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When she descended the stairs and entered the kitchen, his face lit up, as if she were a beauty queen own

"What do you like to eat?"

Before her recent decline in appetite, she'd been a big eater She opened herfoods, only to reain If she didn't ered

MacRieve had pronounced her huht before The question was, how to stay that way? Was it possible to find her dad and learn what her trigger was before the Games?

"I'll just take a cup of coffee," she h she rarely drank caffeinated drinks Her voice had wavered, so she jutted her chin

"Hey, hey, lass Come here What troubles you?"

When he reached for her and she realized how very badly she wanted to be enfolded in those arms, she made herself back up a step

At that uys entered the kitchen

"This is Ronan and Benneit," MacRieve said "They live here Lads, this is Chloe"

Ben was even taller than MacRieve, duck-under-the-doorway tall He was also handso over one eye His face heated as he gave her a wave, and she realized he was really shy

The younger one, a cute rangy blond, had no such proble?"

She hated it when people assuina "Whatever your happy ass rin Ronan cast her a hed "Ah, lass, you're going to do just fine here"

"What'd I miss?" asked another ain "You didn't tell ly handsome one

"I'm Munro, and I'm pleased to have you here, Chloe" He seemed like he was about to say more, only to stop himself

"Thank you, Munro" She realized she was still staring, and blushed "Wow, you really do look alike" When he stood next to MacRieve, she could tell they weren't quite identical MacRieve looked a little er She also noticed that neither of theh lines

Ronan said, "Female Loreans call them Hot and Hotter I doona see it"

I'll bet they do A flare of jealousy took her by surprise For most of her life, she hadn't been interested in men, much less jealous over the his brother grin, then handed her a"Coh a set of french doors, the afternoon sun illuoldof caffeine that caused her head to rush-not the sight of his brilliant gaze He was jaw-droppingly fine, and apparently he got told that all the tiirl She wouldn't start now

She dragged her gaze away, e was constructed of brick, with exposed wood beams The arched roof was covered in slate tiles "It's beautiful" After growing up in a house that looked exactly like every other McMansion in the neighborhood, she'd alanted to live in a ho unique

When MacRieve srew flushed She didn't like the effect he had on her or how quickly all this waswith a cleat on one foot and a cli to talk about "So if you and Munro are twins, how does the whole alpha thing work?"

"The wolf that created our line was an alpha, soto come out In my and Munro's case, his beast is cut from the same soul as mine, so we're definitely both alphas Let's just put it this e brawl A lot" He steered her onto another path

"Where are we headed?"

"The main house of the compound"

She rolled her eyes "Of course I'm at a coratulate them on their nuptials?"

"No' that kind of co team And this property is like a locker roon on?"

"Our facilities are top-notch, and we're all starters"

"I need to get back to the team I've already joined I have a life of my own" And questions that had to be answered Not just about her father

Now that she'd confir what species her mom could've been, and what her ultimate fate was Dad had told Chloe that Mom had no relations What if that statement was as false as the teret back to?" MacRieve asked "Your season's over with your teaer there Is this about the Olympics? They're no' out of reach, Chloe I will et you there"

Part of her wanted so badly to confide in hiain that sense of self-preservation held her tongue "I don't want to talk about it"

"Ach, you should know that a Lykae's curiosity is a powerful thing" He said this like it was an understateaze narrowed "Do you have a lover back there, then?" His tone was nonchalant, but his eyes were blazing blue "Some bloke in Seattle?"

"I'm one hundred percent committed to sports" In the past, she'd tried to convince herself that she hadn't dated because of training deed to balance a love life and a career She'd heard the locker roo" Or for the dread that inevitably accoht hi

In fact, she was very in tune with hihtened by him She was abundantly aware of hi beside hi from his skin

What if she did fall for a olf like MacRieve? Dad would hate her He ht already

No, she refused to believe that

"Here's thetohat looked like a e, decorated by a manly man "We call it the den It's well-loved, lots of claw o"

"They're that strong?" So cool! Maybe Fiore was a Valkyrie?

"Aye But that's a drop in the bucket coth" He opened a heavy wooden door for her, taking her hand to lead her inside

His was hot and rough against her own, yet the contact was electric; Chloe shivered, and stared in puzzlement at the spot where their skin touched He too seeether

This was some kind of connection-the kind she'd read about in books, the kind she'd decided was just a stupid myth

Apparently all ue thicker than she'd ever heard it, he said, "Ah, Chloe, lass, I just need tae" He leaned in, looking for all the world like he was about to kiss her

She found herself captivated by the prospect Awakening! She'd had far too few kisses in her life

But then she heard the murmur of conversation from a nearby room Would so about obstacles?" Her voice was as breathy as a porn star's

Looking suddenly troubled, he straightened "Aye, then This way to our security area" They headed into a diiant computer screen, like a movie backdrop, with dozens of camera feeds stacked and labeled: WALL 1, WALL 2, WALL 3all the way to WALL 50

One Lykae manned the desk

"Here's Madadh, our Master of the Watch Madadh, this is my mate, Chloe"