Page 22 of Wolf Hunter

Even my own brothers.

ChapterSeven

Tasha

Somehow, I ended up falling asleep for a few hours, and when I finally wake, a thin stream of gray and peach light slips over the horizon right into my eyes.

Great. Wonderful. I also wake up to a horrible pain splintering through my skull.

I spent way too much time trying to figure out a way to trick Reid into letting me go once he comes back to talk to me. And I know he’ll be back—sooner rather than later since he clearly wanted something from me. If not my body, then my magic.

I saw the way he looked at me.

And I’d have to be a bigger damn fool than I am not to notice my own attraction to him.

Mae had been right about that, sadly. The alpha is a handsome man, and charismatic in his own way.

Those feelings make me angrier still, and I struggle against the urge to break the bedside lamp just because I can. It’s a petty move.

And it doesn’t get me any closer to finding out what happened to Carmen.

The click of the lock disengaging comes as a surprise after nothing but my own breathing for company. I jerk to sit on the edge of the bed, working hardnotto stare at the chair Reid claimed yesterday, his posture imposing, dominating.

Delicious.

Hell no, bad thoughts. Not today.

Then in a breath, his presence fills the room and my lungs tighten.

Not that I’ll ever let the elephant in the room know.

And having him here becomes the added screwdriver pressing right through my temples; like I need a witness to my misery. The ass kicking took a toll on me. Not to mention the damn wolf bite.

I shift uncomfortably and try not to flinch at the pinching ache in my muscles. That shifter strength is no joke.Fucking wolves.

He got the better of me because of that strange moment of hesitation, and I want to kick myself for it all over again. I’ll have to do it later, when I manage to claw my way out of this mess. At the moment, I have to figure out a way to escape this place without killing myself in the process.

To make matters worse, the animal actually left me alone. For hours. I wore myself out hunting for every exit I could think of and some I didn’t in those early hours, resorting to kicking the bricks of the fireplace to see if any of them were loose.

Forget about my powers. Those are still on the fritz, and no matter how I attempt to activate it and blend into the walls… The magic just can’t hold onto me.

I screamed until my throat burned, and no one heard me. At least, no one knocked on the door. I might as well have been sealed in an airtight vault for all the reaction I got.

And Reid…

Talk about infuriating.

He thinks he has the authority to waltz in here at his leisure and watch me sleep, like last night? Like some kind of creeper?

“Did you want something?” I ask. The tone helps fight against the adrenaline running wild through my veins. And I know that if I don’t pay attention, all I’ll hear is the deafening pulse of my own heart.

He stares at me with his left brow lifted and his lips tight, which leaves me trying to ignore the way his eyes scrape over every bit of me. Or the way my body reacts to his attention. My heart beats wildly against my ribs, and the rest of me is either on fire or pebbling with goose bumps.

Sexy doesn’t even come close to describing Reid. Handsome doesn’t do the trick, either.

This is the dark wolf to an empire. A prince with predator’s fangs.

“Do I have to want something to be here? Do I need your permission to be here? No on both counts, Tash.”

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