Page 25 of Auctioned Wolf Bride

She snorted, and it turned into a giggle before becoming a full-blown laugh. She had an amazing laugh.

“God, what a crazy few days,” she said, running her hand through her hair.

“Day, actually,” I said, giving her a genuine smile now. “Pretty sure it’s only been twenty-four hours.”

I moved to sit next to her, slipping my arm around her. She leaned into it almost instinctively, as if we’d done it a hundred times before. I stroked her hair, not thinking about how much I liked her being this close to me. She really wasn’t the person I had expected.

She yawned, exhaustion consuming her, her body rising and falling as she pressed against me. I wanted nothing more but to bend down and kiss her, but I resisted the urge, forcing myself to nudge her up and toward the bedroom.

“Get some sleep,” I said. “We’ll figure out the rest of this tomorrow.”

Chapter 9 - Thea

Tannen slid a plate of pancakes in front of me. “I’m not the best cook,” he said. “But at least I didn’t burn these.”

“Thanks,” I said through a yawn. Even though I had gotten more than enough sleep the night before, exhaustion still permeated my bones, the events of the last couple days finally catching up to me. Or maybe it was because it had taken me a while to get to sleep, mostly because I couldn’t stop thinking about Tannen.

He had slept on the couch. I didn’t know why it disappointed me so much. Part of me kept hoping he would open my bedroom door at some point during the night and slip under the covers with me. I’d imagined him holding me flush against him, his hand trailing up my stomach before reaching one of my breasts, pinning me against him as he kissed my neck from behind.

I stuffed a large bite of pancake into my mouth, willing my pounding heart to slow down so I could get a grip. This was Tannen we were talking about, the guy I’d been trying to keep at arm’s length for months now.

But it felt more difficult to keep doing that. He’d listened to me when I told him we needed to save the others. Even if he hadn’t liked it, he’d agreed to let me help. He’d saved me on the auction block. Our conversation the night before between the barbs had shown me a side of him I hadn’t noticed before.

I wanted to say it was the claiming bond that had changed my perspective on him, but I wasn’t sure if that was the case. Had he really changed? I couldn’t shake his words from the wedding reception. Could I even trust him after something like that?

“How’re the pancakes?” he asked, bringing me back to reality.

“They’re good. Thanks.”

“Of course.”

A silence hung between us. Not uncomfortable, but one that seemed filled with charged tension. The longer it lasted, the stronger that charge grew. My breathing shallowed, the pancakes speared to my fork forgotten.

Tannen broke the quiet, scattering the tension to the wind. “I was going to give the Silver Wolves a call in a bit and give them an update,” he said. “Do you want to be on the call?”

I nodded. “What were you doing before the Silver Wolves?” I asked, suddenly curious. I didn’t know why I cared, but I wanted to know more about him.

He frowned, shrugging. “I focused on tech,” he said. “Programming and things like that.” He cracked a grin. “Actually, that was how I got involved in the Silver Wolves in the first place.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You can’t leave me hanging like that,” I said.

“I like leaving my women hanging,” he teased, his eyes sparkling.

It should have annoyed me, but I felt a flutter in my stomach as heat flooded my body. I tried to hide it by giving him an annoyed look that made him laugh.

“All right,” he said. “I might have hacked into some of the Wolf Council’s databases when I was a teenager.”

My mouth dropped open. “And you’re still alive?” I blurted out.

He glanced down, poking at his chest. “Looks like it,” he said, flashing another roguish grin that shouldn’t have been nearly as disarming as it was. “But it was a near-miss. Honestly, I was just fooling around. I wanted to see if I could do it. Next thing I knew, Malcolm was knocking on my door.”

Just the thought of Malcolm looming at my doorstep was enough to make me shiver. Tannen nodded, as if able to read my thoughts.

“I thought I was about to get shredded to bits then and there,” he admitted. “Except instead of sending me into an early grave, he asked me a few questions, then gave me an ultimatum.” He held up two fingers in emphasis. “Either go to jail for the rest of my life.” He dropped one finger. “Or join the Silver Wolves and work with him.” He shrugged. “Guess he was impressed with me being able to get through all the firewalls.”

“And you took the jail option, I’m guessing?” I quipped.

One side of his mouth quirked upward. “Hence the orange jumpsuit and the fact that we’re talking in a jail cell,” he fired back. “Honestly, it was a bit of a lifeline. I was kind of wandering around aimless, didn’t really know what the heck I wanted to do with my life. When he gave me the offer, it gave me a sense of purpose I hadn’t had earlier. The guy changed my life. There’s no telling where I would have ended up if he hadn’t taken a chance on me. I owe him and the Silver Wolves a lot.” He blinked, brow furrowed as if surprised. “You know, I don’t think I’ve told anyone that story before.”

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