Page 71 of The Forbidden Wolf

“Trespassing,” he gently teased, inching deeper into my personal space. I didn’t mind because he was doing a good job blocking the north wind.

“Yeah, I’ve got bad news for you, pal.” I looked up at him, smirking. “I’ve been doing it pretty much every Friday and Saturday night since then. No one ever caught me.”

“Until they did.” His fingers stroked the back of my arm. “How far were you going?”

“Not far.” I squeezed my eyes shut. “There’s an old movie house on 123rd and Lexington. They only show—”

“Movies from last century.” Sebastian paused. “I’ve noticed it before.”

“Well, that’s where I wound up the night I ran away. I’d never seen a movie before…” I laughed even as the tears brimmed. “Sorry, I know it’s a sensitive subject, but it really felt like fate had pulled me there. I went inside, and that’s where I met Evan and Jayla and—” My head drooped, and I covered my mouth. “They saved me.”

“I’m so sorry.” His hand crept onto my back, but I forgave him because his voice sounded ragged and real. “I would have done it all so differently if I’d known that female had a gun. And I never expected someone like Evan to—”

“Protect his females?” I snorted my disgust. “I know it must be shocking, but some males measure our value outside of sexual and reproductive utility.”

Sebastian sighed. “That’s not all I want you for, Elyse.”

I shrugged his hand off. “I don’t think you even know what else to want me for.”

“You’re not being fair,” he said. “You don’t know me well enough to say that.”

“But I know you well enough to have sex with you on Sunday?”

His lips parted in protest but then his jaw snapped shut. “We don’t have to consummate if you’re not comfortable with it, but the mateship ceremony must take place before anyone finds out what you’re capable of. Otherwise, there will be challenges—”

I turned to face him, glaring hard enough to back him up a step. “Are you sure you aren’t just paranoid I’m going to fall in love with this new butch Evan you’ve dreamed up, and then you’ll have to hurt him to salvage your pride, and then I’ll neuter you in your sleep and make it all moot?”

“He will change,” Sebastian growled. “You cannot fathom the intensity of a male wolf’s urge to mate and sire pups. It will consume him now as it consumes us all.”

“You know what I don’t like about you?” I laughed bitterly as I sidestepped him. “I don’t like how one minute you’re all human, telling me there are blessings beyond pups in a mateship, telling my friends we can wait until I’m ready, telling me just now that you want more from me than that, but then a minute later, I’m just talking to another horny wolf who sees me as some sort of… gene deposit box.”

He bounded after me and grabbed my arm. “You’re mine.”

I whirled and slapped his wrist. “No. Not until I say so. Don’t touch me again unless I ask.”

Sebastian held his hands up. “Does that mean you will? Ask?”

“Well, I can’t escape you, and I do want children someday,” I sneered. “So, I guess I’ll let you know when your services are required.”

A cruel familiar laugh cut through the eerie stillness of the empty bridge. I jumped and spun around, furious with Sebastian for distracting me by telling me to be on guard when I had already been perfectly on guard without his patronizing advice. He stepped up beside me as my mirror image emerged from the fog—barely recognizable with dark brown hair cut just above her shoulders.

“Trouble in paradise so soon, sister?” Kiana asked, a triumphant smirk on her heavily painted lips. She wore a dazzling red dress to go with them, one that accentuated her hips and lifted her breasts into a stunning display of cleavage that any red-blooded male would take notice of. Perhaps Damian had been controlling her opinions on modesty also…

“It’s been hell from the beginning,” I answered honestly. “But it’s taken a turn for the worse tonight, thanks in no small part to your face being on the news. Nice haircut.”

“You should probably get one too.” Kiana patted her new layers with a thin smile. “But do me a favor and don’t copy for a change.”

“I’ve never copied you,” I said. “Nor do I owe you any favors.”

Kiana pushed her lips into a sultry pout and turned her attention to Sebastian. “You do realize, don’t you, that if you’d chosen wisely, I would no doubt be thoroughly mated by now?”

Father coughed as he limped up to her side. “Don’t be crass, Kiana. We are here to make amends with your sister and move forward.” He nodded at me, clear blue eyes brimming with sorrow. “Oh, Elyse…”

I didn’t wait for the apology. I crossed the space between us in three quick strides and threw my arms around his neck, earning sighs of exasperation from both my mate and my twin. But I didn’t care. Father clasped me to his chest and rocked me side to side.

“I thought I’d never see you again,” he rasped, sounding far frailer than he had just last week. “I don’t know what came over me…”

“It was Damian, Daddy.” I pushed back just enough to look into his eyes. “He’s been using his power against you—”

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