Page 27 of The Wolf King's Mate

I had Enzo’s attention, now.

There was a commercial playing on the TV, but neither of us watched it. The Alpha was focused on me, and I was watching him.

I continued, “Everyone who catches my scent loses all sense of reason as nature tells them to find me and breed me. The first man Fletcher killed was a trusted, mated male pack member who was close to me when my first heat started. I was fifteen. It hits suddenly, and when it does, it’s too late to stop it. I saw how many doors were in this hallway. If I’m here when it starts, there will be dozens of men breaking through your door, trying to kill you to get to me. Logic won’t matter. Your dominance won’t matter. People will die.”

He studied me for a moment.

I gave him time, not rushing him. He would talk when he was ready.

And hopefully, he wouldn’t kill me.

His wolf wouldn’t, at least.

“How long does it last?” he asked.

“Three days if I spend it alone.”

His nostrils flared. “If you spend it with a male?”

“A few hours.”

“Who?” His voice was low.

I knew exactly what he was asking, and had a pretty clear idea of what would happen to the wolf whose name I gave him.

“It doesn’t matter.”

His honey eyes flashed gold. His wolf wanted an answer. “Like hell it doesn’t.”

“No one who will challenge you,” I said.

He stood up, the remote forgotten on the bed as he prowled toward me. “Who, Princess?”

“Fuck off,” I whispered.

His responding growl was deadly.

I tensed, but didn’t move.

He used his knuckle to tilt my chin back and to the side, then lowered his lips to my ear. “You can give me his name, or I can start killing my way through your brother’s pack until I find out who he is.”

“He’s not from my brother’s pack.”

“Then I’ll start with the nearest pack to him after I’m done with them. I’ll make sure to plate Lucas’s head for you, too.”

My hands trembled. “If you do that, you’ll lose the taxes they pay. The respect of the packs around them. Someone could challenge you.”

“I don’t need the money, and I’d enjoy the fight.” His lips brushed my ear.

“Your wolf wants me happy. Killing my brother’s pack won’t accomplish that. He’ll fight you on it.”

Enzo finally lifted his head, and stepped back.

I fought the urge to frown when he disappeared into the closet, still bare-assed and way too attractive for anyone’s safety. Especially mine. His cock was hardening, so apparently he was getting turned on by our little argument.

Which was just lovely.

But backing down really didn’t seem like something he would do, so he had to have gone into the closet for a reason.

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