Page 10 of The Wolf's Appetite
One word kept filtering through my mind, but I pushed it back. I didn’t have my wolf anymore or the instinct to tell me she was my mate.
Realistically, I assumed she was making me feel like this because people didn’t defy me. I was accustomed to their apprehension, the way they kept a wide berth from me. I wasn’t used to them standing their ground.
“Ye’re no’ like the others,” I said absently.
Her eyes flared slightly. “If ye have a specific issue with the way I do my work or complete my tasks, ye’re free tae speak with the king and queen about it.”
It was hard as hell not to take a step toward her. Because the truth was, I wanted to really get close to her. She talked to me like I was… no one to her. She didn’t placate me, didn’t see me as royalty. I was just some fucking dude annoying the shit out of her.
And I… fucking loved that.
I scowled at my own thoughts, which probably looked like I was making the expression at her. And when she pursed her lips and made a littlehumphsound, once again, I felt my amusement grow.
Gods, it had been so long since I felt any kind of humor that it was almost foreign to me.
“Good day,” she said, a little too prim and proper, as if she were offended by my surly attitude.
Aislingtried to move past me, but I didn’t get out ofthe way, which forced her to stop when she was just a foot from where I stood.
She craned her head back and glared at me, and after this long standoff where we just stared at one another, I shifted slightly to the side, only giving her a small amount of space.
I sensed her irritation and impatience, and finally, I stepped back a foot. She walked by, and when her shoulder brushed against my abdomen on the way out, I felt a jolt of electricity move through me so strongly that every muscle in my body contracted, almost dropping me to my knees.
I stepped out of the bathroom and watched her leave. It was only when I was alone that I kept thinking one thing:
Could she be my mate? Without my wolf to tell me for sure, I couldn’t say for certain.
What I did know was I wanted to find out, and with a smirk, I felt a cockiness fill me as I reached down and adjusted myself, continuing to watch her leave and thinking about how fun a chase would be.
6
AISLING
My palms were sweaty by the time I left Lennox’s bedroom and not because I was afraid.
No, that would’ve made sense. That would’ve been logical.
But the truth—the terrifying, shameful, and impossible truth—was that I felt electrified.
My skin tingled where my shoulder had brushed against him, and my pulse thundered like a war drum. I rounded the corner and leaned against the wall, taking a minute for myself.
My thighs pressed together in an unconscious clench, and I hated myself for it.
Gods, he was infuriating. Brooding and sharp-tongued. But most of all, he turned me on like no oneand nothing ever had.
I closed my eyes and thought about how he was all thick muscle and veiled agony. His moods were like a thunderstorm, but I’d never wanted to get caught in the middle of it so badly.
I shoved off the wall and ignored all thoughts of the Lycan prince that filled my head. But no matter how much distance I put between us, I still felt the heat of his towering presence next to me. It felt like he’d embedded himself in my soul.
When I got to the linen storage room, I shut the door and leaned back against it with a hard thump. My heart was still hammering. My breathing was too fast. And I hated—hated—how my mind kept replaying the way he’d looked at me.
His gaze had lingered on my curves, and the sound of his voice had dropped to that low, husky growl when he’d confronted me in the bathroom.
He looked at me like he wanted to consume me. And the worst part?
I wanted to let him.
And yet, beneath the scowls and the sharpness, I saw it. That pain. It was a hollow emptiness in his eyes. It was the way he stood there like he was made of granite but seconds away from cracking.
