“We have identified our primary targets, and you are here because you are trusted. We will not leave this room until everyone understands their role, and is confident of what they’re there to do. This is not a time to be hesitant to speak. If you do not understand something as I explain it or if your personal role seems unclear in any way, you raise it and ask as many questions as you need until you are certain. Are we clear?”
Every wolf in the room nodded. Some of the gathered women looked a little pale, others tense with anticipation. The guards were stern.
“Very well, then. Let’s get started. If you are in
~ JESSE ~I was naked, sweating, and on my knees on the bed.Cazz had stalked through the day, abrupt and tense. I’d thought it was just because we were getting to the final details, and he was facing the fact that we were intentionally putting wolves within the grasp of powerful humans.But the moment the room had finally gone quiet after dinner and everyone looked at each other, no one asking any questions, he’d turned snappish—almost rude.Until he’d ushered me back to his room and begun stripping my clothes almost before the door was closed behind us.He groaned now, sliding hands down my spine to grasp my hip
~ JESSE ~“Settle, Jesse,” he laughed. “I only asked what might be best for late in pregnancy. I know everything is different with the belly. I don’t want to crush you, but I want to watch you… I need to watch you,” he said, his tone dropping at the end into a hint of self-consciousness. Vulnerability.I bit my lip and reached up to stroke his stomach as he thrust slowly into me again, then let my eyes close and nodded. “Well… good choice,” I breathed.He gave that low growl again, and my skin pebbled.“Jesse, look at me.”When I opened my eyes again, he lifted his hands and extended his palms. “Take my hands.”
~ CASIMIR ~The morning those we were taking to the City left the catacombs was an exercise in sheer will that I had not experienced in years.We were surrounded and shadowed by dozens of wolves. And still, I had to fight not to grasp Jesse and roar at her to go back, not to gather the guards around the two of us and to hell with the rest, not to hold her belly and weep into her beautiful breasts at the fear of what might be on the horizon.But giving in to fear was not how an Alpha led.My father had been an evil fucker, but he hadn’t been wrong about that.So, I allowed myself the indulgence of gripping my mate’s hand at all times on the journey—at times,
~ CASIMIR ~Every instinct in my body screamed about enclosed spaces and unknown enemies as we were ushered through the huge hotel, awash with unrecognized scents, then through the halls to a second elevator that opened directly into a massive suite—larger than my chambers under the mountain—with tall, floor-to-ceiling windows and multiple rooms off a main, central living area.I had kept several guards with us on the trip, and let some peel off along the route between this place and the rooms we would keep for the night to make certain that we weren’t being set up for an ambush. I’d had to bark at Ryan to slow down so his sister could keep up, which he did reluctantly—but she seemed more irritated than tired when we finally reached the huge suite. Still, I caught her eyes darting and she licked her lips more than once. She was more nervous
~ JESSE ~I felt sick. We stood in the long hallway of a wing they’d given us just for the wolves. There were guards stationed where the elevator bays opened and the wing joined the main hallway of the hotel on this floor. And a few more scattered along the hallway, just watching over the females. But we stood in the middle of the bustle of all these women finding rooms, finding bags, and putting on a very plausible show of women who were nervous and trying to settle in after long travel.Probably because it didn’t need to be much of an act.The women would look at me and Cazz, then their eyes would dart nervously to Garret—the Police Chief who had been my father’s boss and comrade
~ JESSE ~I didn’t even think.I slapped Garrett’s hand away with a growl of my own at the same time I screamed at Cazz through the bond, “NO!”I wasn’t sure if I accidentally unleashed power, or what happened, but there was a jolt inside me and the word resonated, freezing Cazz in his tracks for a split second, just in time for me to put a finger under Garrett’s nose.“I am the King’s slave, not yours,” I hissed at him, at the same time I babbled at the panting and rippling Cazz through the link.‘You can’t touch him, yo
~ CASIMIR ~It was a physical fight not to just shift and kill this sick motherfucker. Especially when he turned to me arrogantly and put himself between me and my mate. I showed him my teeth as I swallowed the growl.“That won’t be necessary—” he started.“Oh, I assure you it is,” I snapped. “You have her with me outside the door, or you don’t have her at all.”Over his shoulder, Jesse looked at me nervously, but she wasn’t the only one who knew how to deal with assholes like this. And the way her chin was up, that spine of steel that I could sense in her sending through the l
~ JESSE ~I stood there in that room, hands on my mouth, heart pounding in my ears.‘Jesse, you can do this! Just make him stop and listen, then you’ll have space to breathe…. Jesse… Jesse, what’s going on? Jesse… FUCKING ANSWER ME BEFORE I BREAK DOWN THIS DOOR.’I blinked and realized Cazz was about to ruin everything, and threw my mind open so he could see what I was seeing, shaking my hands and making myself breathe.‘Cazz, I’m sorry. I think I broke him!’