Page 20 of Kidnapped By the Wolf

Too late.

A low growl rumbles up my throat at the thought of any male laying a finger on my girl. The stench of her panic is stuck in my airways, and the scent is provoking my wolf. My nails have already started to morph into claws, and they’re digging into my palms.

“Just because Dane and my father think they own me doesn’t make me pack,” she snaps.

“But it’s true,” I say, my voice coming out strangled. “Your father wanted you to mate with this . . . Dane?”

My eyes flick to Cassie’s hands, which have begun to tremble. She quickly tucks them under the table, but not before I see.

“Bear shifters can be . . .” She trails off.

Brutal? Barbaric? Violent and savage? Nothing quite fits the bill, and Cassie doesn’t fill in the blank.

“When my father’s predecessor got too old to lead, Clint challenged him. A fight to the death.” She swallows. “That’s how it’s done in bear packs, unless the old leader pledges his fealty to the new one. My father thinks if I were mated to the next pack leader, Dane might spare his life as a courtesy to me.”

“And you’d do that?” I spit. “Mate with Dane to spare your father?”

Cassie gives me a hard look. “I don’t know how it is in your pack, but where I come from, what a female wants or doesn’t want isn’t really taken into account.”

At those words, I’m hit with an avalanche of shock and fury. She speaks as though she has no real say over her life — as if Dane would be her future, whether she wanted him or not.

My wolf bares his teeth, growling at the thought of another male taking Cassie for his mate. For making her think that she doesn’t have a choice. He is so distraught that for a moment, I see the world through his eyes.

When I finally muster up the focus to speak, I know my eyes have lightened to that golden honey color.

“I assure you,” I rumble, “in my pack, what a female wants isalwaystaken into account. Not a single one of my wolves would ever take that which wasn’t freely given.”

“Except hostages,” Cassie mutters.

I suck in a breath and let it out slowly.

What is it about this woman that I find so exasperating? It’s as if she’stryingto rile my wolf.

“Kidnapping you wasn’t my idea.” And because I have no filter where Cassie’s concerned, I add, “It was Sebastian’s way of . . . forcing my hand. I’ve let this go on for far too long.”

“You could let me go,” she says quietly, peering up at me from under her lashes.

The suggestion stings, which is absurd. Sebastian brought her here against her will, and she’s already tried to escapetwice.

“No, I can’t.”

“Or youwon’t.”

“An alpha’s job is to protect his pack at all costs,” I grit out. “You, unfortunately, are the cost.”

“Collateral damage, you mean.”

Maybe it’s because she sums up my predicament in the exact same way that Sebastian did, but I have the sudden thought that I should have just let her escape.

There’s no way my wolf will allow me to harm even one hair on this female’s head, and even if he did, I can’t justify sacrificing an innocent woman for her father’s transgressions.

Rubbing my jaw in frustration, I suck in a breath and let it out slowly. What I’m about to propose is insane, but it’s the only solution I can think of. “You wouldn’t have to be.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cassie bugs out her eyes in alarm, and then a manic little laugh bubbles out of her. “I’m not going tomarryyou, if that’s what you’re thinking.” She gives another nervous chuckle.

“It’s not,” I snap, irrationally annoyed that the idea of marrying me is so ridiculous to her. “I have a better idea.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

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