Page 99 of The Wolf King

“You know, scratching an itch? Easing some frustrations?” When I just look at her blankly, she whispers, “You know... touching yourself?”

My cheeks flame. “What? No!”

Her eyebrows raise. “No? Hm. You were feeling a wee bit... restless?”

My face is on fire. I stare at the bookshelf across the room, the dream I had about Callum flashing through my mind. “No!”

Fiona chuckles softly. “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Your scent... it changes depending on your emotions. Fear. Anger.Arousal. As Wolves, we can often pick up on these shifts. Particularly when we’re attuned to a certain person.”

My heartbeat thumps against my chest, mortification wrapping its cold fingers around my heart.

“He could smell my dream?”

“Ah, so you had a dream?” She grins. “I’m not sure exactly what happened. My guess is he sensed the shift in you and came to stand guard, in case any other Wolves sensed it too. Like Blake.”

“Blake?” My blood turns cold, and dislike pulses through my body.

“I’d wager that’s what set Callum off. Once he let the wolf take over... well... his attention will have been consumed by you.” She shakes her head. “I’ve never seen him get that worked up before.”

She swallows, and all the color drains from her face.

“And then... Callum and I...” She pinches the bridge of her nose. “In front of Blake... shit.”

“What?”

She wrings her hands together. “I challenged Callum, my alpha. And he backed down.”

“And that’s bad?”

“Aye. That’s bad. It’s—”

“A wolf thing?” I arch my eyebrow.

“Aye.” She sighs and her breath plumes in front of her face. “It gives me the right to openly challenge him for alpha of Highfell.”

I’m slightly concerned for Callum, but my curiosity is spiked. “A female can be alpha?”

“Aye. Though it’s rare. Archaic traditions make it hard for us to gain the status.”

“Will you challenge him?”

She lets out a dark laugh. “No. Course not. I have no designs on the role.”

“So why are you worried?”

“Because if Blake tells anyone and it becomes open knowledge, Callum and I will have to fight it out. Physically. Publicly.” Her stare is dark and blank. “Wolf law.”

She tries to look like she’s unaffected, but she fiddles with her fingers.

“Blake won’t tell anyone,” I say.

“He’d better not.”

“He hasn’t told anyone about me yet.”

She gives me an almost pitying look, as if I’m being naïve. “He’s not doing that out of the goodness of his heart, Rory. He’s playing some sort of game.”

I stop myself from rolling my eyes. I’m not a fool. “I know. He has us all where he wants us. You challenging Callum for alpha would disrupt that. He won’t tell.”

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