Page 59 of To Hunt A Wolf
“What is the point of bringing me here?” I ask. “To show off? You’re an alpha. You have a pack. A security detail. Expensive cars. Whatever. You don’t need to impress me; you need to outrun me.”
He turns to me, something slippery in his gaze now. Like he has a secret. Or lots of them. “I don’t want to impress you, Mac. If I did, we wouldn’t have left the room where I kept you. In fact, I wouldn’t have untied you either.”
His words are unexpectedly erotic, and the desire that punches me in the gut steals my breath.
Levi leans in, knowing full well what he’s doing to me now.
“You’re not impressed by status, Mac. I know what impresses you, remember? Or have you forgotten what it was like to have my hands on you? My mouth?”
“We never…”
He’s so close, his mouth brushes mine when he says, “Not yet.”
I nearly lean in and give myself over to the promise in his voice. The sharp sound of a car door slamming brings me back to the present moment.
I gasp as Levi sidesteps me and goes to meet whoever is coming this way. Voices sound behind me.
I take another deep breath to steady myself, except the air is full of his scent, so all it does is threaten to choke me with desire. I force myself to turn anyway—to look unaffected by what’s between us.
The teams climb out of their cars and shout hellos to one another, to Levi, their alpha. My gaze sweeps past the dozen or so men headed toward where Levi waits. I spot a familiar face among them.
Tripp.
His fatigues are dusty, caked with dirt. And he looks tired as hell. He offers a weak smile when he sees me, but the worry in his dark gaze is too pronounced to ignore.
Beside him is another face I recognize.
Jadick.
He’s back, and his swagger is stronger than ever, unfortunately.
He looks directly at me, and in that stare is a complete disregard for anything other than his own agenda. When I don’t immediately avert my gaze from his, he cocks his head at me. Curious. Interested. Clearly not used to anything but cowering.
What a jerk.
Behind them, one last car door slams shut, and a lone female figure catches my eye. Her gait is hurried though it’s not purpose or concern that has her cutting a quick path through the others and straight toward me.
No, this is anger, pure and cutting.
Vicki Quinn glares at me with all the fire she possesses. Her hair is mussed, and there’s dried blood on her cheek, but otherwise, she looks unharmed. I’m shocked to realize I was actually worried about her.
Then I look around for anyone else they’ve brought.
But Kari isn’t here, and for a moment, I can barely breathe around my own fear. Has she done it then? Has my mother killed Thiago? Did Tripp and Jadick help? But if so, why would Jadick come back here? Something else must have happened. But I don’t get a chance to ask what before my mother’s temper spills over.
“You and I need to talk, young lady,” she says to me.
For once, I don’t care that she looks madder than a hornet and prepared to aim all that ire at me. I’m too relieved to see her here in one piece. And hopefully, Kari is too.
“Hi, Mom.”
I can feel Levi’s eyes on my back, but he doesn’t interrupt this little reunion. He orchestrated it after all. Instead, he stands a safe distance away, chatting with his men. With Jadick.
“Don’t ‘hi, Mom’ me,” she snaps. “You called me in to your little friends before I could complete the mission. What the hell, Mac?”
Relief hits first. Thiago’s alive, and that means Kari is too. Then I frown, glancing at Levi then Tripp, who’s standing on my left, far enough out of the line of fire.
“I didn’t call you in,” I tell her.
