Page 29 of A Wolf's Treasure
“Because they also know who I am. And, they also want me dead.”
“What for? What did ye do tae Thomas?”
“Not a thing, except be what I am. But he and my father have known each other a long, long time.” She barked out a laugh. “It wouldn’t surprise me if they’re here because my father asked them to come here.”
“I dinna believe that,” he told her. “The prince was genuinely shocked tae find out.”
“That makes no sense.” She tapped her fingers on the bar. “The prince might be playing you, making you believe what he wants you to believe. What would Thomas’s wolves be doing here otherwise?”
Duncan thought perhaps he knew. But it was not his business to tell. It would be Lucian’s. “They might be here for a completely different reason altogether, and maybe running into ye here was as much a surprise tae them as it was tae yer da.”
“Thomas thinks the only good Faerie is a dead Faerie,” she said more to herself than to him. “Much like all of you wolves did. Before.”
“Before the war.”
Her eyes flew to his. “Yes.”
But he only shook his head. “Tis no’ true now.” She didn’t seem to believe him, but it wasn’t something he’d be able to convince her of with words. This he knew. It would have to be something she experienced for herself. “However, Thomas seems tae think he can do as he please, wherever he pleases.”
“He’s always been a bit full of himself.”
“Aye,” he agreed. Duncan had never met the Scottish alpha, but he’d heard stories from both Lucian and now Brock. “So, perhaps ye can tell me, is there anyone who does no’ want tae kill ye?”
She gave him a brilliant smile. “There’s you.”
Aye. She was right, there. He did not want to harm a wee hair on her bonnie head. He felt it would break his heart to do so—as soon as it began beating again after she stopped it with that smile—which made not a lick of sense, as he barely knew the lass.
Yet…he felt like their souls had touched before. Like he did, in fact, know her. The sound of her laugh, the feel of her eyes on him, the dips and valleys of her curves. The slide of her skin on his…
The warm glow of her love.
But that was impossible. Because he’d never been that close to anyone before the war. And after…
Well, after the war, things are different. They would want a true mate. Something Duncan could never be now.
Ryanne slammed her glass down on the bar top, jarring him from his melancholy thoughts. “Come on, wolf.”
Never one to dwell on things that couldn’t be changed, he picked up his beer and chugged down the remainder in two swallows. Wiping his mouth on the napkin it was on, he then set both back on the bar. “Where are we goin’?”
“Somewhere else,” was all she would tell him. “I’m getting tired of glaring at all the human females who keep walking by trying to catch your attention.”
What? He looked to his left. Sure enough, Daisy, Elma and Jessica were giving him curious glances as they clustered around a tall table nearby. Daisy even gave him a little wave.
He grinned, winked, and waved back. He meant nothing by it. It was an automatic reaction.
The sound of Ryanne clearing her throat reminded him that his company was spoken for, at least for the moment. Tingles danced up his arm as Ryanne grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the bar, and the human females were forgotten.
When they got outside, he pulled her to a stop, making her wait while he smelled the night air for any scents that didn’t belong. But there was no sign of the shifters. Only the normal scents of unwashed homeless bodies, greasy restaurants, car emissions, wet pavement, and the faint, salty taste of the nearby sea.
Ryanne stood patiently by his side and waited. “All safe?” she asked when he started walking again.
Duncan glanced down at her. One corner of her mouth was twitching, like she was fighting a smile. “Dinna laugh at me.” He tapped the side of his nose. “Ye will be happy for this when it saves ye from being ambushed by three angry wolves determined tae get their paws on ye.”
They got to the Vina, and as he fished around in his pocket for his keys, he was surprised to hear her say, “You’re right. I shouldn’t laugh at you. Especially after what you did for me the last time.”
He found his keys and unlocked his door. “So, where are we goin’, lass?” When she didn’t respond, he turned to her, keys dangling from his fingers.
She was staring at him strangely.
