Chapter two

He was so tall that she still had to tilt her head back to look up at him. Who was this man who scared her and made her feel safe at the same time?

Her heart thundered in her chest as she realized that he seemed frighteningly angry. But at what? She didn’t know him, so why did it seem like he was angry with her?

His gaze skimmed over her body, and when their eyes met, she could clearly see the disgust in them.

“You look like a slut.”

Her fear disappeared completely as anger stirred like boiling water within her. How typical of a male werewolf—an arrogant male—to think he had any right to criticize her simply because she was female.

Amy thrust her chin out, propped her hands on her hips, and gave him the same thorough look he had given her. She might as well return the favour.

“I don’t know who you think you are, but do yourself a favour and get the hell out of the strippers’ room. And don’t forget to keep your opinions to yourself.”

His expression grew lethally cold.

“Are you trying to play a fast one on me, Avira?”

Her eyes widened, and she took a step back, her pulse drumming wildly. How did this familiar stranger know her name? Not just her stage name—her real name, which no one else knew except her foster parents. Clearly, he knew other werewolves she was friends with who had somehow recognized her. Or perhaps he knew her late father.

But why didn’t she recognize him at all? A man like him had to be unforgettable if they had met. He was too big and too magnificent, definitely too full of himself like other male werewolves. He would have been impossible to ignore.

“Why would I play games with you? I don’t even know you!”

His eyes narrowed.

“Tell me how you came to this place, and do not test my patience.”

Amy drew herself up. How dare he question her in such a commanding tone, like he had every right to?

“Since you seem to know more about me than I know about myself, why don’t you figure that out?”

He took a huge step fully into the room, and everything else suddenly felt small in his presence. It was as though he overwhelmed the whole room—and her. She felt small.

Amy wanted to back away from him, but there was nowhere to go, and she would not cower before this man who acted as though she owed him something. It was important that she showed him she wasn’t scared in any way.

“What happened? Who helped you do this?” he questioned. “Where have you been all these years?”

Amy swallowed.

“Who… how…?”

“Amy, is everything alright here?”

Her eyes darted past the stranger to Thiago, who stood at the door, his fists clenched at his sides as though he was ready to defend her from this dangerous man.

The stranger turned slightly to stare at the entrance.

Thiago’s expression was grave, his green eyes deadly serious as he tried to stare the man down.

She wished she could tell him that it wouldn’t work. This was a werewolf who seemed dangerous enough to scare her. What he would do to a human who didn’t know his true nature would be devastating. The last thing she wanted was a fight because she knew this man would definitely brutalize Thiago without even trying. There was something cold about him, something fierce and clearly untamed. Above all, he was a werewolf, while Thiago was just human.

“I am fine, Thiago,” she replied as calmly as she could. “He is about to leave anyway.”

“No, I am not,” he growled, his voice trembling with that of his wolf. He sounded like a high-ranking werewolf, one of the wealthy and powerful ones who lived the best lives.

“Well, you should leave,” Thiago said. “Amy needs her rest before she goes back on stage.”

“I see.”

The stranger turned back to her then, and she felt the full force of his piercing eyes.

Her wolf whimpered.

“I don’t think she will be returning to the stage. Avira is coming with me.”

Fury flooded through her veins like blood.

What did he mean by that?

“I am not coming anywhere with—”

He reached out and grasped her arm with an iron grip, his fingers firm and in control.

Shock forced Amy to go completely still as her body reacted with a shudder at the touch of his skin against hers.

She had never felt this way with anyone.

Her whole body hummed with familiarity, and her wolf moaned as though it were in heat and desperate with longing. Beneath it all was a current of sadness so deep and powerful that she wanted to cry.

“Hey!” Thiago protested immediately, anger creeping into his voice. “Let her go.”

Amy looked up at the stranger in confusion.

Pure, undiluted confusion.

“Who are you?”

A shadow passed over his face before it hardened again.

“Cut the pretense. Do you expect me to believe that you don’t know me?”

Anger and despair hit her in waves. The way he spoke to her and looked at her with so much hatred made no sense at all. He hated her, and she couldn’t figure out why.

Using all her strength, she wrenched herself out of his grip.

Amy hugged herself tightly.

It was as though she wanted to protect herself from the anger and sadness ripping through her.

Then there was the heat arcing through her and her wolf.

Was he her mate?

But she had been told she didn’t have a mate.

Thiago had disappeared, but she knew he had gone to fetch the club bouncers. He would be back at any moment, and they would throw this arrogant man out of there.

Even as she thought it, she knew it would be impossible.

“Why would I know you?” she snapped.

“Because you should,” he growled, his dark eyes flashing with heat. “You know me very well.”

Her heart pounded at the certainty in his voice.

He was insane.

How could she know him very well when they had never met?

“I can’t imagine why you would think so. I have never met you.”

He frowned and replied, his voice laced with barely contained anger.

“Because… you are my wife.”