He sounded reasonable.Like he hadn't just kidnapped me and blown my life apart for the second time.

"You can stop with the faux concern, Alpha.I don’t believe you woke up one day and suddenly started caring about my well-being."

A muscle jumped beneath the stubble on his jaw."Of course I care.I've always cared."

"Liar,” I threw back the word he’d thrown at me last night.

How could he stand there, so calm and collected, while I was a livewire of fury and pain?Pretending there was nothing wrong between us?

I wrapped my hands around myself."If you cared, you wouldn't have done what you did.Not like that."

Onyx rolled an amber sheen across Briggs’s eyes.It wasn’t the wolf’s fault.

But I couldn’t show that I cared in the slightest.

"Sit down and eat.It’s not a request."

"I'm not hungry.”

"Do not test me on this.You won’t win.”

Maybe not, but if I was fast enough I could possibly manage to get a claw embedded in one of his testicles.The idea was extremely appealing.

“Ivy, you need to eat."

"Why?So you can drug me into submission?Make me pliant for whatever it is you’re trying to get from me?"The accusation flew from my lips and hit its target.

A dangerous glint sparked in the icy depths of his eyes.His powerful frame radiated Alpha energy.

"You think I would stoop so low?"

I tilted my chin."I wouldn't put anything past you at this point."

A snarl tore from his throat.He snatched a piece of toast from the tray and bit into it savagely, his eyes never leaving mine.

"Satisfied?"he bit out around the mouthful.

I remained silent, watching as he swallowed the toast and reached for the glass of orange juice.He drained half of it in one long pull, his Adam's apple bobbing with each gulp.

Slamming the empty glass back onto the tray, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"There.No drugs.No tricks.Now, sit down and fucking eat."

I didn’t budge.

A sudden tug pulled at our decrepit mating bond, the sensation catching me off guard."Stop it!You have no right!"

"I have every right.And I won’t stop, not until I fix what’s broken and our bond is as strong and complete as it was meant to be."

"You're delusional if you think I'll ever let that happen."

He moved closer, his scent the perfect drug designed by nature to ensnare, to make me weak in the knees.At some point I wouldn’t be able to resist it.

The frenzied beat of my pulse resonated under my ribcage.My palms grew slick with nervous sweat.

I raised my hands in a feeble attempt to keep him at bay."Stay away from me."

Briggs leaned in without actually touching me."You can't fight this forever, Ivy.You're mine, and deep down, you know it."