Page 84 of Wolf's Reckoning
She droppedher bag like she was daring me to flinch.
I didn’t.
Not when she glared at me. Not when she spun back around and acted like this was her idea. Not when the scent of her hit me all over again—wildness laced with vanilla and orchid—seeping under my skin.
She was fire and resistance and a tempest I hadn’t asked for. But I’d take it. I’d take her. Because that’s what alphas did. We didn’t wait for comfort. We made order from chaos. And Rowen was both.
“You’re late.”
“Hard to say goodbye to my solitude.” She turned her head, just enough to meet my gaze over her shoulder.
“No one said you had to talk.”
“Good,” she barked. “Because I have nothing nice to say.”
“I don’t need nice.” I stepped forward. “I need you where I can see you. Where I can protect you from the remaining idiots in this pack.”
“I don’tneedyour protection.”
“Doesn’t mean you won’tgetit.”
Silence stretched taut between us. My blood pulsed, and I felt a whisper under my skin, under my ribs. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew I didn’t like it.
I leaned against the far wall, arms folded, watching her explore the space like it might bite her.
“You expected velvet pillows and flower petals?” I asked quietly. I crossed the room, slow and deliberate, until the space between us crackled. “This isn’t about comfort,” I told her. “It’s aboutclaim.”
“So Kirk was right, you want a trophy?” She lifted her chin, the challenge in her eyes. “You want to pin me to your wall with the rest of your victories?”
I grinned at her insolence. “No. I want the shifters in this Hollow to understandwho stands beside you.”
“Well, they got the message,” she retorted.
“They did,” I agreed. “And I’ll do it again until even the dumbest gets the message.”
I saw her flinch, knowing that she would hate that. Rowen was angry, I knew it, and Iwelcomedit. It was about time she showed something more thancompliance.
“Do you want to control me?”
“No.” I stepped toward her, slow and deliberate. “I want you close because you’re mine.”
The words hung between us like a match about to catch flame. Her lips parted. Whether to argue or breathe, I didn’t know. Didn’t care.
“I married you. That’s all.” She held my stare with a steady gaze. “I don’t belong to you.”
“No?” My voice was low. “We’ll see, princess.”
She looked away from me, her breath halting as she absorbed what I’d said. With a sigh, she looked between the rough-made bed and me. “There’s only one bed.”
“Mm-hmm.”
She stared at me in expectation. “I thought…”
“You thought I was sleeping somewhere where my wife wasn’t?” I asked her, loving her trying to mask her features. “You still a virgin?”
Rowen glared at me like I’d just slapped her. “Not that it’s your business, but no.”
“Oh, it’s definitely my business,” I corrected her. “But you can drop the affronted maiden look,” I said as I sat on the bed, enjoying her discomfort while I made myself comfortable physically and with the topic of conversation. “You’re not a stranger to sleeping with a male.”
