Page 37 of The Strongest Wolf

Mine.

I’m ready to drag Sierra back for more, especially when she slides her arms up my naked back and tugs. “Come back here,” she orders, her voice husky.

“I will,” I promise. “After you tell me what had you running this morning.”

She looks away.

It’s much later in the day, practically night now with how dark it is outside, but I haven’t forgotten what happened this morning, and wewilltalk about it. There’s no way in hell I’m letting Sierra go to bed with something that could and probably would only add to her nightmares.

I grip her chin and drag her gaze right back to mine. “Tell me.”

“The sauce is boiling over,” she tells me.

I know. It’s splattering against my back, reminding me that I should have pulled on a shirt to go along with my sweatpants before making dinner for us. But it’s an annoyance that’s easy enough to ignore. “It can wait. Sierra?”

I expect to wait for a long time. When Sierra makes up her mind not to talk, she’s the most stubborn woman in the world. Patience, I’ve learned in the two weeks we’ve spent together, goes a long way with her.

“It’s not important,” she mutters, still fighting to drag her gaze from mine.

I refuse to let her. “It involves you, so it’s important.”

“The meat sauce needs stirring or it will stick to the bottom of the pan.”

“Then I’ll just have to scrub it a little harder to get it clean.”

She raises her eyebrow. “And you call me stubborn.”

“Like a mule.” I kiss her softly on the lips. “Or a donkey.”

“They’re basically the same thing.” Her lips curve in a smile. But it doesn’t last. After a searching glance, it fades. “You were talking about a submissive’s role in the pack.”

That’s what I thought.

I’d felt like someone was there listening, and there’s only one person it could have been. “Yes, I was telling Dom that the pack—and him—were going to be in for a surprise when they met you.”

She snorts. “I doubt that. Everyone knows what the role of a submissive is.”

I lean closer. “Yes, a submissive shifter is the weakest member of the pack, the one the rest of the pack will protect because he or she cannot protect themselves.” A mask settles across her face as I speak, but I don’t stop. “A submissive follows orders. They are compelled to, because they know without the pack to protect them, they will not live long, either within it or outside of it.”

“Why are you telling me something I already know?” There’s a bite in her words.

Anger is good. Her feeling sorry for herself is not. I wanted my words to provoke a reaction, and they have, which means she cares. When she stops caring, and when she stops fighting is when I know I have something to worry about.

I ignore her question. “Do you know what Dom said when I told him about you ordering me to bark like a dog?”

Her lips quirk at the memory of an exchange in her cabin that feels like a million years ago. I’d expected to intimidate her into giving up Eden’s location. I had no idea the fight I’d have on my hands. “That he wished he’d asked you to do the same thing before?”

Mock growling, I kiss her hard on the lips. “That you were like no submissive he’d ever heard of.”

The smile curving her lips fades. “But Iama submissive wolf.”

Cradling my hand around my nape, I lean closer. “That is notallyou are, little wolf.”

Her hands come up and press on my chest before I can kiss her again. “It’s all anyone will see.”

“Then you just have to show them who you are.”

“Prove myself worthy, you mean?” The bitter edge to her voice has me frowning.

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