Page 24 of The Forbidden Wolf

“All grown up.” Damian removed the pocket square from his suit jacket and dabbed his eyes. “She’s all grown up now.”

Father nodded heavily and coughed into his fist. His eyes landed briefly on me and then roamed to the same point over my shoulder that Kiana had indicated. I swallowed the acid suddenly rising in my throat and nodded my assent. There was no escape. Turning, I faced the male I would spend the rest of my life with.

Blaze stood patiently about twenty feet down the sidewalk, hands clasped behind his back in a way that made his barrel chest strain the seams of his suit jacket. The collar cut into his thick neck in a way that appeared quite painful, but his stoic face didn’t let on if it did. In all fairness, if I had seen him on the street, I wouldn’t have thought him a day over thirty-seven, thanks to a lag in physical aging once shifters reached adulthood. But thirty-seven was still a solid decade past the point I would consider viable for mating.

I approached him, unsure which rules of etiquette we should follow. I outranked him, but he… outsexed me, and it was often hard to tell which actually mattered more. But Blaze took the lead, bowing his head respectfully when I finally stood in front of him. My skin crawled; I could remember looking up at him when I was only three feet tall. He could probably remember looking down at me when I was a pup inside my mother’s belly.

“Elyse,” he said gruffly.

“Blaze.”

He offered me his sturdy elbow without another word.

I accepted without a word.

Silently, we joined the rest of the Bronx pack as a team of Manhattan servants ushered us around the corner toward the main entrance. I felt like a ghost hovering outside of my own body, wondering if this was how I’d watch my future unfold. If I were lucky, our relationship would continue like this, void of any pretense. He would fulfill his duties; I would fulfill mine. Our mating would not be blissful like the experience I’d had with my hero in my dreams, but it would be blessedly perfunctory.

And if I were very lucky indeed, our mission would be accomplished immediately, and no furthers encounters would be necessary. At least for a while. I barely even noticed as we climbed the steps of The Plaza. Every cell in my brain was directed toward conjuring a pleasant daydream of doting on my pup as Mother never had the chance to dote on us. Unfortunately, the most pleasant thing I could imagine—cuddling on a couch with a big bowl of buttery popcorn and a classic Disney cartoon—could never be.

I had nothing to look forward to except forcing this life on someone who had no say in whether or not they even existed. My floating soul sank lower and lower until her feet were mired in the floor. If Blaze could tell that he was literally having to drag me through the hotel lobby and onto the elevator, he never complained. He never said a word. Thankfully, his pups were being corralled by the pack nannies at the back of our convoy, and as long as I stared at the ground, I would never have to know how they must be glaring at me.

By the time we reached the entrance to the Grand Ballroom, it felt as though my chin were skimming the top of the carpet a few steps behind my own heels. But then my father touched my free elbow, jolting me back into my body, and said, “Ah, there’s Sebastian.”

I blinked, but only one person in the crowded ballroom came into focus, as though my father’s pointing finger were a spotlight. Without the cap, his wild black mane fell around his ears, and without the glasses, his dark eyes smoldered above cheeks every bit as perfectly stubbled as they’d been while rubbing against my bare shoulders in my incredibly graphic dreams for the last two nights. The future Beta stood behind a column, fidgeting with the cufflinks of the white sleeves peeking out from under the red velvet mating ceremony jacket of an Alpha Heir.

Chapter Ten

That word I wasn’t supposed to say in front of my father? Fluff… but not fluff?

Yeah, I said it. Right out loud. Right in front of him. And not in any sort of demure whisper. Some nearby guests might have gone home that night and described it as a bellow. But what the hell was I supposed to do? I’d been having incredibly detailed sex dreams about my future brother-in-law.

Father’s hand jumped from my elbow to his mouth as he launched into a coughing fit that may have been genuine or may have been an attempt to pretend my little faux pas had been nothing more than an oddly emphatic expulsion of air from his own lungs. Either way, I had made it clear to the Manhattan pack that the Bronx pack was the shifter equivalent of Cousin Eddie from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Not that any of them would understand much less appreciate this A-plus pop culture reference.

A hoard of judgmental eyeballs rolled toward us, studying Father and I over their champagne flutes and skewered hors d’oeuvres. Among them: Sebastian’s. Both brows disappeared beneath his wavy forelock, golden brown irises radiating… delight? A boyish grin quirked his lips, taking me back to the center of the Third Avenue Bridge where he’d finally stopped talking and tilted his head as if to kiss me. As if we’d been on a date.

He’d thought better of it then, and he thought better of whatever was going through his idiot male skull now. His handsome features smoothed as he nodded at Father and then hardened when his gaze fell on Blaze. He looked at me with wounded confusion, as if I’d personally presented him with a very difficult math problem, but I hadn’t done anything except walk into the room where he would soon be pledging his life to my twin, so frankly, I felt like I had dibs on the whole wounded and confused shtick.

He had known he was betrothed to someone Friday night, and that rendered his raw attraction grossly unattractive. He was a male Alpha Heir; if he showed up for his mateship ceremony reeking of a one-night stand, no one would have asked any questions, but if my sister’s pheromones weren’t as fragrant as the first blossoms of spring…

Glowering at the impudent dog, I tightened my grip on Blaze’s arm. Sebastian’s whole body tensed, muscles bulging beneath the ridiculous red velvet jacket. My regal father had made the look work twenty-seven years ago, but this male looked like he’d wandered off the set of a raunchy teen prom-com where he was playing the douchebag who’d made a bet about losing his virginity to the most popular girl in school.

Sebastian spun on his shiny black heel and rammed his powerful shoulder into a much smaller serving male, who partially lost his grip on the silver platter he was carrying toward my party. Dozens of tiny snacks splatted on the smooth wooden floor, but the servant held onto the platter, so the accident might have gone unnoticed by most of the guests in the noisy room had Manhattan’s Alpha Heir not roared, “Watch where you’re going! I ought to make you eat all that!”

The cowering servant stammered an effusive apology, earning him nothing more than a derisive sneer from his future Alpha. I rolled my eyes as Sebastian continued storming off; this guy was perfect for my sister. And lucky for him, she looked just like me.

“What the hell was that?” Blaze spoke at last.

“I’ve no idea.” Father stroked his beard and frowned. “I must have a word with Maximo. He assured me Sebastian would respect my authority in the Bronx, but the whelp barely even bowed.”

My stomach soured. “They will be returning to the Bronx with us then?”

“Of course.” Father gave me a curious look. “That has always been the plan. I would never agree to losing sight of Kiana.”

“Oh.” I loosened my grip on Blaze’s arm, yearning to yank it free completely. “Well, she’s been under the impression that she might get left behind tonight.”

Father pursed his lips. “Your sister is prone to fits of paranoia when it comes to power, but rest assured, Elyse, I have taken every precaution to protect all that is rightfully hers. If Sebastian should refuse to leave Manhattan, the mateship and the merger will be instantly dissolved. It’s all in the contract.”

“And Kiana knows this?”

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