Page 77 of Fated to the Wolf Billionaire

“Can I show them, or is that a taboo thing for someone else to see?” She looked excited, and I didn’t want to stop her from sharing the joy with Leigh, who I knew she’d come to like and trust.

“Nudity is almost meaningless to shifters, so show them whatever you’re comfortable with.”

I ignored Leigh making striptease sounds while Fiona lifted the back of her shirt, stopping at her neck so only her back was exposed, and the stunning blue marks it now bore.

“Oh, Fi! I’m so happy for you. They’re beautiful!” For all her usual bluster, Leigh’s words were completely sincere, and a moment later, she wrapped Fiona up in an exuberant hug.

Gael clapped me on the back with a grin. “About time, old man. I was starting to think you were staying single out of sheer stubborn will.”

I elbowed him in the ribs a little harder than was necessary for the “old man” remark. “Not at all. Just waiting for her.”

We stood shoulder to shoulder, watching our mates celebrate the milestone, and despite the enormous task ahead of us, in that moment, I was at peace.

* * *

My peace was short-lived.

“So help me God—I am going to pitch a fit the likes of which you’ve never seen if you try to mansplain it to me again why I can’t come with you to Las Vegas.”

“Fiona—”

She was stuffing her clothing into her overnight bag with such fury, I was worried she was going to puncture the bottom of the backpack.

Or possibly cause a tornado on the surface.

“Don’tFioname! I told you before we left, and I meant it. We are equal partners, or we’re nothing. If I can trust you to go and come back to me, you can trust me to go too. Right?”

“Right, but?—”

“No! No buts, no more talking around it. Elodie’s in recovery, and she can go back to the enclave in four more days, according to the doctor. Gael and Leigh can wait here with her. The only question left is whether I’m going with you or am I going home to Philly?”

My hands shook with fury over the idea that she would leave me, leave the pack, and put herself in danger going to her old home alone, where her mark would make her vulnerable to every male wolf in a ten-mile radius.

“You don’t get to make threats like that, not anymore. We’re mates, we bear the marks. It’s done.”

“Oh! Is that how it’s going to be? You’re the big bad alpha, and I’m the little woman you get to boss around because I’ve got some new ink? Fuck that.Fuck. That.” She crossed the space, abandoning her packing to poke me in the chest with a finger. “If I don’t get to make threats, you don’t get to make unilateral decisions!”

“Fine!” I threw up my hands, furious she was being so unreasonable when all I wanted was to keep her safe. “Fine! If you want to put your life in danger for no reason, then I won’t stop you.”

She shook her head, sadness in her eyes as she backed away from me. “How can you be so brilliant and so blind at the same time? Why do you think it’s reasonable for you to do everything for me, deal with my dangerous powers, the whole enchilada—but the second you need support, I’m not allowed to give it? How can you ask that of me? And then claim it’s for no reason. It’s insulting, honestly.”

That little crack in her voice at the end undid all my anger in a rush, and shame filled me as quickly as the anger receded, the two emotions like the ebb and flow of the same tide.

I’d royally fucked up this entire conversation, and I had no one to blame but myself. No, that wasn’t entirely true. My wolf was relentless, clawing at me to keep her safe, keep her far away from dangerous enemies.

I didn’t want to fight with her. I wanted to shove her overnight bag off the bed and make her scream my name therightway. With her ankles locked behind my neck and my face buried in her pussy.

I ran my hands through my hair, took a moment to pace off the jangling demands of my wolf, and tried again.

“Stormy, you’re my everything. I don’t want to keep you locked away, but the vampires aren’t neutral to us like the dwarves are. This is much, much riskier. And my wolf…” I let him shine through my eyes for a second so she could see what I meant. He was right there, simmering below the surface, testing my decades-long control with ruthless determination to keep our mate safe.

“Your wolf wants to protect me. I know, and I love wolfie for that. Isn’t that right, wolfie? We’re friends,” she cooed, taking a step closer and pressing a hand to my cheek as she stared into my wolf’s eyes.

There were only three people on the planet who could do that—her, Kane, and Gael. Nobody else had the dominance or the importance for my wolf to accept a direct stare without seeing it as a challenge. But from Fiona? He practically preened under our mate’s attention. He was putty in her hands.

“Now listen, wolfie. We’re not going to take any unnecessary risks, but I’m saferwithyou. You won’t let the big bad vampires hurt me, will you?”

“Never.” My voice was all gravel, the wolf pressing the word through my lips, though he rarely spoke with me, even internally.

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