Page 47 of Wolf Bitten

“This was a neutering done at one of those cheap places where they don’t knock the animal out. They just cut off their balls.” He removed his hand from my leg and booped my nose. “That’s how painful it was.”

“Maybe if you lived on a ranch, but fortunately for you, you live in a bougie mansion.” I turned my body toward him and arched a brow.

He chuckled. “Fine. Let’s say you ripped my heart out, but fortunately, you gave it back to me before I officially stopped breathing.”

I placed my hands together and pressed one side against my cheek, batting my eyes. “You’re such a romantic.”

“I can be. Eventually, you’ll see.” The corners of his lips tipped downward. “If people can fucking leave us alone for a minute.”

Like that, our reprieve from reality was gone. “So, did you just leave your pack for me?” I had no clue how it worked.

“Not officially, but I think I’ll have to.” Raffe chewed on his bottom lip. “I couldn’t stay there. I didn’t want my father to use alpha will on me again. I’m not sure how I resisted it. He’s done it before, and Ihadto obey. The only difference between then and today was that I’ve claimed you as my mate.”

“I doubt it was that, but I’m glad you fought him off. I can’t imagine—” I stopped, unable to continue; thinking about him with someone else was horrible. But to say the words … I couldn’t.

Raffe took my hand again. “Babe, I swear I’ll leave the pack before I’m forced to do anything like that. You’re it for me. No matter what. I understood the risks when I bit you.”

The weight of his decision sat heavily on me. I asked, “Why doesn’t he alpha-will the Eastern pack like you said?”

“Doing that would guarantee that the Eastern wolf shifters would split off from us. If it would work, trust me, he’d have already done it.”

“Now we’re facing threats from Eastern wolf shifters and a secret society that wants to use me.” Being invisible did have its merits, but if I’d stayed invisible, I would’ve never met Raffe.

“The Eastern wolf shifters are Dad’s issue. The only thing I’m concerned with is keeping my mate safe, which means taking down the secret society. We just need to figure out who the members are.”

He was right. Dave had vanished, and I doubted Glinda, Warin, and the other vampires would be easy to find. We needed help to figure out who was involved. “Some of the wolves searching with you work for the Veiled Circle. I’m not sure how many, but that’s a place to start.”

“That’s all we’ve got.” Raffe pursed his lips. “I’ll start working on it via pack link before we get back.”

That was more than okay with me. Even though I wasn’t as exhausted as I should’ve been, I laid my head against the seat to rest.

“Fuck,”Raffe almost shouted, startling me. I opened my eyes and blinked, trying to determine where we were. I hadn’t realized I’d fallen asleep.

My head cleared, and my eyes focused on a group of people standing at the edge of the parking lot.

Keith, Adam, Slade, Supreme Priestess Olwyn, Lafayette, Zella, and Hecate, in that exact order.

Raffe pulled into his spot, body tense. “Skylar, stay in the car.”

Yeah, that wasn’t happening.

When he opened his door and got out, I followed suit.

Supreme Priestess Olwyn hissed, “Have you lost your mind?”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

It was the equivalent of igniting a bomb.

The three coven members and two vampires stood in front of Raffe’s parking spot, looking ready to toss shade at my mate when he was already struggling with everything else.

His hot anger sizzled into me.

Supreme Priestess Olywn edged toward the car. She made a faint duck face, her high cheekbones sharp, and scanned me with her emerald eyes that were so like Slade’s.

That wouldn’t go over well with Raffe.

“What thefuckis your problem?” His neck corded as he moved slightly in front of me. “Do you think I wouldharmher?”

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