Page 35 of Forsaken Fate

“No!” My vision went white. I knew my wolf eyes flashed. I tasted blood in my mouth. My fangs had dropped.

I took a deep breath and willed my heart to slow.

“I’m fine,” I said. “I don’t have mating sickness. You don’t have to worry.”

Vince shrugged as I walked past him, shutting off the lights to my office before heading out the door.

* * *

Two days later, I was back in Albany waiting at an overpriced restaurant where most of the state power players liked to be seen. Grayson and Brynna were running late. I agreed to meet them both for dinner and Grayson promised to return my mother’s jewelry. I knew before I even sat down this would be a colossally bad idea. I was playing Grayson’s game, not mine.

I wished I could get good and drunk. With my shifter strength, I could down ten martinis and they wouldn’t make a dent. I’d have to rely on my own biofeedback to keep from shifting right there at the table. Then Brynna walked in on Grayson’s arm and no amount of alcohol or deep breathing would have prepared me.

She was stunning in a low-cut black dress that hugged her like a second skin. Grayson dressed her slutty at Diana’s funeral. Tonight, she looked like money and class, and sexy as hell. She walked through that restaurant like she owned Albany and every single head between the door and my table turned when she passed. But Brynna kept her eyes fixed on mine. They brightened when she saw me, and it heated my blood. I felt her pulse quicken. I knew with every fiber of my being, she felt an ache at the back of her neck. Her look was pure sin and I had visions of hiking that dress up, bending her over my knee and punishing her for it. Yeah, this meeting was a bad idea.

I checked my lap to make sure my inner fantasies hadn’t caused outer problems, then I stood when she got to the table, pulling her chair out for her. Grayson was also there ... I think. But in those few seconds he didn’t matter at all.

“You look great,” I said to Brynna, trying to find a tone that sounded like a future step-brother-in-law should.

“Thank you,” she said. She was handling the deception a hell of a lot better than me. Grayson sat down across from us so Brynna was next to me, just inches away. When the waiter came, she ordered white wine.

There was small talk as we waited. I pretended to glance at the menu, but Brynna had me in her spell the entire time. I saw the flush rise above her breasts and color her cheeks. Her eyes sparkled when she locked them with mine. She was just as anxious about being close to me as I was to her. It drove me crazy. I almost forgot why they asked to meet me until Grayson finally said something that penetrated my brain.

“I believe this may have been your mother’s,” Grayson said. He put a small wooden box on the table and slid it toward me. “We found it packed away. Brynna and I have been trying to organize some of the things in my mother’s house. I must have missed it earlier.”

Grayson was lying and I knew it. Brynna looked down at her hands. She knew it too. We were a table of liars, it seemed. I picked up the box and opened it. The necklace and earrings Brynna wore the other night were inside the blue velvet-lined box. My mother had other earrings in here too, a gold necklace, an opal ring I knew my father gave her and a small locket. When I opened it, I found a picture of two-year-old me holding my newborn sister, Jenny. It was an odd mix of relief and fury that clouded my head. These things were precious to me, but I also wanted to throat punch Grayson and damn Diana to hell. They had both done their part to keep these things from me. Things that had no meaning to them at all.

“Thanks,” I said though my throat was dry. “I really appreciate it.”

“Good,” Grayson said. “That’s settled then. Are we good now? No hard feelings about anything?”

Grayson was going to make the world’s worst governor if he miraculously managed to get elected.

“Sure,” I said. “Except can you explain to me why the hell your mother would hang on to something like this?” I held the locket out in Grayson’s face. “You gonna feed me a line about how it’s because my dad wanted her to have it?”

Grayson opened and closed his mouth like a fish. “How the fuck do I know? There is a ton of stuff in that house. And don’t forget, it’s my mother who just died, Theo, not yours. This isn’t about you.”

Brynna put her napkin down. “Grayson.” Her tone was harsh and Grayson startled. I saw fury in his eyes as he looked at her and it made my otherwise heated blood run cold. “You had some other things you wanted to talk to Theo about. Maybe you should go ahead and start.”

Grayson clenched his jaw as he looked at her. It was a weird, chauvinistic vibe and it was starting to piss me off. I wanted to provoke him even more. Draw him out until he dropped the act and started acting like the true dick he was. Except Brynna was going to go home with him. Shit.

Grayson talked. I heard only snippets of what he said. Something about the party faithful and presenting a united front. I had eyes only for Brynna. I sipped my third martini with a steady hand while hers shook as she rose her wine glass to her lips. I wanted to touch her. While Grayson blathered on I wanted to use the shield of the table cloth and put my hands between her legs. A blush had spread to her neck that I’d seen twice before. Both times, she’d been deeply aroused. Could she be wet for me now just from sitting close to me? Damnit. I knew she was.

“I’m sorry, what?” I said, trying to take my focus off of her. “You want me to what now?”

“You’re connected, Theo,” Grayson said. “Do you need me to spell it out for you? You never claimed a pack of your own, but you were our father’s biological son. If you submit to me at the Gathering, I’ll have the governorship locked up. You have to support me. My people say I need it.”

“I have to?”

“You know what I mean.”

“I don’t think you know what you mean. I’m not going to submit to you or any other shifter. I haven’t survived this long just to give up my freedom now.”

I left the more obvious point unsaid. Grayson didn’t deserve my submission. If I wanted to, one swipe of my paw and I could open his throat here and now.

“You don’t have to be subjugated,” Grayson said. “I’m talking about an honorary submission. Just for show.”

“That’s not how it works.”

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