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952 Words
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.
- Writer
