Chapter 3

A thought made her chest ache. She could think of only one person who’d ever captured her heart, and she hadn’t seen him in over twenty years.

“What’s on your mind, darlin’?” Alexander asked. He must have sensed her thoughts were elsewhere rather than on the dance floor with him where they should have been, had she not been pining for a dead man.

Now was as good a time as ever. Each passing minute gave the vampires more time to put the serum into wide use. She needed to get this show on the road— fast.

“Alexander, dancing with you all evening has been lovely, but why don’t we head back to my—”

The alpha wolf shook his head, the brim of his Stetson lowering slightly as he stopped Mae short. “Save your breath, darlin’. I’m not interested.”

Mae nearly tripped over one of his cowboy boots. Stupid high heels. “E-excuse me?” she sputtered. She couldn’t have heard him correctly.

Alexander chuckled. “I’ve known the game, darlin’.”

Mae’s brow wrinkled in confusion. “And yet you’ve gone along with it anyway?”

Alexander nodded. “I have.” He spun her outward before pulling her back and catching her in his arms again. The move was so smooth and belied a gentility that would have made a more receptive woman swoon.

“Because even though you’re attracted to me, you think I’m better than that?” she asked.

Man, did he have to go and be so sweet and make her feel like even more of a tool?

“You are better than that, but you’re wrong on one part.” Alexander let out another bemused chuckle. “No offense, darlin’, but I’m not attracted to you.”

It was all Mae could do not to stop dancing right then and there. “You’re not?” He shook his head as he lowered his voice. A playful grin crossed his lips.

“I’m more of a Brokeback Mountain kind of cowboy, if you catch my drift.” Mae’s eyes widened. “Oh. I wouldn’t have thought…” She struggled to find

the words.

“Not every gay man has a feminine side,” Alexander said. “It’s no secret, but I don’t make a habit of advertising my sex life to my fellow packmasters.”

“Of course.” Mae nodded. Maybe that explained the lack of attraction on her end. Perhaps she’d sensed she would have been barking up the wrong tree? Though if she was honest with herself, she knew deep down the problem wasn’t Alexander—it was her. She glanced up at the massive alpha wolf. “So why keep asking me to dance? Why bring your pack here?”

Alexander shrugged. “I like to dance, and you’re as good a partner as any. Not to mention, I have a profound respect for your brother. He’s one of the fiercest and fairest packmasters I’ve ever known, and I like to examine my options. This serum thing leaves me with some questions for my own pack and some

questions for you.”

“Alexander, we’re desperate, and if you don’t get on board in time, your pack will be too. Last month when the vampires took me captive, their intent was clear. The serum they’ve created allows—”

“I know. My question isn’t about what the serum can do or cause.” Mae raised a brow. “What exactly is your question then?”

“I’ve been listening to your story all night, and I’m still unclear about one part,” Alexander said.

Mae swayed along with him, allowing him to lead. “I’d be happy to clarify,” she said.

That she could do. Even if her backup plan had failed miserably.

Alexander stared down at her, his dark-brown eyes searing into hers as if he were trying to see through her. “How exactly did you escape the vampires’ cells?”

Mae nearly choked on her own inhalation of breath. It was the one question she didn’t want the Canadian packmaster to ask, because if the truth was ever revealed to her brother, to Alexander, to anyone here at this reception, their chances of ever claiming more allies would be shot. The consequences for her pack would be deadly.

“That’s a good question,” she said.

While she struggled to formulate an explanation for Alexander—one that hid the dark truth—the alpha wolf twirled her around again. But as she faced away from him, she let go of his hand, stopping midspin, because at that moment, any hope she had of an explanation was lost.

Mae froze. Slowly, she blinked, standing there like a deer in the headlights.

She couldn’t possibly be seeing straight.

It was him. The answer to Alexander’s question and one of her darkest secrets was standing right there on the other side of the dance floor. As if it were normal, as if he were normal.

Nothing about this moment—nothing about him—was normal.

Her heart began to pound.

The Rebel. The Dark Devil. The King of the Misfit Wolves. She’d heard the

nicknames more than once. And yet he lingered there in the shadows, toasting her with a champagne flute as he cast her an amused smirk. Then he drew a long sip from the glass. Mae blinked, hoping, praying the wolf before her was only a memory, a figment of her imagination, caused by the stress of Alexander’s questioning and that would suddenly disappear.

But he didn’t.

She gaped. The Rebel was one of their most wanted enemies, a criminal wolf who was foe to all and friend to none. He was considered a leader among the packless rebels of their kind, a violent vigilante. His true identity was known to none, and even now, few had seen his face and lived to tell about it. Mae wasn’t certain how the leaders of the Seven Range Pact didn’t notice him.

From the heels of his leather cowboy boots all the way to the smirk across his face, this devil with a too-charming grin was a man not to be crossed.

And yet she’d struck a bargain with him when she’d been trapped in the vampires’ cells, still bleeding from where they’d drawn her blood for the serum. Her freedom and safe release from the cell in exchange for the tool he’d used to make their escape—along with her silence about him and his identity.

In her mind, she was back there again. Inside the vampires’ cell as he peered at her from the shadows of the next cell over. She could still hear the deep rumble of his voice as it wrapped around her.

Even from the corner of the dance floor, he commanded the room, towering over the Pact members in both height and hard-earned muscle. Only a handful of the Grey Wolf’s elite warriors compared, and yet he was watching her. His ice-blue eyes met hers, and a devious grin curled his lips. He was taunting her, daring her to out his identity.

But she couldn’t.

Not unless she wanted to negate the deal they’d made, and not unless she wanted to ruin the Grey Wolves’ chances with Alexander. If anyone knew she’d partnered with an infamous criminal to escape the vampires, they’d never believe a word she said about the serum. Any chance of them gaining more allies would fly out the window. It would be a death sentence for her pack.

Whatever the Rebel was here for, she needed him to leave.

Now.

The feeling of Alexander’s hand squeezing her shoulder in concern wrenched her back into the moment. “Lily?”

Mae blinked several times, glancing to where Maverick sat at the head table, then over her shoulder to Alexander and then back to where the Rebel had stood. Already, he was gone, the racing thrum of her pulse the only trace he’d been there in the first place.

“Lily, are you all right?” Alexander asked.

“Y-yes,” she stuttered as she tried to recover. “I’m not sure what came over me.”