Page 105 of Wolf's Reckoning
And my wolf snapped from my control. I grabbed her wrists—not to hurt, just to stop the shaking. “Say it.” She shook her head, tears spilling over. “Sayit, Rowen.”
“You left me!” she roared, eyes shining. “You left andyou never came back! You said I meant something—then vanished like I was nothing!”
Silence.
When I spoke, there was nothing but truth in my voice. “I left because you told me to go.”
She blinked. Trembled.
“I left because you looked me in the eye and said you’d rather die than be with someone like me,” I reminded her. “And I believed you.”
Her lip quivered. But she didn’t back down. “You’re my mate,” she whispered.
“Yes.”
She breathed out, slow and shaky. “I don’t want this.”
“No,” I said. “You do. You would want to be an alpha’s wife. You just don’t want to be mine.” I leaned in, voice just for her. “But your wolf does.”
Her breath caught.
“And mine?” I said. “Would raze this mountain for you.”
I let go of her wrists. Didn’t touch her again. Because I could see it now—in her eyes, in the way her body fought itself, in the war she waged between fury and instinct. The pull between us was real. It was more than physical attraction. It was destiny. The mate bond was active. Triggered into play with her heat, and we were both losing ground.
“Go back inside,” I told her, low and calm. “Before I make good on every promise your scent is begging me to keep.”
“I won’t sleep beside you.” She pulled herself to her full height, her head held high like a queen.
“Then you won’t sleep. Your choice.” It was the second time I’d said this to her, only this time it was heavier becauseneed was riding both of us too hard. “Get in the fucking house, Rowen,” I said quietly, my voice tight with anger. “If I touch you again tonight, I won’t stop until I’ve fucked the heat out of you. Understand?”
“This isn’t over,” she hissed before she turned and practically ran to the house.
I looked up at the sky through the heavy canopy above me. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but you have time to change your mind.”
The Goddess didn’t answer.
“So…that’s intense.”
I looked across at Killian, who was leaning against the side of his house. “How much did you hear?” I asked with a sigh.
“DidIhear?” He shook his head. “All of it. But it’s not me you need to worry about.”
I closed my eyes in resignation. “Shit,” I groaned. I opened my eyes and saw him watching me. “Gather them in the hall for me?”
“On it.” He gave me a sympathetic smile and turned to round up the pack.
The pack who now knew I was their alpha and hadn’t told them. The pack who now knew I was mated—and married—to their former alpha’s daughter.
This was not how I wanted this to go, but you played the hand Luna dealt you. Or you cleaned up the mess you made, and I’d made a mess of this.
I looked at the bedroom window, seeing the shadow of Rowen as she paced. I couldn’t leave her here. Could I? I couldn’t take her with me; I was likely to spread her out on a dining table and feast on her.
With a growl, I headed into the house and made my way to the bedroom. Fury and judgment met me when I opened the door and entered the room.
“The pack knows,” I told her with no tact at all. “I have to go address them in the pack hall. Will you be okay here?”
“I want to come.”
