Page 24 of Wolf's Claimed Mate
I leaned back, nodding.
“Kato would book that room out at least once a week,” she said. “He would meet a woman, usually. They’d come back when we’d long gone home.”
“What did he do in there?”
Her smile was wicked. “We all bet that he fucked her real good. What doyouthink?”
The brazen word coming from her mouth did things to me that I wasn’t prepared for. I gritted my teeth, clenching my fork. Like she had done for me in the diner, I’d ordered ahead for us, and I was saved from her filthy tongue by our food arriving.
“I know the host,” Sasha mentioned halfway through our meal. “Of the private room.” She shot me a knowing look. “In theexactway, you’re thinking.”
I knew how a lie looked on Sasha’s tongue; I was learning to know. And there was some truth there, but it wasn’t the full story she wanted me to think.
I’ll open you, Sasha, I thought.I’ve known you long enough to start figuring you out. Drop the act.
“Good,” I said. “Maybe you can work some of that magic to get intel on if the pack has checked into the room lately.”
“Want to watch?” she teased.
“Sure,” I lied off-handedly, surprising her. “I want to see what you look likenotrejecting someone.”
Sasha’s made-up eyes narrowed. “Ass,” she muttered. “Fine. After dinner, I’ll get that information. I’ll give you a nod to come watch.”
Chapter 11 - Sasha
Conall couldn’t stop staring at me no matter how hard he tried to look away. I had always seen him as attractive. I knew my rejection that day hadn’t been anything to do with him but with me, and now I half questioned what I was even saving myself for.
I slid into the role of a sultry, sensual woman so easily, assisted by the half a bottle of wine from earlier that day in the tub, and the dinner wine. My dress hugged every part of my body, knowing its grace and shape were on tantalizing display for everyone to look at.
But aside from my comment about the meeting room host, I made sure Conall felt as though I only had eyes for him.
His muscled chest was half exposed in a button-down white linen shirt, the caps emphasizing strong biceps. Thalia told me he, Fenrys, and Aidan all worked out together, and if I knew Conall, as I was starting to, I knew he’d keep up with the grueling alphas’ workout regime. Part of me wanted to offer myself to him here and now; the other part wanted to run, to hide as best as I could, to never be sniffed out by another wolf ever again.
I was a virgin; I should be keeping it that way.
And yet the way he looked at me, as if he could undress me with just his gaze, made me flush inside out.
We finished our meals, and I smirked at him, pushing up from the table. Like everyone else, Conall assumed that my sensual characteristics were paired with an openness with sex itself. He likely thought I was doing sexual favors for the host in exchange for information.
Let him think that. I didn’t care. If anything, I enjoyed seeing how that thought got under his skin.
In reality, I sidled over to the host, Vinny, an old friend I’d made since becoming Jackson’s girlfriend, and smiled at him. I slipped him some bills I’d prepared upon being invited to the Starlight.
“Walk with me,” I murmured. “I have a friend at my table who needs to see me head out of view with you.”
He nodded immediately, taking the bills discreetly, and offered his arm to guide me away. I smiled smugly at Conall, tossing my curls over my shoulder, and followed Vinny.
When we got near the kitchens, out of sight, I laughed and hugged him. “How have you been? It’s been so long!”
“It has!” he exclaimed. “God, you look beautiful, Sash. Jackson doesn’t know what he’s missing.”
My blood went cold. I’d gotten so used to being the only one around my friends who knew Jackson’s name and just how close he’d been to Kato. I’d portrayed him as one of the lower-ranked wolves, but he was far closer, one of Kato’s most trusted two.
I faked a laugh. “He’s long gone!”
Vinny grimaced. “I’m assuming you want to see the records,” he said. “Word is you left Kato’s pack after he—died.”His eyes flickered away, almost nervously. “I’m sorry for your loss. I know he was like a father to you. I thought you would have gone with them.”
The wordfatherwould have once felt fitting despite there only being just over a decade between Kato and me, but now the word rolled through me sickly. Nobody would ever know about the contract, what I was seduced into the pack for.
