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But then I really didn’t have to guess I could sht a whiff of her hatred It’s funny how emotions could tamper with someone’s scent Iton between them? Dominic hadn’t taken her as his mate Their scents were still distinctly separate But there was so about the way that he had looked at her It was as if she was his It was full of safety -- a guarded protection He ry, but it had been clear that he would have never hurt her Not really

And I didn’t kno I felt about that When a wolf picked a ht of her being someone else’sabout the girl other than that she was cute and she had pissed off more than one of my pack members, but when I spoke to her, I couldn’t deny that I never wanted to stop hearing the sound of her voice Even when she was clearly nervous, she had been confident about it Her voice hadn’t wavered It was strong, and sweet Sure and stable She knew exactly who she was, and she was so positive about it, that I wanted nothing

Why had I told her I was registering for school? I should have coh! I should have just left it alone She was obviously on the verge of being spoken for, and besides that, I no longer had the luxury of choice Alphas don’t get to choose A frustrated growl ru look at the path that Jade had disappeared down, I turned and started for , as I reen, but soon it would change The grass would die, the leaves would fall Longer nights under the moon For the first time in years, I was excited for the winter to come I actually had a pack to run with One that was notconnected to the one street that ran through its center There were a few shops, a handful of restaurants, a grocery store, and a hardware store I was told that in the summerto enjoy the hot springs that were tucked in the h the e on the street Out of the ten people I saw, six of them olves At only 4:15, most of the shops were already closed for the day, with only the grocery store and restaurants still open

I pulled into the driveway of the shabby looking motel that I now called home, and wasn’t the least bit surprised to see Doainst his car, ars crossed at the ankles

I parked beside hito look atout the flimsy plastic key-card fronoring the question, but seeing hi there, so calm and cool, and with an obvious lack of respect, annoyed the hell out of h the pack; Jade is off liretted the off of hiht for the curtains, pulling the off the dust that coated the dark wooden surfaces of the desk and dresser onlysupplies I wasn’t a clean freak by anyto drive ht onthe door with a jarring thud "You lost that privilege when you became the alpha You knoorks You can’t just pick a h ed and dull knife

Dominic pulled out the desk chair and spun it around before dropping down into it I could feel the hostility rolling off of him in waves, even if he did keep his tone even and the usual htly in place

"That’s not what I meant," I said with a huff, except it kind of had been what I had meant, but I wasn’t about to admit it I knew the rules better thantheh to understand "Make sure Erika knows to leave her alone Sa you" I narrowed lared at hi to learn to treat people with respect"

Do ht he was going to try to lecture ain on why an alpha wasn’t free to pick awith me, he said in an acidic tone, "Yeah, sure, whatever you want"

The tension in the roolared at one another, neither of us willing to back down Secretly, I kind of adall He had only known me for half a day, and in that time, he had watched me kill the alpha, and still, he stood up to me This was the kind of beta I needed One that wouldn’t hesitate to tellOne that would stand up todumbass decisions That’s what my father’s beta had done for him, and that’s what I wanted, too Except, Do to help, he did it because he had absolutely no respect foran authority intosick of the way he challenged my every decision, and it had only been twelve hours now It had to stop "This is your last warning"

"You think you can run this pack without me?" He tensed in his chair, and his e of shifting

I narrowedrowl

Dominic considered it He looked me up and down, insolently, and the first snap of a bone breaking and grinding sounded loudly in my ears Bristles of coarse hair littered his cheekbones His eyes glowed yellow, as his shift to a wolf began

Okay, so that wasn’t what I had expected My jaw hardened, and I widenedhi to come out, but I held it back, if only barely Pins and needles rushed over an to sprout I stepped closer to hiut, and ruh my lips

Dominic’s eyes widened, and for a split second, fear passed across the his shoulders; any trace of the wolf vanished "Just stating the obvious Ray couldn’t do it, and you won’t be able to either" He spun the chair lazily in slow circles, and all the tension in hi used to seeing in him "Once Bruce’s pack finds out about you, they’ll be here, ripping this town apart while you’re weak, and I know them I’m the one with the contact I kno they work and where they’ll hit" He chuckled and grinned "You just focus on the gaain, I wanted to tell hiet out Hoas I supposed to ith hi about him screamed authority and he wouldn’t back down He had made it clear more than once that he didn’t want to be the alpha, but I wasn’t buying it No one would go to such extremes to show their dominance if they didn’t want the position There was just soot my defenses up and whatever it was, it only feltthe chair around in slow circles, when I finally dropped lare and padded over to the lu up at the off-white popcorn ceiling I couldn’t say how long we sat there, neither of us bothering to say anything, when I asked, "Why haven’t you made a move for her?" I hadn’t even really realized that I wanted to know his reason until the words were out of

Doan to shake as he tried to hold in a laugh "Is that what you think?" He burst out into laughter, and choked out, "Dude, I’m into men"

That hadn’t been the answer I had expected, and I was sure that if I hadn’t been able to smell the truth in his scent, or hear the steady beat of his heart, I wouldn’t have believed his, I could see the truth written all over his face, and it confused the hell out of me The kind of hatred I saeen him and Jade was the kind of hatred that stes and a deep connection Maybe they were together before he realized? I wondered

"Why does she hate you so hter died abruptly "She doesn’t hate me" His tone was insolent, his jaw, clenched It was as if he was daring me to say that Jade didn’t like hilaring at him

He threw his hands up in surrender "Seriously, she doesn’t hate me exactly," he said with more than a little contempt "Jade just hates the pack She thinks we ruined her life She’d be happy if there was no such thing as a olf" He was lying I could hear it in his voice It was defensive, and wavered slightly I was about to call him on it when he smirked, and chuckled "But don’t worry about it too h she’ll hate you, too"

I lay back on the bed, forcing my tense muscles to relax I didn’t want to think about her, or anyone hating me just because I shifted into a wolf every once in a while It was still hard to wrapolves It seeured it wouldto hide, and fro would make these people a whole lot safer But still … it eird