Page 64 of Wolf Mate

“Don’t get me wrong.” He squeezed my hand. “I understand my dad and where he’s coming from. But it’s tricky. As king, he has to think about what’s best for the most people, and it’s not safe for you to be around humans or supernaturals with how unstable you are.”

I opened my mouth, ready to tell him where he could shove his and his daddy’s opinion, but he continued, “But asking you to isolate yourself feels wrong, so I’m not sure what that says about me as the future king. I don’t want to do that to you anymore, and honestly, that scares me.”

All my anger whooshed from me. I blinked, trying to understand what was happening.

He was talking to me about his concerns and problems.

“You want friends.” He smiled sadly and stepped closer. “And you picked one of the worst ones possible, which I tried to warn you about.”

I tried to glare at him, but turning my head had me almost falling to my knees. He wrapped an arm around my waist and caught me before I could hit the ground.

Every inch of me buzzed where he touched me, even through my shirt. I caught my breath, getting more light-headed.

When he helped me up, our chests touched, and the tingles coursed throughout my body. I moaned, unable to hold the sound in.

His eyes glowed faintly. “What’s wrong?”

My drunk tongue spoke before my mind registered the words. “Wherever you touch me, my skin buzzes.” I winced. I sounded pathetic.

His brows lifted. “What do you mean buzzes? Is it because you’re drunk?”

I’d already said it—might as well own it. “At first, it was just when our skin touched. Whenever you touched me over clothes, I felt nothing. But now—”

His irises glowed brighter, transfixing me.

“That’s impossible.” He shook his head. “You’rehuman.”

His words were like a cold shower. I was forbidden. “Sorry. I know it sounds weird. Forget I said anything.” My eyes burned, and I wanted to kick myself. I tried to release his hand and move away, but he held me tightly.

“You don’t understand.” He held me in place and gazed into my eyes. “I feel it too.”

My lungs seized. I must have heard him wrong. “How is that possible? What is it?”

He smiled. “I don’t know. I’ve never experienced anything like it before.”

“Me neither.” I turned away, needing distance so I could think straight. He had Josie, and I had to remember that.

He didn’t say anything as he fell back into step with me.

The silence turned awkward, so I decided to fill it. “Your eyes glowed a lot tonight. What does that mean?”

“I bet they did.” He chuckled. “That happens when our wolf magic surges forward. When we get angry, feel threatened, or use our pack link, our eyes glow more. The brighter it is, the more magic we’re using, and the harder it is to hold our wolf back.”

“Pack link?” Slade had mentioned it, but I wanted to hear it from Raffe.

He nodded. “It’s how wolves communicate telepathically, using wolf magic.”

Wow. “You can talk to everyone that way?”

“Anyone in the United States if I wanted to because they all roll up to my dad and me. But I can’t talk to any of the wolves overseas because they’re separate packs. Only our alpha—my dad—can link with their alpha, if they have one, and all the US pack members. There’s a whole hierarchy, so the lowest pack alpha can link only to his pack members and his alpha. His alpha can link to all the lowest-level alphas and all those pack members, and that alpha links to his own alpha, who can link to all the packs below him, and then to the alpha above him, and so on up to me and my dad.”

I snorted. “It’s like a pyramid scheme?”

“Ugh.” He tilted his head back. “Seriously? No one would ever dare say something like that to me … until you.”

“Good. Someone needs to keep you humble.” I wrinkled my nose. “But no, I get it. Even better, maybe some of my knowledge about animals will come in handy around you all.”

“Animal knowledge, huh?” He moved closer, our arms brushing. “What do you know?”

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