Page 53 of Wolf Hunter

I choke on the bite I just took, my vision going dark until the slap on my back brings air into my lungs and a clearer head. Liam sends me a small smile before returning to his seat.

“Mate?” I croak out.

Emily laces her fingers in front of her and smirks at me. “Come on, it’s obvious there’s something going on between you two.”

Shit. Has she figured us out?

A light murmur ripples through the rest of the room.

“Something more than sex,” Emily says. “He probably had his eye on you before the ceremony, didn’t he? He used the excuse of a sacrifice to bring you here because he wanted to fuck you.”

“Emily,” Reid warns.

She apparently gets away with a lot. I force myself to stay silent to see how this will play out, but damn, the girl has a set of balls on her. I might have admired her if she hadn’t basically called me a glorified whore.

“It’s not uncommon,” she hurries to reply. “The old Alpha Holden often took on lovers from the coven—”

Reid slams his fist down on the table with such force that it has everyone jumping back from the table. “Enough!” he roars out.

I sit still for a moment, stunned by the new influx of information. I should’ve known better—marriage means nothing if one party isn’t wholly committed. The old alpha and his wife, Reid’s mother and father, had been together since their teens, but I’d assumed they were faithful to each other.

My mistake.

Emily doesn’t waver under Reid’s murderous stare. “I’m sorry, but everyone knows it. We all understood that’s how things worked. He brought them here, he fucked them, then he ate them. As long as you didn’t mate with them, then it was all fine, but it seems to me like this one is being groomed as something much more than a normal sacrifice.”

I breathe deep, muscles taut and ready to bolt. The rest of the room casts hungry and unblinking eyes on me, and I shrink under their scrutiny. I’m just the prey human in the middle of a room full of predators, utterly alone and no closer to finding Carmen than when I started.

I glance up at the feeling of a hand on my shoulder yet again. Only this time, Crane stands there instead of Liam. “Come,” he tells me softly.

Reid makes a dismissive gesture with his free hand. “Go on.”

He speaks as though bringing me here wasn’t a good idea, and although it’s in my nature to automatically argue against him, every piece of me wants out of this room.

So I follow Crane out of the room, with the wolves chattering behind me.

The moment I’m out of sight, a shiver passes through me.

Crane looks at me with a calm face. I hope it isn’t the calm before a storm. “You make him happy,” he says at last.

“It doesn’t matter.” My voice holds a quiet wonder at his declaration, though. Because I am more than a witch. I’m a freak, and I’ll never be suitable for anyone to love. Not even myself.

“It matters to him,” Crane replies.

I have no good answer to that, so I zip my mouth shut, bitterness causing my stomach to swirl and my mouth to narrow until it goes straight. Worst of all?

I think he makes me happy, too.

ChapterFifteen

Tasha

With the returned wolves, the house feels too full.

I miss the fresh air. I miss the freedom, and I miss my little room at the Maple Leaf Motel. Unfortunately, we’re no closer to finding answers than we were weeks ago.

How long do I wait before getting the job done and getting the hell out of this joint?

“Tash. What do you think?”

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