Page 30 of Wolf Hunter

“I like how open you’re being about this,” I say. “And you’re free to try your hand at besting me if that’s what you really want. I wouldn’t mind a challenge.”

Escape, huh?I replay our kiss in my mind, and the memory draws out another smile.

If Tasha is surprised by me being here again, she doesn’t show it. Nope. Instead, she shoots me a look as dangerous as a gunshot.

“It’s what I want,” she replies.

“It’s a bit sad you won’t tell me why you’re determined to pin these kidnappings on me, but I guess we’re going to have to see how this plays out.”

She pauses before speaking.Here we go.

“I actually think there’s something else we can play out,” she finally says.

I keep smiling. “Go on.”

“It’s something I’d rather show you.”

Heat sizzles through me. “Then come over here and share it with me. I’m not going to bite you unless you want me to,” I tell her easily.

I like the imagery of biting her—bending her over first, andthenbiting her. It wouldn’t be a hardship to actually take her, the way everyone else thinks I already have. And why not? She is technically my property to do what I want with, and no one within these walls or within the region has the authority to stop me.

Except I refuse to think about the power I hold over her. It puts us on vastly different playing fields, and I’d rather see what happens when we’re on even footing.

Call me a hopeless romantic.

My mother always said she wished she’d done things differently. Alphas mate for life, and although she and my father had been chosen for each other by the stars, that didn’t mean they got along well. It didn’t mean he appreciated her or even respected her.

I always knew one of us sons would take over the title once Father either got too feeble or old. When that responsibility fell to me, I decided to be different. I want to choose a mate based on love and show her with my actions and my words how I feel about her.

Absurd, I know now. And something I’ve never shared with anyone for fear of how it will make me look.

Part of me sees those thoughts ridiculous enough to be a fantasy.

Until I saw Tasha. Until I felt the softness of her skin, and my wolf decided we need to play this thing out. See what happens.

She takes a step closer to me, and that foolish grin spreads across my face as I watch her, head tipped down, pink hair falling softly down to her shoulders.

She stops a few feet in front of me, and I close the distance between us before gripping her chin with my thumb and forefinger to force her gaze to mine.

“What do you want to show me?” I ask softly.

Those heart-stopping eyes… A man can get lost in eyes that color. Like pools of blue and green and brown velvet framed by long black lashes. And her lips—

I never get a chance to finish that thought because she brings her knee up directly between my legs, again.

And then she does it again.

Pain ricochets up from my nuts to my brain, and my throat clenches, closing and cutting off my air. I keel over on instinct, with my hands automatically slapping down on the area.

Holyshitfuck!

Tasha grabs me by the shoulders and uses her whole body to push me toward the door. I lose my balance, too preoccupied with protecting my bruised family jewels to stop her. She pushes until I slam into the wood with enough force to crack it.

The ward recognizes my energy signature, and I’m distantly aware of the thought before she knocks me in the nuts a third time to keep me down. Black spots swim in front of my eyes, tongue swelling to three times its normal size against the agony of the kill shot.

Tasha continues to push me into the door until the spell unravels. The door opens with a click, and in the next second, she vaults over my body, kicking me while I’m down, and bolts.

ChapterNine

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