Page 28 of Fated to the Wolf Prince

TWENTY

Kane

Istalked up the hallway to my father’s temporary corner office to tell him about my newly minted mate bond. It used to be a large storage room, but we’d cleared it out and furnished it for the great pack gathering. Otherwise, he’d have taken overmyoffice, and that wouldn’t have worked for me. He was high alpha, but I was dominant, and even for my father, I couldn’t concede my territory anymore. My wolf wouldn’t have it.

I didn’t even make it to the office, though, because his third and fourth were standing watch just outside the door, arms crossed over their chests, eyes assessing as I approached.

“I need to speak with Alpha Kosta.”

“He’s unavailable. He’s meeting at present with Alphas Jose, Dominic, and Stephan,” Andrei said, bored.

I let out a low growl, but wasn’t truly surprised. My father was a prominent male who didn’t bother coming to this side of the world often. I’m sure many of the alphas here for the gathering intended to make use of his proximity to try to garner some favor or another.

Hopefully, they weren’t all trying to pitch their daughters as a match for me. My wolf snarled at the thought of any mate but our Brielle. Her creamy, smooth skin and that way she gasped with a hitch in her breath when I’d run my tongue— I cut off the thought, not wanting to get an erection standing three feet from my father’s men.

“Let him know I need to speak with him at the earliest break in his schedule.”

Andrei nodded, and I turned on my heel to go find Gracelyn. Reed had already touched base this morning, and she was stubbornly refusing to let one of her assistants take over today, so Adam was once again parked at her side in the oversized recliner. I wanted to make sure that my men and I were in every single group with Brielle today, and I had the mate marks to prove my claim. Not that she’d argue. Gracelyn might get a little dictatorial with an event to run, but she was a sweet she-wolf and a solid member of my pack.

Maybe soon, it would be Brielle with her belly rounded with our pup, bossing me around. My wolf rumbled low in his chest at the thought, a contented feeling washing through me. He wanted our mate pregnant as quickly as possible, and the realization that I agreed with him nearly knocked me on my ass. I stopped midstep, letting myself delve into the fantasy.

Her in my cabin, tucked into the corner reading nook I was mentally designing just for her, a book propped up on her big, rounded belly, and her glasses sliding down her nose as she smiled over at me. She wiggled her finger at me to come over, and I sank to my knees, spreading her thighs. As I delved into her sweetness, the book fell to the rug with a thud as she moaned my name…

I’d never considered myself much of a family man—running a whole damn pack was plenty, thank you. I didn’t need rug rats underfoot any time soon—but Brielle… One whiff of her scent, and I’d give her anything she wanted. That had to be pups, right?

I started walking again, shaking the tantalizing fantasy from my thoughts. I couldn’t afford to be distracted yet. I had too much to do.

“I am not shufflingthe entire day’s roster for you, Kane.”

Adam grunted uneasily at her side, and she rolled her eyes at him.

“Excuse me,Alpha Kane. You may be Alpha, but you entrustedmewith these activities, and I’m not going to juggle—” The words died in her throat as I tugged down the collar of my shirt, exposing the deep-blue ink sprawling there.

Tattoos weren’t at all uncommon among wolves—some were pain junkies, and we healed quickly—but there was no mistaking a fated mate mark.

“That’s… oh. My. Goddess. You found a mate!” She squealed so loudly, Adam and two of her assistants jumped practically out of their skin.

“Shhh, yes. Yes, I did, but I want to keep that between us until I’ve got time to pull my father aside and tell him. But… I also don’t want her out of my sight.”

“That’s a dangerous game, Kane. How are you going to handle it if one of the other wolves gets too close?” Adam’s question set my teeth on edge, because I knew I wasn’t going to handle it well. But what choice did I have?

“I’ll stay close enough that nobody else dares. Today’s a run. Should be simple enough.”

Gracelyn shook her head slowly, clearly disagreeing. “You’re an idiot, Kane.” Adam cleared his throat, and she sighed. “He knows he’s the Alpha, Adam. Shush. Now listen, if you have a mate, afatedmate, and haven’t completed the bond, that’s a volatile time. You have too much power to take any risks of her coming into physical contact with anyone else. Your wolf won’t handle that wellat all. When we were still unbonded, Adam nearly ripped Lucky’s head off because he touched my shoulder handing me my bag. You don’t want a reputation as a hothead, do you?”

“I’mnota hothead, and we’ll be completing the bond as soon as physically possible, Gracelyn. I know it’s best to get it over with quickly, so things settle back down. Now—”

“What?” The single, spluttered word from behind me froze me in place, and I knew down to the tips of my wolf’s tail fur that I’d stepped in it. Because when I turned around, there werethreepissed-off she-wolves standing with their best impressions of a death glare, all aimed right at me.

Balls.

“Get it over with? Really, Mr. High-and-Mighty, really? You get blessed with perfection in one ultrahot feminine package, and you want to take the most intimate, important communion possible between two shifters andget it over with?” Leigh was the first to flay me with her words, but no matter how true they were, it wasn’t her words that cut me. No, it was the look of real hurt on Brielle’s face after she overheard my casual dismissal that I would remember to the day I died.

Damn. Hell. Shit.Fuck.

“That’s not at all what I meant. I promise you, if you’ll let me explain, you’ll understand.”

Brielle held up one palm and shook her head. “No, Kane.No. I don’t want to hear it. Not right now.”

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