Page 26 of Fated to the Warrior Wolf

“Can we talk? In private,” I added, eyeing the trio of women clustered around her like I was about to tear her head off.

Maybe just her clothes.

I shot that thought down. We needed toactuallytalk. We were having a child together.

“Uh, sure.” I hated the nervous look in her eyes, the stiffness in her shoulders that told me she was far from comfortable with me. But everyone started somewhere, and if our start was rocky, it didn’t mean we wouldn’t end up exactly where we were meant to be.

I realized as we left the patio that I was still holding her flowers in a death grip.

“Here,” I said as I awkwardly passed them over, noticing with chagrin that I’d mangled the stems pretty badly, and there was, in fact, blood dripping off my palm.

“Actually, no, let me get you some new ones. I messed those up.” I tried to take them back, but she twisted, scowling at me.

“I don’t want another set. I want these.” She lovingly caressed one of the petals, a small smile on her lips that made me want to kiss her.

Score one for the red cape.

“Okay.” I swiped my palm over my black pants, knowing the small punctures would heal in no more than a minute.

“Where are we going?” she asked a moment later when she looked up.

I had forgotten that she didn’t already know the castle like the back of her hand from endless childhood state visits. “There’s a quiet spot on the third floor, perfect for uninterrupted conversations. I used to hide up there as a kid when we visited and the events got to be too much.”

She blinked at me as if I’d just spoken gibberish.

“I’m sorry, I’m just imagining, like, a super-ritzy werewolf ball with lords and ladies in evening wear, but shifted in their wolf forms.”

I threw my head back and laughed at the image. “You’re not far off, frankly, and if the people had been shifted, it wouldhave been more honest about their true intentions. Packs in this part of the world are cutthroat. There’s too much baggage, too much bad blood between the different rival packs.”

She nodded, biting her lip between her teeth in a way that sent an instant shot of heat to my groin. But I couldn’t afford to think with my dick on this one.

We took the stairs in silence, both of us thinking too much, until we arrived on the third-floor landing.

“So, this is the same side as the family wing?” She asked, looking wide-eyed at the opulence even in the wide hallway.

“This is the east wing.” I took her by the shoulders and gently turned her. “That side is the family wing.”

She nodded, getting her bearings.

“Lead the way, Magellan.” Leigh smiled at me, a real, full smile for the first time, and it stopped me in my tracks. The sun from the windows made her hair look like spun gold, picking up her beautiful tan and giving her an ethereal glow. She took my breath away and made me want to do very, very dirty things with her. “You okay there, slugger?” She lightly punched me on the arm, and I quickly jolted into action to cover up my staring.

“Of course, we’re almost there.” I hurried ahead, cursing my distraction as I pushed open the door and held it for her.

“Oh, it’s a library! Like a real, honest-to-Goddess, Beauty and the Beast library!” She stopped in the middle of the room and spun around, taking it all in with an excited bounce to her step. “The girls are going to flip when I show them this. Assuming there’s not an angry beast who pounces on unsuspecting women who wander in here?” She playfully arched an eyebrow at me, and I shook my head.

I want to pounce on you, but I’m not angry. I want to push you up against that wall of books and make you scream my name.

“Should we sit?” she asked, pointing at the window, where a pair of tufted armchairs sat in the soft glow of the stained glass window. It was a pastoral scene, altered so that the shepherdhad a wolf’s head and paws, signifying our shifter nature. I’d never paid it any mind, but now I was acutely aware of it, given her comment about the shifted ball.

“Yes, let’s sit,” I murmured, trailing her like a dog on the hunt. Her coffee-and-cream scent filled the air and made me want to lean in and sniff the crook of her neck, where her pulse beat the strongest.

My wolf rumbled his pleasure at the idea, and I found with shock thatIwas rumbling as I stared at her across the low table.

She blinked in surprise, but then melted into the seat with a grateful sigh.

“Is it weird that I like that so much? It’s probably weird. I’m going to blame the hormones.” She waved toward her perfectly flat, toned stomach as if that explained everything. Which it kind of did.

That was probably the best segue I could have asked for, and the perfect way to bring the conversation around to the real issue we needed to discuss.

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