Page 42 of Savage Games

Beside Wyatt, Jamie’s expression twists with anger, her hands curling into fists on the table.She knows.She must know about the mating.But she’s also too smart to say anything that will expose Wyatt’s connection to me, and she can’t risk causing a scene at her mate’s event.

I’ve trapped all of us in this careful, awful lie.

Brad leans closer again, his lips almost brushing my ear as he lowers his voice.“It’s good to know you understand how this works, Naomi.You’re a smart girl.Keep it up, and everyone will get what they want.Including Maddie.”

I want to scream.To shift, to sink my teeth into his throat and end this game, once and for all.But I can’t.So I smile again and hope my hands aren’t shaking too badly.

Brad snarls as someone knocks into his chair, causing him to straighten and thankfully take his hot breath away from the side of my face.

“Apologies,” Kain says with a polite dip of his head as he passes, but his smile suggests he’s not one bit sorry.Brad looks like he wants to say something, his face red with anger, but Kain is already gone, melting into the crowds mingling and chatting.

While Brad seethes and focuses on regaining his composure, the conversation around us resumes, but my skin is still crawling.I feel dirty, like his touch has left a stain I can’t scrub off.I want to leave immediately, but that would only make things worse.And he might follow me.People might assume we’ve gone to bed together.

Right here and now, I decide.There is absolutely no way I’m letting this man ruin what I have with Wyatt.And there's no way I’ll pretend to be his mate just so he can get his grubby paws on more land.

He’ll kill me as soon as the dust settles, and everyone else has moved on.

Brad leaves with a smug grin on his face.

“Are you not going to open it?”Amy is practically drooling, staring at the retreating alpha, like he’s good enough to eat.She tips her head toward the velvet pouch still resting in my palm.I have no interest in seeing what’s inside, but apparently, everyone else does.

“Eh…” Everyone at the table stares at me as I open the drawstring and tip the contents onto the table.A necklace.Gold and delicate, with a stone cradled in a crescent moon with a gold setting.

“Ooohhh, he has good taste.”She purrs, picking it up to admire it.

I feel like telling her she can keep it, but it would be the ultimate disrespect.Instead, I hold the pouch open, and she reluctantly drops it inside.I don’t even want to touch it, let alone wear it.

I glance toward Wyatt, but he’s staring at his plate, frozen, his knuckles white around the knife in his hand.My gut twists.His hurt, anger, and jealousy nags at my insides.Even though we’re not marked, I can feel him and how painful that was for him.How betrayed he feels.Again.

I’m going to find him in the morning and tell him everything.We’ll come up with a plan if he’s still talking to me.Even if it means storming Brad’s house and dragging Maddie away from that place in the dead of night.

As plates are cleared and coffee is poured, Lynn, Dean’s pack manager, wanders to the top table and pauses near Dean, speaking quietly.

“No Jax?”Lynn asks casually, her tone pleasant but curious as she looks pointedly at the empty seat at the end of the table.

Dean shakes his head, exhaling an inaudible sigh.“His wolf’s struggling.Too much competitive energy in the air, and you know how he gets.He’s been staying inside during waking hours.”

I’ve heard rumours about Wyatt’s step-brother.That his wolf is out of control after years of beatings at his father’s hands.More of an attack first, ask questions later kind of animal.It can’t be easy for him being around all these wolves if he struggles with other dominant shifters.

“Poor kid.”Lynn clicks her tongue sympathetically.“He’s missing out.He could have won this thing.”

“That’s the last thing he’d want,” Dean says, shaking his head.“How do you run a pack if you can’t handle dinner?”

Lynn spots me watching and gives me a small smile.She seems nice.Kind.Maybe if I told her about Brad, she’d convince Dean and Blake to take me seriously.She saw him at the last round, and she picked up how uncomfortable he made me.

With a wave, she hurries off.I don’t think I’ve seen her stand still for more than five minutes.She’s always rushing around, sorting everything out.Maybe she could sort me out, too.

My focus returns to the gift bag in my hand.Its real weight is the message: You belong to me, and everyone here knows it now.

But I don’t.And I won’t.Ever.Not even for Maddie.

My sister stood up to her abuser.The last thing she’d want is for me to lie down and take Brad’s shit, and she certainly wouldn’t want me to tie myself to him.

My eyes drift to my mate, who’s sitting stock still.A jolt of electricity passes through me at the intensity of his stare, and the heat in those eyes; it’s a dangerous mixture of anger and lust.The bond pulls at me, urging me to go to him, to let him in.

I get to my feet, the need to speak to him too strong to ignore, just as Wyatt stands abruptly, his chair scraping back on the wooden floor.Jamie reaches for his arm, her mouth moving too fast for me to read her lips, but whatever she’s saying isn’t calming him down.

He’s barely holding it together.

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