Page 97 of Wolf's Reckoning
I clenched my teeth and moved on. I knew that my pack would follow my orders. But their ears…their hearts…were already open to him.
Wolfe hadn’t even looked at me. He was talking with Killian, his shirt slung over his shoulder, abs on display, broad shoulders catching the morning sun, nodding at something one of the guards said, the ash mark of our marriage bond clearly displayed on his shoulder. My eyes narrowed on the three males who were not from Blueridge Hollow; it was time they were introduced to me.
All five of them turned to me in unison in a strange synchronized move that I doubted they even knew they’d done—it was so automatic and smooth. Somehow, the fourof them positioned themselves in front of Wolfe as if he needed protection. It should have been amusing because he stood taller and broader than any of them, and the glint in his eye looked much more dangerous than any of the group on a good day. And every single one of them looked dangerous, but none of them looked like Wolfe.
“Wife.” Wolfe growled the word like it insulted him, causing Killian to give him a sharp look and a not-so-subtle nudge.
What the hell was that?
I ignored the way the wordwifecurled from his lips like a curse. I pretended to ignore Killian’s side-eye and sharp elbow, though I tucked that little moment of friction between them into my pocket. I’d dissect that later.
Right now, I had shifters in my territory—myterritory—who hadn’t so much as bowed their damn heads to me. The three strangers—Wolfe’s entourage, no doubt—stood like they were forming a shield wall. Instinct or training, I wasn’t sure. But it rubbed my wolf all the wrong ways that they were keeping him from me.
I smiled. The kind of smile that made warriors shift on their feet.
“How nice,” I said, voice saccharine and just sharp enough to cut. “To see Stonefang Pack sends his finest. Though I wasn’t awarewewere hosting a parade.”
One of them—broad shoulders, shaved head, the type who probably did a thousand push-ups before breakfast just to feel something—had the audacity to snort.
Wolfe didn’t move.
Didn’t say a word.
So I stepped forward.
“Is there a reason you’re in my territory, in the patrol quadrant, without informing Lewis or myself?” I asked, voice clipped.
“You meanourpatrol quadrant?” another said. Dark-haired, bright-eyed. “Wolfe told us to scout the perimeter.”
I let that settle between us like a gauntlet on the dirt. Then I looked at Wolfe. Really looked. “Is that so?”
He didn’t flinch, but I noticed a flicker of irritation—or maybe amusement. “I said they could assist,” he said smoothly. “They have eyes. And teeth. They know how to use them.”
“They don’t know this terrain,” I argued, feeling my frustration bubble over. “And they sure as hell don’t know our scent trails. Which makes them a liabilitynotan asset.”
One of the Stonefang wolves growled low. Just enough to stir the air. Wolfe’s head turned so fast I barely saw it. “Stand down,” he ordered.
The growl vanished.
“I’m sure they meant no offense,” Wolfe added, voice thick with irony. “After all…you’re my wife.”
The air changed. Even Killian stiffened. The others looked at me like I was a puzzle that had just grown fangs.
I took a step closer until Wolfe and I were toe-to-toe. “If you think calling me your wiferepeatedlymakes me yours?—”
“I don’t think it,” he said, low and deadly. “Iknowyou’re mine.”
I refused to react, even though my blood was singing at his words of possessiveness. Wolfe leaned down, just enough that only those standing next to him could hear his next words.
“Remember your place, Rowen. You wanted the pack to see you lead? Then act like you belong at the top.”
He stepped past me without another word, and damn him—Icouldn’tstop myself from watching him walk away.
I spent the rest of the day going through my usual routine, and then I’d come back to the house on the pretense of adding my own touches to it. I hadn’t meant to linger. I hadn’t meant to miss dinner at the pack hall.
I’d eventually told myself I was going to bed, that I was done overthinking everything.
But the house was too quiet.
