Page 10 of The Wolf King's Mate

Right?

The Alpha prowled around my back, which immediately erased the small amount of relaxation I’d felt. I tried to stay still, but I had no idea what he was doing. Looking for weaknesses? Checking me out? Trying to decide the best place to chain me to a wall?

“You’ve never been part of a pack,” he said in a low voice.

It wasn’t a question.

An alpha claimed a wolf as part of their pack with a swipe of their claws. It always left a scar. Usually on their back, shoulder, or arm. It was considered barbaric to scar them anywhere else, and hadn’t been done for at least a century.

“No. Someone would’ve noticed.”

“Your brother kept you hidden,” he said.

I didn’t confirm that.

I would never give him ammunition against Fletcher.

“I called a contact in his pack. They’re twins,” the fancy one said. “Aspen and Fletcher Keys. Nearly twenty-six years old. Raised by a small pack on the outskirts of Crimson Lake. The Stone Pack. It was dissembled a few years back, and the records of its members were destroyed.”

“He was thorough. I’m impressed.” The king stopped in front of me, blocking my view of his brothers and meeting his gaze as he spoke to them. “Send him a gift basket. And an invitation to our mating ceremony, under the next full moon.”

I sucked in a breath.

My wolf studied him through my eyes, still trying to make up her mind about how she felt.

One of his brothers grunted. Probably my captor.

The other coughed. Probably the fancy one. “Yourwhat?”

“The next full moon is three weeks away. I’ll claim her then. She stays in my room until it’s done.”

My eyes widened.

The fancy brother cleared his throat. Loudly. “You know she has to agree to it, right?”

“Of course I know how a fucking mate bond works, Clay.” His eyes didn’t leave mine.

Guess the fancy one was named Clay.

My heartbeat threatened to drown out all other sound in the room. Err, the shower.

“Okay, but?—”

Clay cut himself off when the Alpha stepped closer to me. His bare chest nearly met mine, and I couldn’t tear my eyes from his.

They looked like honey, and shifted to melted gold as his wolf stepped in. He lifted my chin with a knuckle, until my eyes met his.

My heart pounded erratically as he brushed four fingers gently to my throat—and white noise flooded my ears as the tips of four sharp claws cut into my skin ever so lightly.

I didn’t dare take a breath as he dragged them across my throat diagonally, from my chin to my collarbone. They stung, just the tiniest bit.

He withdrew the claws, and I squeezed my eyes shut as he leaned forward. His nose brushed the side of my throat, making me fight a shudder before he dragged his tongue over the shallow wounds slowly. One at a time.

I could feel the skin knitting together slowly, the slight sting fading away almost as soon as it had appeared. An Alpha’s claiming mark always healed almost instantly.

The king pulled away, and satisfaction filled the man’s wolfish eyes as he took in what had to be four small scars across my throat. His chest rumbled again, and I could finally identify the sound.

Appreciation.

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