48

I despised this freaking bracelet. It was a powerful magic item. Even though I knew the risks and what it would mean to interfere, I’d seen Kira in trouble and had immediately tried to shift to help her. But I couldn’t. This little piece of jewelry could be activated to keep me from being able to shift. The damned vampire hadn’t really touched on that. It made me trust that bloodsucker even less than I already did. What other information was he holding out on?

As soon as the light on the bracelet turned green, a few of the guys I’d put in my “danger zone” turned on the charm. Smiles flashed, biceps bulged, and eyebrows cocked like the arrogant pricks they were. I did the bare minimum to let them think I was excited to be there but nothing more. I wasn’t happy to be here. I was here to protect Kira and keep her safe. Nothing else.

Kira hurried back into the seating room, looking somewhat embarrassed. “I’m so sorry. You guys were waiting for me, and I’ve been doing interviews. I apologize.”

She was doing everything she could to keep from looking at me. I wanted to laugh at how obvious she was being. Obvious to me, anyway. The viewers would probably think she didn’t find me attractive. They’d lose their minds if they knew what had gone down between us in that hotel.

Kira led us back to the seating area, where we took seats in the big circle of chairs. Servants passed out wine, champagne, cocktails, and snacks from the big buffet in the next room. I made a point to take the seat directly to her right.

A red flush of irritation crept up her neck as I sat beside her, but her face remained impassive as she spoke to the other alphas. She looked far too good for someone who had been fighting for her life against a tiger shifter less than an hour ago. If I was honest with myself, she looked good enough to eat.

“Well, this is much nicer,” Kira said. “All those flashing cameras and screaming fans make it hard to have a conversation.”

Kira was a good actress. She was always on point during sting operations and deep cover projects, but I knew when she was nervous. She kept touching a spot on her collarbone, a nervous tic I wasn’t sure she realized she had. She only did that when her stress level was through the roof.

I leaned in close. “Kira, I want to say you look gorgeous tonight. My name’s Wyatt, if you didn’t remember from earlier.” I slid my eyes up and down her body, enjoying the act. “You really do look amazing.” I gave her the cockiest wink I could manage. “I may go feral with my desire for you.”

Kira’s eyes widened as I spoke, doing her best to tell me to shut up non-verbally. Her face was scarlet, her jaw working as she ground her teeth. I could see she was having an epic battle in her mind, with one part telling her to play the happy contestant, the other part telling her to slug me right in the nose.

Instead of striking out at me, she gave me a demure smile and turned to address Abel, who sat opposite her.

J.D. smacked me on the shoulder. “Nice job, bro. That was smooth. You already got her to blush. Way to get in there first and make an impression.”

“Why don’t we all introduce ourselves again?” Kira said. I was pretty sure she’d just flubbed Abel’s name and looked mortified about it.

“I’ll go first,” I said as nonchalantly as I could.

Kira turned toward me. Her bright smile and sexy stare barely concealed the flames burning deep in her eyes. She was probably imagining driving spikes into my head.

“Go ahead,” she said with a grin.

I addressed the entire crowd. “Wyatt Rivers. Second Pack. I work in…uh…law enforcement.”

“Thank you,” Kira said, the slightest hint of condescension in her tone.

One by one, everyone introduced themselves. When it was Omar’s turn, I had to school my face to not show my disgust as he fawned over Kira and praised her for how amazing she’d done in the tiger challenge. He even went so far as to say she had a kind heart for allowing the shifter to live. I caught Leif’s gaze across the room, and he mimed putting his finger down his throat. All Omar had done since Kira’s challenge was complain about how dumb she was for not shifting in the fight and not killing the tiger. Now he was telling her she was wonderful.

Next was Nathaniel. I knew what was probably coming from that guy, but I wasn’t prepared for how heavily he turned on the charm.

“My name’s Nathaniel. I’m sure you remember that, though,” he said, winking at Kira. “I work in finance.” He rubbed his thumb and forefinger together. “Big money, you know? Enough about me, though. Can we just, like, talk about how sexy this woman is?” He looked around at all of us, waiting for someone to disagree. When everyone gave a general chuckle of agreement, Nathaniel nodded to himself. “See? That’s what I’m talking about. Kira, you may be the hottest woman to ever be on this show.”

Kira didn’t blush at the compliment. She shrugged and pulled an I-don’t-know-about-that face. “Not sure I agree, but thank you for the compliment, Nathaniel. Can I call you Nate?”

The color drained from his face, but he did his best to recover. “Uh…well…you see, that’s not my name. My name isn’t Nate, it’s Nathaniel.”

“Mmhmm,” Kira said coolly.

I covered my mouth with a hand to hide my smile.

“I really did like how you handled that tiger shifter,” Nathaniel said, trying to hide his panic at his misstep. “It was sweet of you to have mercy on them. It shows you have a kind heart,” he said, mimicking Omar.

“Oh my gosh,” Kira said. “Don’t call me sweet.”

“Then what should I call you?” I said, breaking into the conversation.

I wiggled my eyebrows at her. Knowing the cameras were rolling, Kira forced herself to smile and laugh.