11

“I promised you five years,” he said, staring down at her without a shred of compassion. “You’ve had them.”

“I have a job and a career. I have a life—”

“Your life is here.”

“That wasn’t my decision.”

His gaze hardened. He slid his fingers through her hair, brushing past her ear to trace a heavy coil that had fallen onto her shoulder. He twirled the thick bundle of strands around his finger, his arm grazing her breast. His arm around her waist tightened.

She stood still, her breaths shallow. The predator in her recognized the bigger, more powerful predator in him. Her wolf waited, wondering what his would do—knowing they had no choice, no matter what he decided. None at all.

“Your place is here,” he said finally.

She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming. “That wasn’t part of the bargain.” Deep inside, her wolf stirred. Her teeth throbbed in sync with her heartbeat—the first stage of the Turn. “You lied to me.”

Without warning, the Alpha was back. His wolf slammed into his eyes, turning the human shade an icy blue. His lips parted, revealing a glimpse of elongated canines. She started to look away, but he seized her gaze with his own and held it through sheer force of will. “This particular bargain was always going to end this way,” he said. “If you thought differently, you’ve been lying to yourself.”

“You don’t have the right—”

“Careful.” His eyes flashed. Needle-sharp fangs showed beneath his full lips. “I have every right. As your Alpha.” His gaze dipped to her mouth. “As your mate.”

“I am not your mate.” Her voice trembled. “I took no vow. And we never…” The words caught in her throat, as if her brain refused to speak them aloud and dredge up things best left unsaid.

“Technicalities,” he said. He slid his fingers through her hair again, brushed past her ear, and traced a slow path to her neck. He gripped her nape. The skin tingled under his touch. “You bear my mark. And your body knows its master.”

Heat surged in her face…and between her legs. She stifled a groan.

They stayed that way for several long moments, their breaths harsh in the quiet room, mouths almost touching. His anger was like a blast furnace, searing her face and chest while her pulse throbbed in her neck.

Her own rage licked over him like flame, crackling against his displeasure. Her heart thudded in her chest, and her breasts felt heavy—her nipples tightened to hard points. She dragged in a breath, and her nipples scraped his chest.

A gasp caught in her throat. What was happening to her? It should have hurt to stare into his eyes with his wolf ascendant, but she felt no pain…just a dragging sensation in her limbs. Her head felt heavy on her neck. A lick of heat curled low in her belly.

Deep in her mind, her wolf hesitated. An amorphous thought—more of a feeling, really—formed in her brain. Confused. She wanted to attack, didn’t she? So why did her body feel…pleasure? The mixed signals perplexed the wolf. Her fangs receded.

Her wolf might have abandoned her, but she still had her brain—and she could not let this happen. She dragged in a breath. “You promised me.”

“We’ve gone over this. You’ve had five years—”

“No.” She ignored the lassitude that urged her to melt against him. It was easier to latch onto the heat and use it to fuel her anger. “In the car, when you came to LA, I asked you if you would ever hurt me, and you said never. You promised me.” She gripped the front of his shirt in her fists and tugged him close.

He groaned, almost as if he was as affected by her touch as she was by his.

She let her lips brush his, barely touching. His breath mingled with hers. She dropped her voice to a whisper, channeling all the hurt and betrayal she’d felt over the past five years. “But you lied. You hurt me, Maxime. You took what I didn’t offer. You stole what wasn’t freely given, and then you sent me away. You hurt me. And I don’t forgive you.”

His growl made the hairs on her nape lift. His eyes blazed blue fire. Behind her back, his arm was like iron. He dipped his head toward hers as if he might seize her mouth, but then he spoke, his voice like gravel. “I don’t require your forgiveness. Merely your obedience.”

He shoved her away. Her legs hit the back of the chair, and she sat down with a thud that jolted her from her tailbone to the top of her head. The spell between them broke. She gripped the chair’s arms, her fingernails digging into the leather. She shook her head to clear it.

Max folded his arms and stared up at the ceiling. He swore in a long string of French, then took a few deep breaths, his big chest rising and falling.

She was still trying to catch her breath—and untangle his provincial French—when he said, “Two unknowns crossed the border three nights ago.”

The abrupt change in subject threw her. “What?”

“Trespassers from another pack. A patrol caught their scent along the western border. Up north.”

She glanced at the map behind him. When people in the North Country said “up north” they meant Canada. Like most Americans, her grasp of Canadian geography was shaky. “From Ontario?”

He nodded. “They didn’t ask to cross the border, and they didn’t tell us they were coming.”

Lizette hoped they had good life insurance policies. Entering an Alpha’s territory without permission was a huge no-no—of the instant death and dismemberment kind. Wolves in the wild were territorial. Werewolves were homicidal about protecting anything they believed was theirs.

“You’re not to leave the Lodge without an escort.”

She sucked in a breath. “Because two random wolves might have wandered across the border? They could be hundreds of miles from here.”

“Or they could be in the forest beyond the gorge.”

“You’re doing this to force me to stay. To keep me a prisoner here.”

“This is your home.”

“Which is why I should be perfectly safe on the property.” She tilted her head. “Or has your security slipped in recent years?”

“Your attempt to antagonize me is duly noted.”

She stood on unsteady legs. “Does Dom need an escort when he goes outside? What about Haley?” Anger sizzled in her veins. She knew if she looked in a mirror her eyes would be icy blue.

Max let his own wolf creep into his eyes. “You know very well why she doesn’t. But if I ordered it, she would accept it. As will you.”

His arrogance was too much to bear. Lizette had a mental vision of grabbing one of the chairs and smashing it over his head. It wouldn’t hurt him, but the stunned look on his face would be worth it—for a second or two.

“Go upstairs,” he said. “Get some sleep. You look like you could use it. We’ll talk later this evening.”

“I want my own room.” She despised the way arguing with him always made her feel like a child.

“I’ve told you my decision.” He moved behind his desk.

She clenched her fists at her sides. How many times had he said those exact words to her? “I’ve told you my decision.” She’d stood in this very spot, and he in his. Only she wasn’t fifteen now, and he wasn’t just her Alpha. Things had passed between them. Lines had been crossed. She had the bite mark on her neck to prove it.

He picked up a piece of paper and started to read it. Dismissed.

Anger and frustration buzzed like hornets in her chest. How could he just stand there and ignore her? Easy. He’d done it before. The pressure in her chest made her throat burn, and questions flew out of her mouth before she could stop them.

“Why do you want me now? You never did before.”

Slowly, he looked up. His gaze was steady, but his eyes were still wolf blue. “I never said I didn’t want you.”

“You sent me away.”

“I’ve called you back.”

“But—”

“I had my reasons then, just as I have them now.”

She let out a bitter laugh. “And I’m not to know them? I’m supposed to just do as I’m told?”

“For now, yes. And I believe I already told you to go upstairs.”

She held his gaze as silence stretched between them. This was twice now he’d given her a command. She ignored the first one. Now she was perilously close to ignoring another. It was dangerous territory to be in with an Alpha.

With this one? It was suicidal.

She threw him what she hoped was a scathing look and stalked to the door.

He said nothing until she wrenched it open. “Lizette.”

She stopped without turning around.

“Don’t make me come find you.”

She stepped through the door and pulled it shut.