Chapter 3: Enemy Territory

Dominic regarded the female before him curiously. He had been told that she was Kage, but they hadn’t mentioned that she was a tiny little thing.

Considering the fact that she had been kidnapped and forced to be in his company, he had expected a young, fragile creature. But there was no fear in her expression, nor was it drifting from her like steam, as he would have expected.

Instead, she looked royally pissed.

He had become so accustomed to the scent of fear that he now found himself a little thrown.

He also found that he was becoming painfully hard as a raw, basic hunger surged through him, beating at his self-control.

She was freakishly beautiful, beautiful in that in-your-face, sophisticated kind of way, but not just that. With her long black hair and hazel eyes, she possessed that natural, all-woman, all-real beauty that was dabbling with his mind.

And although she was slender, she was blessed with mouth-watering curves that had all sorts of fantasies playing around in his head.

It was her mouth that had most of his attention, though. It was plush and carnal and made a guy think impure thoughts. A mouth that was currently set into a hard line, communicating how livid and stubborn she was. Still, the stench of fear hadn't permeated the air.

Maybe she just didn’t recognize him. Perhaps if she knew who he was, the emotions he expected from her would finally emerge.

Drawing his lips into a thin line, Dominic growled, "Do you know who I am?"

---

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Why don’t we just skip to the part where you tell me how the hell I got here, or why I'm here at all, Alpha Crane?"

Everyone around her stiffened, and an uncomfortable hush fell upon the room. They were not used to people speaking out of turn to their Alpha and were probably all waiting for him to explode.

Yeah? Well, Natalie had had enough of intimidating, dominating males.

She had had enough of boyfriends who seemed to think that her being Kage meant she had to be submissive and meek.

She had had enough of her father trying to force her to mate with that bastard for his sly reasons.

She had had enough of said bastard who was so determined to mate her, he had cornered and almost forced himself on her without her permission last week, believing he could mark her as his.

And now this mad, hot-as-sin man had kidnapped her. Forgive her if she had reached her limit!

---

Dominic smiled inwardly at Natalie’s contentiousness. He had been told enough times that he had an intimidating presence. All his life, even before earning his reputation, people had been wary of him, and it had kind of irritated him.

His mother blamed the seemingly permanent scowl on his face as well as the dominant vibes that surrounded him.

This female, however, wasn’t shrinking away from him or the intensity of his gaze. And he knew it was intense. He knew that his eyes were so completely focused on her and every single line and curve of her hot little body that it should have been enough to make her look away, squirm, or scowl.

She didn’t even flinch under his scrutiny. Instead, she met his hard stare boldly, and it occurred to him that he might have found someone who could outstare him.

This was a female who wasn’t used to taking shit from people, even though she was a Kage. Her fiery nature pleased his wolf, who didn’t respect tremblers. He would bet she had a wicked temper.

Instinctively, Dominic inhaled deeply to investigate the scent of the female.

Fuck! He was hypnotized.

The exotic fusion of coconut and vanilla slammed into his system and shot straight to his hardening cock, making it jerk. His wolf growled in arousal, wanting to further examine this female with the mouth-watering scent.

Without tearing his gaze from hers, he finally spoke. "We are not at war, Natalie. Why don’t you sit down and make yourself comfortable?" he invited, gesturing to the seat opposite him, a small smile curving around his full lips.

If things went as planned, his strong attraction to her would be a good thing in the end.

A very good thing indeed.

---

Shit! The way he drawled her name made her feel like he was dragging his tongue over her nipples.

Natalie wanted to refuse Dominic’s invitation to sit. She almost did in fact. But to do that would give the impression that she felt too intimidated by his presence, and truth be told, she couldn’t afford to look like that in an unknown enemy's territory.

Natalie settled into the seat Dominic had gestured toward and sent a blazing glare his way. "So you were going to explain what this is all about?"

"My Head Enforcer and Beta brought you here a few hours ago," Dominic immediately replied, his rough, gravelly voice pricking into Natalie’s senses.

"Why? And how did they even get me to go with them?"

"They drugged you," he said, too simply and too casually, and Natalie gaped. He was too flippant and unremorseful for her liking.

"They did what?" she drawled, almost dangerously, and Natalie watched as Dominic’s sharp gaze metamorphosed into one of pure heat.

Electricity flashed through her, and for a moment, she almost forgot she was angry, which made her even madder at him for being able to affect her like this.

"After you left the café, the drowsiness kicked in as you were walking home. Talon and Davina took you and brought you to me."

The way he spoke with so much calmness baffled Natalie to no end, especially after she had just seen the raw heat in his eyes.

"If it makes you feel any better," began her temporary bodyguard, "you fought me and Davina like a tiger before you passed out."

He lifted his t-shirt to show her a set of claw marks that spanned his chest. Her marks, she realized.

Although she was Kage, she could partially shift.

She also realized that her bodyguard, whom she presumed was Talon, seemed amused rather than angry.

"Tiger is an understatement. No one ever marks our Head Enforcer," a tall, beautiful olive-skinned female wolf rasped, and Natalie focused her gaze on her.

This stunning wolf had to be Davina, her other kidnapper. With her athletic build and long chocolate-brown hair, Davina was definitely more Natalie’s type, female or not. Unfortunately, Raven was growling in disagreement, which only meant she liked the wild one.

Great! Just freaking great!

Throwing her gaze back to the wild one, Natalie decided she was done beating around the bush.

"And the purpose of 'Operation Drug and Kidnap the Female Wolf' is what exactly?"

As Natalie asked this, she made it clear with her tone that she wasn't going to settle for a simple explanation. This mad Alpha better have a serious reason, or so help her God.