Page 44 of Pack Kasen: Part 1

“I was flirting. Troy seemed nice.” I cross my arms over my chest. “Seems a lot nicer than you. Is he single?”

I’m not the least bit interested in his friend, but if I have to tell a little white lie to buy time to get past this idiot, so be it.

His nostrils flare, and his lips are a flat line as he stares down at me. Then he chuckles. “I see what this is. You’re trying to make me jealous. You want me, but you can’t have me, so you’re trying to make me jealous.”

I swear, if I didn’t think I’d end up with a broken neck, I’d slap that smug look off his face. “There are some leaps you’d need to be on the moon to make, and that was one of them. Why would I want you?”

“All women want me,” he says with perfect seriousness.

Is this guy for real?

I look at his friend.

He’s staring at the ground, arms folded behind his back, so there’s no gaining any knowledge from that direction.

I look back at this arrogant, egotisticalass. "Do you think your pretty looks will sway me, Wolf King?”

He smirks. “You wouldn’t be the first to have been swayed by them.”

I take my time looking him over. “Youarehandsome, I’ll give you that, but I can do better.”

I spin around to return to my seat in the middle of the cage. He is far too alert to sneak past. Escape will only happen when he’s not standing right in front of me.

He doesn’t make a sound as he moves.

And he isfast.

No sooner have I turned away from him than his hand is like a manacle around my wrist as he’s twisting me back to face him.

“Whatdid you say?” His voice vibrates with barely concealed fury.

I ignore the burn of his hand on my arm as I stare him right in the eye. “I can do better.”

He shakes his head. “There is no one better than me.”

"I disagree. A man who dumps food on the floor for a woman to eat and threatens to kill her on a daily basis has set the bar spectacularly low. A guy pissing on the side of a dumpster on a Friday night and forgot to wash his hands before he shakes mine would be a better prospect."

He’s breathing hard, veins bulging in his neck when Finan calls out, “Aren. Perhaps?—”

He has his hand wrapped around my throat the next moment, and his eyesburnwith fury.

I fight to drag in enough air to say what I need to. "A tantrum. Really? To kill a person, you would need to squeeze harder. So, harder, Wolf King."

His eyes flare and he snatches his hand from my neck, spins around, slamming the cage door and locking it before he stalks out.

I look at Finan as I process how close I came to death by strangulation.

Finan looks as surprised as I am by how quickly things ended. He slips away without a word.

The moment the door closes behind him, I lift a shaking hand to my throat.

I’m not sure if I’m suicidal or stupid for provoking him like that.

And I must have been seeing things because I could’ve sworn he didn’t want tochokeme.

He wantedme.

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