LOGINI thought it was a one-night stand. But he’s an alpha wolf shifter. And I’m his fated mate. When the wickedly handsome, tattooed stranger saved me from getting stranded, I thought he was a good guy. I thought it would be one night of passion in this foggy, misty stretch of forest far from home. A night where I didn’t have to be the good girl. The responsible daughter. Turns out Desmond River is a wolf shifter. Powerful. Dangerous. Obsessed with me. And he’s holding my father prisoner. So I do what any desperate girl would do. I trade myself to the alpha wolf. But Desmond says outsiders aren’t allowed into his wealthy, secretive wolf pack. He says there’s only one way around it. I have to pretend to be his fated mate. His fiancee. That means sleeping in his bed every night. Pretending to be lovers with my enemy. Except that he touches me like he can’t keep his hands off me. Looks at me like I really am his. The only thing worse than getting in a fake relationship with the man who took me captive…Is that I might be falling for him for real. ? ? ? ? ?
View MoreDesmond’s POVI try to think of the dullest things I can to calm my raging erection. Spreadsheets. Council meetings. Her ex.The question explodes from me before I can stop it. “Why were you with that shithead? You don’t seem like you’d put up with being treated like that.”She stiffens in surprise at the question before taking a deep breath, her shoulders rounding, almost in defeat. “I’d just started at Neuroworks,” she says. “Ben came into the office one day and started chatting to me. I had no idea who he was. That charmed him, I think.”I scowl. “You charmed him.”I can just see it. Wendy, looking sexy as hell in some little pencil skirt and heels. The entitled little lordling, so used to people falling all over him, encountering… her. Lured in by her beauty, enchanted by her warmth and wit. Maybe she flirted with him in return, maybe she held him at arm’s length.I wonder how desperately she made him work for her attention, her favor. I wonder how long it took her to wrap him a
Desmond’s POV “What you all have here is beautiful. The idea of anything threatening it… of me personally being connected to its destruction…”I stroke my fingers along her scalp. “Nothing is going to be destroyed on my watch. Neither humans nor vampires have managed yet, despite some of their best efforts.”“Vampires?” She shivers. “But they’re one-in-a-million.”“They’re a lot more common than you think. You’ve probably encountered a dozen of them without realizing. They excel at camouflage.”“And vampires hate wolf shifters? Why?” I pause, gathering my thoughts. Do I get into it now, the details of our millennia-long, mutual vendetta with the vampires? The volatile relationship wolf shifters and humans have had over the same time period?I decide to give her the broad strokes, at least. “We both rely on humans to perpetuate our species. Wolf shifters need human mates. Vampires need human blood.”“Ah. So it’s a battle over resources.”“More than that. It’s two cultures, both deepl
Desmond’s POVI must be a glutton for punishment.The water splashes a little as she gets in. “Okay. You can turn now.”The bubbles hide her body from view. She gives me a smile. “You can wash my hair, but I’m taking care of the rest.”“Don’t trust me? Or yourself?”“It’s you I don’t trust. Of course.” She can’t even maintain eye contact while she spouts this obvious falsehood. I’m starting to think she is, in fact, a terrible liar.I pull up a wood stool to the edge of the bathtub and take a seat, close enough to feel the steam rising from the water. My wolf paces under my skin, keyed to the sound of her breathing, the bead of water sliding down her throat. As rain begins to patter against the fogged window, I steel myself for the most excruciating and wonderful moment of self-denial in my life.“Dip your head in the water,” I tell her, my fingers already flexing in anticipation of touching her. She does as I ask, the water lapping softly around her shoulders.I warm the shampoo i
Desmond’s POVI lead her to the bathroom and turn on the taps in the soaking tub. From a glass container, I scatter salt crystals on the bottom. I dig around in my medicine cabinet for the oil I use after a particularly bruising fight and add a few drops to the steaming water.“What is that?” she asks.“Copaiba oil. Anti-inflammatory, antioxidant. I use it after training.”“Is this the new clause in our deal? Am I supposed to be your bathing attendant now?”“The other way around. If you’re sore after this morning, I can help you with that.”Her lips quirk. There’s wash of pink across her cheeks now. “A for effort, but I’m not taking a bath in front of you.”I lean one shoulder against the doorframe, deliberately relaxed, as though every cell inside me isn’t alert to her nearness. As if the vision of her naked body hasn’t been occupying my thoughts and dreams.“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.” “Yes, and I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of women a lot more exciting to look at than me.”
Wendy’s POV“You can’t stay here,” he says. His eyes scan the lot, sharp and alert, seeming to track some danger I can't see. I’m unreasonably relieved to see him. He’s still a stranger, still very possibly dangerous, but I have the inexplicable feeling he’s on my side.I try to play it cool. Try
Wendy’s POVThis guy could be leading me straight to some sort of… lair. For all kinds of nefarious purposes. As much as I might fantasize otherwise, those purposes are unlikely to be giving me multiple orgasms and an engagement ring, so I need to get my head on straight. If we turn off onto any
Wendy’s POV“Headed to Redwood Grove?” he asks at last.I nod. “Just got into town today. Tried to get to town, I guess.”I bite back the question on my tongue. Don’t suppose you’ve seen a man in his sixties with short-cropped grey hair, probably wearing a Star Trek t-shirt and white socks with san
Wendy’s POV“Easy,” he says, holding up his hands. “Just gonna take a look. You wouldn’t be the first to run dry in the middle of the road.”This close, I see it—The scars.There’s a jagged track that goes from his hairline, down his forehead, follows the curve of his eye socket, and bisects his c






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