Page 9 of Shadows of the Soul

“That’s awfully cryptic.”

“He’s cryptic. But also uninteresting. Did your parents lead any of the packs?”

He smirked. He knew I was redirecting, but was gentleman enough not to point it out. “No. My father could have, but he wasn’t interested. He paid the ultimate price—his life.”

I blinked up at him. “How?”

He sighed. “The old alpha died, and the three most powerful men fought over the position. My father, Christopher, was the strongest but didn’t fight because he didn’t want the position. He was happy to live out his life with my mother.”

I sensed where this was going. “The new alpha didn’t like that?”

“No. He murdered him and my mother while they slept. He was a coward.”

“Why not you?”

He grimaced. “I was eleven. The pack takes a dim view of killing children. He was already risking the wrath of the pack by murdering my parents. Murdering me would have flipped their loyalties. He would have been dead before the week was out.”

“So he let you live in the pack?”

“I left. I couldn’t live under the rule of a cowardly tyrant.”

“Did you join another pack?”

He shook his head. “No, not until I was ready to unite the packs. I drifted, I learned their rules, their weaknesses and their strengths. I put together the best parts of a pack and eradicated the archaic ways. Like the arranged marriage Maggie was bound to.”

“Outlawing it doesn’t mean they follow the rules.”

He grinned. “No, but it means they meet swift punishment. For the most part, I leave the packs to run themselves, so long as they follow the basic rules. I only intervene if needed.”

“Maggie’s father missed the memo.”

“He’s got it now.”

My eyes widened, and my fork paused. “You dealt with Maggie’s father?”

His head tipped down so he could meet my gaze. “Their pack is under new management. I won’t tolerate rape and abuse.”

I studied his face. He’d really done it. He’d taken out Maggie’s father and his sniveling abusive buddies. And he’d not once bragged or mentioned it to gain my trust.

“Thank you. I’ll let her know. Perhaps it will help her heal.”

“You’ve done a great job of that already.”

I shrugged and chased some gooey blueberries around the plate before scooping them up and shoveling them in my mouth. The room fell silent, but electricity charged the air.

I glanced up to find Hudson’s alpha stare fully locked on my lips. I swallowed. “What?”

“You have a little something,” he said, tapping the corner of his mouth.

I thumbed the side of my mouth. Then sucked it clean. “Did I get it?”

Hudson sucked in a breath, making my eyes snap to him. He leaned over the tiny table and wrapped one hand behind my head. I stilled as my pulse skyrocketed. The cocky smirk dropped from his face as his breath feathered over my lips, making them tingle in awareness. His tongue flicked out and the tip licked the side of my mouth, which parted as a shudder rippled down my spine and my breath halted in my throat. Without releasing me, Hudson flew off his stool and rounded the table. His colossal body crowded me as he tugged on my hair to tilt my head back and wrapped his arm around my back, his palm engulfing my hip. He was a handsome guy. Strong, powerful, a hunter, a protector. Everything that made me feel female. Everything that made him dangerous. He held me like I was both precious and someone to ravish. It was intoxicating. This was why I’d avoided being alone with him. I didn’t have the willpower to resist what he was offering, however fleeting his attention might be. It was still focused wholly on me at this moment, and when Hudson gave you his attention, you became the center of the universe.

His mouth descended on mine, his lips and teeth coaxing my mouth to open and let him in. He tasted of summer, sin, and sex. My hands dug into his hair and pulled at the strands. A rough growl rolled from his chest and up his throat, and I swallowed it with a moan. The power of making this beast growl for me was dizzying. Heat unfurled low in my stomach, and electric pulses of pleasure skimmed over my flesh. Wired tight with desire, a physical need stretched between us like an elastic band, the inevitability of us colliding in an explosion as clear as the Louisiana sky.

He broke away from my mouth and trailed his lips across my jaw to the sensitive part of my ear. My legs wrapped around his waist and drew him closer. He gripped my hips, lifted me, spun, and dropped me on the kitchen counter. His body leaned forward, pushing mine back as his hands swept underneath me. Utensils crashed to the floor as he pushed my t-shirt up and traced his fingers over my scars. I hid my imperfections, ashamed of the weakness they represented. I pushed my hands over his, attempting to cover them up.

“Don’t,” he growled. My hands stilled. “They are beautiful, you are beautiful inside and out, Cora.” He leaned down and his lips followed the curve of each scar around my ribs. “Don’t hide yourself from me. What I see is strength, beauty, and an extraordinary woman.” He punctuated each word with a kiss on the raised gnarly flesh. A tear slid from my eye, down my temple and into my ear.

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