Page 13 of Wolf's Claimed Mate
To what end? I wanted to ask. But the words weren’t on my tongue, they didn’t come the way I hoped or wanted.
“Darren Garth,” I told him, finally. “There’s a lead.”
He looked at me as if he was unsure whether to trust me or not.
“Is he your—”
“No,” I said, unwilling to give his name to anyone but myself. “He was one of Kato’s confidantes, high up in rank.”
“His beta?”
“No,” I said, avoiding his eyes.
With that, I walked away, but Conall grasped my wrist and pulled me back. “Don’t go,” he said. “I asked you here for a reason. A… proposal, of sorts.”
That got me intrigued enough to sit back down. I eyed him.
“I’m going to need coffee for it,” he said. “And you might want a milkshake refill.”
Without breaking his gaze, I grabbed his milkshake and started on it. Conall rolled his eyes and flagged down a waiter carrying a coffee pot. He got a cup of black coffee—a choice I wrinkled my nose at—and tapped it as he chewed over what to say.
“Whether you like it or not, we’re working together,” he said. I went to argue, but he carried on talking. “You cannot mess up my obligation and loyalty to Fenrys.” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I want you to be my girlfriend.”
The world halted. “I’m sorry,what?”
He smirked.
“Fakegirlfriend.”
“Conall—”
“No, no, think about it for a minute,” he said. “We need to go snooping while we work together. You need to meet with me a lot, we might need to explore a little. People might start talking; it could look suspicious. They know you’re connected from their past, I’m connected to Fenrys. They even know you’re the Luna’s best friend, of course. But if we appear to be dating, it’s less obvious that we’re onto Kato’s pack. Things can be passed off as dates rather than snooping and spying.”
I stared at him. Was he insane? It was a damn good idea, one I really ought to agree with him on, but I didn’t date, never mindfaking it.
“So you’ve just decided all this for me, huh?” I asked.
Conall shrugged, sipping his coffee like he didn’t have a care in the world. “Yeah, but I don’t think you’re opposed.”
“Yeah? Why’s that?”
“Because deep down, I think youwanta reason to trust me. You want to believe this could work.”
“This as in us?” My question was said tightly, my breath held.
“Fakeus,” he reminded me.
Oh. “Right. Of course.” I was too late; he’d already gotten a reaction from me. “I don’t trust easily,” I warned him.
“I know,” he said, surprising me. “But you’ll grow to trust me.”
“You can guarantee that?”
“I think I can.”
There was something else about this fake arrangement that he wasn’t saying. A smile toyed on his face, something smug and arrogant.
“Sasha,” he drawled. “Do you like playing games?” He linked his fingers beneath his chin, cocking his head at me.
