Page 24 of The Wolf's Kidnapped Mate

“You scolded those guysso hard—” Her cackles grew louder as she bowed forward to hug her stomach.

I made a left at another light and joined a long two-lane road that would take us to the highway. And that would take us back to the pack. Hopefully, my cruise through town had helped Bernadetti get some eyes on us. The Blonde Dalmatians were in position, so I didn’t have to worry about alerting them or Liam.

I just had to get Kylie home in one piece.

Both gigantic mirrors reflected an empty road behind us. I relaxed a little bit, allowing my stance to become more casual than the hunched grump clutching the wheel and gear shift. Those guys had gotten under my skin just bygawkingat Kylie.

Needless to say, I took my responsibility to keep her safe at all costs very seriously. Once her laughter faded and she took a huge sip of her boba, she collapsed into her seat, taking gulping breaths of cool air that thickened with the scent of salt. I smelled roses right over it—that was Kylie.

And for some reason, the scent of her drew my attention. I looked at the way she reclined with her seat belt snug over her lap, arms sprawled on either side of her, hair wild around her face. The lip gloss had smudged a bit, but everything else was perfect. The shadow and eyeliner were top-notch.

She looked natural. She looked like she trusted me.

My heart twisted in my chest. I turned back to the road, trying to resist the urge to look at her again. Another distraction would get us hurt. It wasn’t like I didn’t have eyes in the sky and on the ground to keep us safe. But I didn’t want to get caught off guard.

That wasn’t something I wanted Kylie to relive.

Once the entrance sign appeared ahead, I slowed the truck. I flipped my signal. I took a smooth right onto the gravel. Now that we were back, I didn’t have to stay as guarded. Jermaine was at the security post where he saluted us. We saluted right back. In her neighborhood, I felt a creeping paranoia that put me on edge.

I parked in front of her apartment and shut off the engine. “Maybe I should come inside.”

“For what?”

“To hang around.”

She gave me a curious look that sent her trim brows right into her hairline. “To hang around?”

“What? I can’t hang out with you?”

“The other day, you wanted nothing to do with me. You barely said hi to me before we were announced mates.”

I scoffed. “Yeah, well, that’s different than—”

“Yesterday, you laughed at me when I said I wanted to be a plant caretaker. Then you chased me down to the beach where you demanded to take me into town.”

I glared at her. “Hey now, I didn’tdemand—”

“Oh, no. I’m not done talking.”

She held up a finger while slurping the last of her boba. The sound rattled my nerves, but I didn’t want to argue withher if she was going to make a point that let me get into her apartment so I could check the windows and locks.

After she smacked her lips, she sighed. “You take me into town, treat me to something so delicious it makes me want to cry, andnowyou want to hang out with me even though you said, and I quote,we’ll never get along.”

My glare turned into a shameful stare. She wasn’t wrong. I just hated hearing it out loud like that. Without the appropriate context, I just sounded like a wishy-washy jerk.

“So, you must have a trulygoodreason for wanting to come up to my apartment to hang out,” she continued. She slurped a tapioca jelly pearl into her mouth as though it intensified her point—and it did. “Please and thank you.”

A good reason? Well, I had severaldamngood reasons to go up to her apartment right this second and do a security check. Come to think of it, the yards needed to be inspected as well. And what about her little friend, Faye? Did she need to be questioned for any particular reason?

Aside from that woman, Kylie didn’t truly hang out with anyone else. Was there a reason for that? Maybe she wasn’t as bright and sunny as I remembered.

Regardless of those facts, I had to do something to ensure her safety. Promises were important to me. Just because it was part of my mission to protect her didn’t negate the sincerity of my promise to Liam that his sister would be safe in my care. I meant to do right by that assurance.

At all costs.

“I want to hang out,” I started with an even tone, “because I want to see if we can be mates.”

Kylie stared at me for a while. Her eyelids fluttered as her mouth twitched into a temporarily hopeful grin. Then she broke into a full-on witchy cackle. She popped open the hefty truck door, hopped down, and grabbed her mostly empty boba cup from the seat.

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