, “Can I be here?”

The men’s eyes turned to Claire, watching her as she rolled onto her knees, a position I would die to take her in, and crawled across the soft fabric of the blanket before she stepped off the bed. She stalked across the carpet, the predator in her both causing a stir of desire and fear. When she reached me, she stopped, her eyes focusing on me intently, causing me, the alpha, to fidget in place. Then, she reached up, her fingers wrapped around the hair at the nape of my neck as she pulled my head down, kissing me roughly before backing us into the bedroom.

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