Page 12 of The Alpha and His Enemy Wolf
“That’s not how it happened,” Rafe said. “Grayson didn’t meet her until after Aurora arrived. He tried to ignore it, but…” He shrugged and extended both hands out, palms up. “She was his mate.”
The look in Rafe’s eyes turned more intense. Was it so impossible to ignore the call of a mate?
“As for a bad settlement, we offered more than general proposals, including a vast amount of land, which your father and Lars killed when they let Victoria hunt Aurora.”
Victoria was a Franconia wolf who had come over and warned about the mediator, Aurora’s, deception. Mila disliked Victoria on sight. After all, she was a Franconia, and she’d defected from her pack. She was now slinking around with the Saccos, and some said she was sleeping with Lars. Good, Mila hoped it was true. That would hopefully remove the pressure for her to mate with Lars.
If what Rafe was saying had any bit of truth to it, maybe her pack should consider the Franconia’s proposals.
“Forget bringing in an outsider,” Rafe added. “We have this unexpected connection that we shouldn’t ignore.”
She bent her head slightly to one side. “What exactly are you saying?”
“I’m saying both you and I may be able to come up with a solution to satisfy both packs.”
Was he reading her mind? Mila didn’t think mates had that ability, but he seemed to sense what she’d just been thinking. She attempted to read his, but nothing.
She raised her chin. “And why would we want to do that?”
“Would you prefer war? Because that’s where we’re headed after your pack’s attempts at sabotage. There is no other option for compromise at this point.” He paused. “Until now.”
“Because?” She raised her brows.
“Because you know exactly why,” he barked. “Our wolves think we are mates.” When she raised her hand to protest, he said, “Don’t attempt to deny it. It’s as clear to me as if reading a billboard.”
“So what?” She shrugged one shoulder. “Neither one of us will accept that pairing, so we might as well forget we ever met.”
“Are you saying you’d prefer to fight?” He tsked and shook his head. “Your pack has a lot to lose.”
She growled in frustration. “So does yours.”
“Yes, but we outnumber you. We can quickly surround and crush your pack. You will lose not only the lives of many of your pack mates, but your land as well.”
She swallowed the rising fear from his threat and jutted her chin forward. “We will fight you until the very last drop of blood is spilled.”
He raised his hand. “Easy, my feisty temptress.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“I’m giving you an alternative. One that you’d be foolish not to take.”
When he didn’t announce it right away, impatience pushed her to prod, “And?”
He leaned back and gazed at her with a satisfied glimmer in his eyes and a hit of a smile on his lips. “You stay here with me for one week.”
Chapter 3
Rafe
“Are you insane, Rafe?” Mila threw up her hand. “Why would you even suggest something that ridiculous?”
It was the first time Mila called him by name, and although she questioned his sanity, he liked how it sounded coming from her mouth. Her lips were pink, full, and parted. His gaze lingered on them before he snapped his focus away.
Rafe asked himself the same about losing his mind on suggesting that she stay with him, but his wolf howled with glee. Considering he and Mila were part of rival packs on the brink of war, Rafe’s proposal could only be described as mad.
“I’ve been searching for my mate for a long time,” Rafe replied. “I’d lost hope, thinking it might never happen—and then told myself it was better that way as I had too much going on as alpha to take on anything else in my life.” He took a deep breath and exhaled before continuing. “Although I’m as disturbed as you are about finding out who fate has paired me with, I’m not going to be foolish enough not to ignore this gift.”
“It hardly seems like a gift,” Mila replied, arching her brow. “More like a curse.”
