Page 64 of Jace's Mate
She didn’t look at him, her gaze fixed on her hands clenched in her lap.“The alliance,” she repeated quietly.“You were thinking about updating the alliance.”
She turned her face toward the window.“If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine.I don’t really care.”
He studied her for a long moment, then shook his head slightly.“Sorry.This mind-sharing thing is going to take some getting used to.”
Try being in my shoes,she thought, clear as a bell.
It startled him how clearly he could hear her.
She snorted.He chuckled.“Yeah, I get that you’re trying to process way more than just someone reading your thoughts.”
Her head whipped around.“Stop doing that!”she hissed.
“Can’t,” he replied.“And it’s only going to get stronger the more our bond intensifies.”
She narrowed her eyes but kept her voice calm.“The others can’t read each other’s minds in wolf form?”
“Some can, but not all,” he answered, merging into heavier traffic.“And not as clearly as you and I can.Most just pick up on emotions or instincts.Full conversations like this?That’s rare.”
Traffic thickened as they approached the city—morning commuters piling into their lanes.In another hour, the highway would be at a standstill or inching forward in painful progression.
“So… can you hear the others?”
“Yeah,” he said, glancing at her before returning his focus to the road.“But I don’t think any of them can hear you.Most pack members can sense intent or emotion, and they can definitely smell feelings.But hearing thoughts?That’s different.You and I have a much deeper connection.”
“I couldn’t read minds before now,” she said flatly.“And no one’s ever heard mine.Just you.”
He nodded.“That’s going to be both good and bad.”
She raised a brow, wary.
“Every time you cuss me out,” he said with a grin, “I’ll hear it—and I’ll get to punish you for your insolence.”
Anikka snorted.“You’re not punishing me for anything.I’m my own person.”
“You’re a member of my pack.I’m your Alpha now.You’ll obey me like the rest.”
Fat chance,she thought.
He laughed, nodding.“Challenge accepted, my dear.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the flash of heat in her expression, and his body clenched.Damn, he liked that about her.She wasn’t scared of him.He’d always wondered if his mate might be timid, overwhelmed by his dominance.But Anikka?She was a firecracker.
Still trembling with unresolved need, still glaring at him like she’d claw him if he got too close—Anikka was intoxicating.
He reached over, took her hand, and kissed her fingertips.“Soon, Anikka,” he murmured.
The fire that lit her dark eyes was enough to make him groan.Feisty.He hadn’t thought that was his type until her.
Her chin lifted in defiance and he nearly growled with the urge to take her right then—to show her exactly who was in charge.
Instead, he pulled into the underground garage and parked the sedan in its usual space.Getting out, he walked around to open her door.
Anikka was already stepping out, flinching slightly as her bare feet touched the cold concrete floor.
But Anikka was still in a stubborn mood.
“I don’t know what you think you’re promising, Jace,” she said stiffly, “but I don’t think I’ll take you up on the offer.”
