Page 103 of A Wolf's Heart

I thought about it. Was I going to fight this one? So far, everything I heard about rogues wasn’t good. I didn’t know pack life, though. Would I always have to bow to Kage? I wasn’t sure I could handle that. “What’s involved in joining?”

Rainor shrugged. “For lower members, a hunt and a run with the pack.”

“Would I be considered a lower member?”

Kage actually smiled at that. “No, little alpha. Even if you weren’t our mate, you would not be lower, simply because of the energy signature you put out.”

“Say what now?”

“Your energy signature. It’s the same reason the pack connected with you so quickly. You have alpha qualities,” Rainor said.

“Okay, so what’s involved in being inducted into a pack for me?”

“A party,” Kage said. “I’ve always hated them. Annoyingly extravagant, waste of time and resources, in my opi—”

“However.” Rainor cut him off.

I held back my laugh when Kage let out a gruff breath of air. “However,” he grumbled. “We look forward to your induction party.”

I gave him a sweet smile. “Thank you for your entirely forced feelings. You’re getting a little better at seeming genuine.”

He gave me a slight nod.

“I don’t know yet if I want to be in Cridhe Pack.” Kage’s frown deepened, and as he opened his mouth to demand something, I held my finger up, shushing him. “I just need to know what I’m getting into. Give me time to learn more about Cridhe. A lot has happened this week, and I just need… time.” I forced a smile, hoping it didn’t look as heartbroken as I felt.

To my surprise, Kage’s eyes softened. It was only a little but… it was there.

“Anyway, I’m going to go back to my condo. I have some online shopping to do,” I said, raising my phone in my hand. I went to return the folder to Kage, but he held his hand up.

“Keep it. In the back is your contract.”

“And NDA, I’m assuming.”

“No. We don’t typically have NDAs. If we find you are breaching the contract or leaking information, it’s not lawyers you will need to worry about. This isn’t the human world.”

Weylin’s words flashed through my mind. They had speared the heads of their enemies on their enemy’s territory. Yeah, that would be enough to keep me from breaching a contract. With a final nod to the two of them, I turned to leave.

Rainor cleared his throat.

“Lila?” Kage asked. “Would you join me here, in my home, in my bed, tonight?” The tone and roughness of his voice reminded me ofBeauty and the Beast, when the beast asked Belle to come down for dinner.

“Sex. You want sex.”

He sighed. “I don’t sleep well away from you,” he admitted. “I need your scent, to know you are safe. In the past, I had grown accustomed to little to no sleep. Now, you’ve gotten me used to regular sleep, and it’s been three nights since I’ve slept.”

Now that I really looked at him, I could see the dark rings around his eyes, the slack around his face. “Are you all like this?” I asked, glancing over at Rainor. He didn’t look as far gone as Kage was.

“We’re closer to you,” he said with a shrug. “Perhaps it’s the distance that affects him.”

I looked back up at Kage. “You’re welcome in my bed,” I said, and then I left.

It waslate into the night when the scent of spiced whiskey met me. He made no noise. If it wasn’t for his scent, I wouldn’t have even guessed he had entered my condo. I wasn’t scared or worried when his frame filled the doorway. I said nothing.

Kage walked to my bed, taking his shirt and pants off, before slipping into my bed. He made no attempt to touch me, placing one arm over his eyes and the other down by his side.

I shuffled closer to him, laying my head on his chest while placing my hand on his belly. “I sleep better with you too,” I admitted.

Bringing his arm down, he wrapped it around me. With his other hand, he grabbed my knee and pulled my leg over his hips, leaving his warm hand on my thigh.

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