Page 14 of The Wolf's Kidnapped Mate

And part of me, regardless of how much I knew it was useless, wanted to stand firm and fight. I took his command as a challenge, one that I wanted to pick apart until he was firmlyannoyed. Then maybe he would understand the frustration of the other day, how he had lost something that could have been actually kind of nice.

The way he tightened his lips into a firm line flexed the muscles of his neck—and then I noticed how much the corded muscle of his arms seemed to follow suit. I’d known he was fit, butdamn, I hadn’t realized he had such good-looking arms. And when he fashioned them expectantly over his chest,ouch. I just wanted to know for a second how they might feel wrapping around my waist.

Another round of blinking helped me clear away the wonder. I squinted up at Fred and shrugged. “Fine.”

As I spun around to walk away, I noticed the aisle behind me had changed drastically. What used to be a path was now a huge row of those strange, whispering palm trees. After swallowing my fear, I held my head high and weaved my way through the trunks to get to the other side.

Each of the palms waved gently over my head. One or two of them tickled my shoulder on the way through, soft syllables reaching my ears that felt encouraging. A couple of the thick trunks parted. Ahead was the door for the greenhouse leading back to the outside world. For a second, and just a second, I wanted to stay behind. I wanted to explore the wonder of these trees and plants.

I paused at the mouth of the tree aisle to peer back, noticing the trunks had created the perfect tunnel leading right back to Fred.

The same Fred who was once glaring daggers into me now appeared more sorrowful than ever—and I couldn’t figure out why that made me want to run to him.

I fought the urge, reminding myself that it was him who wanted me to leave. And as I forced my muscles to obey the command, I felt something. Maybe it was the first time I had ever felt something for somebody of the opposite sex that wasn’t pure empathy, but it was definitelysomething, and it had my thighs aching as I jogged away from the greenhouse.

Chapter 5 - Fred

I was never one to regret things, but sending Kylie out of the greenhouse was bothering me. That girl made trouble look mild—and it wasn’t entirely her fault that the hands of fate had molded her life this way.

As I’d already told her, I didn’t control fate. I couldn’t loosen the threads or snip a couple of them to make her web look different. I just couldn’t do that. But what I could do was follow the carefully laid out orders of a close friend to keep her safe.

I was doing that, right down to the damn syllable. So, why did I feel like I had just made a huge mistake?

Tending to her was second nature. People who worked in the arena of death just did that for each other. And for Kylie, her flashback wasn’t surprising, just off-putting. It was too random to be inspired by anything in the greenhouse. But that was kind of the thing about PTSD in these cases.

Much like the enemy in an active warzone, we never knew when it was going to hit. Her slim, delicate fingers had locked perfectly over the back of her head as she’d bowed to the ground. It hurt to see her make herself small. She was reduced to a trembling cocoon.

Interestingly, unfolding her limbs hadn’t been difficult. She seemed to know my touch, her warm autumnal flesh pliant under my rugged hands. Soft skin like that belonged to a woman who wasn’t weighed down by night terrors. She had sighed in her hazy day-mare, the flash taking her consciousness temporarily and dropping her somewhere in the past.

When I’d rolled her over, I saw the worry knit into her features, the delicately trim brows warped together and dimpledwith concern. Strands of reddish-auburn hair clung to her lips and cheek. I plucked them away so she could breathe better.

And goddess, that breath she took had sounded like the first inhalation after a coma. Her eyelids fluttered. Her irises swirled with a hazelnut that blended with dots of green. They were like hazel stones containing the various colors of the ocean. Her full lips kept drawing my attention like I expected her to say something.

But she’d head-butted me instead.

The memory made me rub my nose. Some flecks of dried blood crackled from my left nostril. While I had wiped up the mess, I hadn’t exactly put ice on my nose or anything. That girl had a hard head, and she wasn’t afraid to use it.

Sighing, I turned to the trees.

Kylie wanted to tend to the plants. She came in here specifically to ask about the job, and honestly, the only reason I had posted it was because I knew I would be away from the greenhouse during the traveling part of the mission. Even if she did look like a natural among the greenery, she would be with me during that portion of the mission. It wouldn’t make sense to hire her.

One of the whispering palms beckoned me to join them. Though no breeze came through here, their massive leaves floated about like they were being jostled by a generous wind. On more than one occasion, I’d caught them dancing like the long legs of squid in the ocean, wiggling in an aimless drift that seemed inspired by a phantom breeze.

Around the trees were the usual plants—the biting bulbs that nearly poisoned Kylie, for example, situated right next to the teal stalks that hosted leaves the sizes of hands. In the dead of night under a full moon, the leaves oftenlookedlike hands. Itwas fascinating stuff to handle plants from another dimension. It took up most of my spare time.

It was also hard work. Kylie would definitely be up for the job, considering her commitment to difficult tasks. The whispering palms adored her. They didn’t say much that wasn’t gibberish, but they were definitely whispering up a fierce storm because of her. That energy had caused them to create that strange forest in which Kylie could have gotten lost.

That was the thing about whispering palms. They were tricky plants with nefarious purposes. Most often, they were used for hiding things. Given their shifting nature, they were perfect for planting outside a safe house or war room. A few of them would do just fine seeing as they multiplied easily.

Yet their confusing restructuring hadn’t deterred Kylieat all. And why would it? She had experienced the horrors of the human world. It must have been refreshing to indulge in the wonders of the supernatural dimension for a change. Yeah, sure, we got to see people turn into animals or levitate pretty much all the time. That was the usual stuff.

But these trees? This greenhouse? It was one of a kind. Anybody on the supernatural black market would have literally sent an army to retrieve the leaves of the kaleidoscope plant. Those healing gems were also psychedelic in nature. Blake allowed me to grow them for both research purposes and bartering tools.

You never knew when you needed an illegal plant to get somebody to do something.

A palm landed on my head. Though it didn’t say much, I got the message just fine.

Go after her.

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