Page 82 of His Curse

Those wolf eyes cut to mine. “It. Is. Stupid.”

A little thrill races up my spine from the challenge in my mate’s eyes, the one I just inadvertently issued.

Only the Luna, and maybe in our case the Beta, would think to stand up to their Alpha like this, even with something as ridiculous as arguing the validity of the made-up name for a plan to get info on Kentworth. Insignificant or not, I’m challenging Colt, and while I didn’t actually mean to, I’m getting ratherexcitedover it.

There are many, many delicious things that come with being mated to an alpha, and they’re even more intense when you happen to be an alpha female as well as a luna twice over—just like me. And since my gorgeous mate and I have only been officially mated a few days and spent the majority of that dealing with my heat, we haven’t really had the time to explore each other properly or the way wolves typically like to.

And byproperlyortypically, I mean in very thorough, very messy power exchanges while exercising dominant and submissive roles. Ones where all of our senses are used with special emphasis on taste and smell.

Before I left my pack, I’d only ever heard of how alpha males liked to bed their partners, never really got to experience it first hand the way I’d always hoped to. Don’t get me wrong, I was far from virginal when I met Colton, but my partners that came before him—while meaningless—were rather disappointing when it came to unattached messing around. Some of them thought what was essentially just mildly rough sex was themexuding their masculine dominance, and the rest? Well, I guess being with a luna was more than they could handle.

Since I am a luna, one by birthright and by mating, I crave what a true alpha can give me, what onlymyalpha can give me. It’s part of my genetic makeup to want to submit to my alpha to some extent, to want to please him and give him total control over me, but it’s not just that. I really like the idea of challenging my alpha, pushing him, defying him, and taking us both to the edge before I finally let him have what he wants, too. The battle for dominance, the refusal to bow down, the way my own alpha traits wouldn’t allow me to just roll over and let Colton get his way… all of that is everything I want, and only then would I give him what he wants in return.

And judging by the look my mate—my alpha—is giving me right now, he is totally game for some of that too.

So I shrug and pretend like my pussy isn’t totally soaked. “Well, I think it’s funny. I also think you’re overreacting to something that isn’t even remotely serious.”

“That’s the thing.” Colt’s eyes narrow. “This whole fucking shit show is incredibly serious and calling any part of our planOperation Big Dogjust because that asshat thinks he’s a real fucking card is stupid. It’s moronic and it takes away from the importance we should be placing on finding out everything we can about that psychotic monster. Not to mention, Frankie and Zan are putting themselves in a real compromising position by executing this mission, and that’s only if it goes according to plan.”

Ok,nowI’m getting irritated.

It was fun when I thought this was more of a foreplay kind of thing, but obviously my mate is taking everything so seriously that isn’t an option.

“I know, Colton. Believe me, I fucking know better than anyone what they’re doing, what they’re risking, but sometimes it helps to lighten the heavy shit with a little humor, you know?”

“There’s no place for it here, and you should be just as concerned as I am.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me right now.”

My mate just scowls.

“You don’t think I’m worried about them? Don’t think I feel the way you do?” I hold his stare as Colt sets down the last gun and turns to face me completely. “Yeah, I know I’ve only been around for a few days, but I feelyourfeelings, remember? I feel the love you have for the two of them, the concern you have over what’s going to happen, the frustration over not being there to back them up on this and the fear it causes. And just because I haven’t known them as long as you have—which, in the grand scheme of things isn’t long at all, asshole—doesn’t mean I don’t already love Zan and Frankie so much, don’t worry for their safety or pray to the gods that they’ll return to us soon, unharmed and with information we need.”

My mate’s eyes narrow to slits now, a combination of irritation with me over this entire thing as a whole, as well as his wolf’s obvious disdain for the way I keep pushing him.

Ask me if I give a shit.

I don’t.

“I know better than anyone what could happen to Zan and Frankie if shit goes south, Colton, and after hearing all the gory details straight from my lips, you should knowthat.Not to mention, the two of us stood and argued with the two of them for almost an hour after Frankie spilled the details of her stupidly genius scheme, or did you forget that I was just as againstOperation Big Dogas you were in the beginning?”

My mate takes a step toward me, those wolf eyes dancing with amber and blue flames. “You may have started out swinging, but you caved pretty damn quickly, if Iremembercorrectly.”

On instinct, my back straightens and I maintain his stare. “Because Frankie was right. I don’t like it, not one bit, but she was absolutely right.”God, I’m so pissed. We already hashed it all out before they left, or at least, I thought we did, but I should have known better when Colt woke up angry this morning and hellbent on getting me out to the gun range for training. “I haven’t been in certain parts of the facility, I haven’t seen the actual layout of the armory or the staff quarters. And the only experience I had with other parts of the grounds outside were obstructed by fences or blocked by guards, and it sure as hell wasn’t like I paid a lot of attention when I got out and drove like mad while I was bleeding from multiple bullet wounds. This is exactly the kind of thing we need to—”

“Enough,” he growls. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

“Too fucking bad, because I do. And you sure as hell need to hear it.”

“Lark…”

Ignoring the clear warning in his tone, I take a step toward Colton and hold my head high. “Frankie going in undercover, getting into the lab under the guise of a spread for The New England Journal of Medicine just so she can photograph the entire facility, interview various staff and get as much info as possible, is probably one of the smartest things we could have done. She’s going to cater to Kentworth’s ego by praising the hell out of him, by convincing him that the journal is doing a piece on his decades of work, and he will give her everything short of the secret experiments because of it. Then, once they come back, we can put all of that information to good use and finally go in there to stop this psychotic monster from hurting anyone else. This could be exactly what we need—what I need—in order to end that bastard and I will be more than happy to sink my teeth into him in order to—”

“Enough!” Colt barks as his hands ball into fists, his chest heaving, and pulse through the roof. “It’s bad enough that you spent over forty fucking years there because of me, bad enough that our clan didn’t even bat an eye over getting involved and that two of the most important people in my life went marching in there to gather intel,” he growls, his tone angry but laced in fear. “The last fucking thing I need to hear about, or think about, is how my mate, the goddamn love of my life, wants to return to that godforsaken place and dive right into the pits of hell all over again when there is a very real possibility she’ll be taken from me a second time when she does.”

“Colton, I—”

“I cannot lose you again, Lark. I can’t. But I won’t fucking stop you either because I know what it means to you. I can feel how important it is for you to free the others and get your revenge, so I won’t stop you. I agreed, even though it scares the hell out of me to have Zan and Frankie there without backup, and I did that for you. I agreed because I want that motherfucker to pay for every single thing he did to you, and I want you to be able to be the one that makes him pay, but I don’t have to fucking like it, ok? I don’t have to like the idea of risking you, risking our future or our clan in order to make that happen, and come hell or high water, I will make it happen, but for fuck’s sake, I do not have to like one fucking bit of it, and I sure as fuck don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

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