I could no more stop wanting her than I could stop breathing; but I also couldn’t see a way forward in which she was fit to lead alpha females. It was our very nature, to follow the strong and protect the weak. She deserved my protection, yes. But she didn’t deserve to lead.
It grated, but it was the way of the packs. I forced my eyes up when the stream of words stopped, pointedly ignoring the blatant display of her chest and fixing my attention on her face. The she-wolf in front of me might have been pretty, if I were capable of seeing anyone else that way now. But I wasn’t, and her lips were pursed angrily. They couldn’t compare to Brielle’s, which were a soft pink invitation across the room, and completely, wholly unavailable.
Shoot. Had she asked me a question when I’d been counting?
