Page 48 of Wolf Desired

“Could your twin bond be influencing you?” I asked, my voice frustratingly small because if it was the twin bond, that could mean no matter what Knox had said about Bishop’s feelings for me, they weren’t real. They were just from my mating bond with Knox.

“Probably,” Bishop said with a sigh, making my throat tighten.

What he felt for me wasn’t real.

“Hey, no.” He tugged me to the side of the road, hooked his thumb under my chin, and tipped my head up, forcing me to look at him. “Not like that. What I feel for you is all me. It has nothing to do with my connection with Knox. He’s stressed right now and he expresses that with anger which sometimes puts me on edge.” His expression softened and he huffed a soft laugh. “I never expected it’d make me possessive.”

“Never been jealous, hunh?” I tentatively teased.

“Oh, I’ve been jealous about a lot of things, like how Cyrus always seems to have it together, or how Knox is the best hunter in the pack and I’m not even in the top twenty.” He flashed me a wry smile and offered me the crook of his elbow. “But I’ve never been jealous over a woman. What she does is always her choice and only my business if it involves me.”

I hooked my arm around his and let him continue to escort me up the main road. “So, I can shake hands with any guy I want?”

“You can do more than shake hands.” He rumbled again, the sound low and soft in his chest, and he released another sigh. “My wolf would prefer if you just stuck with shaking hands.”

So, he wouldn’t control me, but his wolf, the most primal part of his being, wanted me for himself. Or at least, himself and his brother… brothers?

The thought sent warmth rushing through me. His wolf wanting to control what I did should have bothered me, but instead it sent a thrill rushing through me. Hewantedme. No one had ever wanted me, and I trusted that Bishop had enough control of his wolf that he wouldn’t let him abuse our relationship.

“So, no conversations?” I asked, more confident in my teasing. “What about brief eye contact? Should I avoid other women as well?”

“All of the above,” he said with overexaggerated seriousness. “I decree that only blind, mute servants shall attend to you and everyone will have to wear blindfolds when you wish to walk about the town.”

“Everyone, hunh?” I laughed with him. “That seems dangerous.”

“Seriously, though. Even if Knox is around, you can do and say what you want with whoever you want. You don’t belong to him or me or anyone.”

I squeezed his arm in thanks. “There might still be some social rules that I don’t know about and inevitably mess up,” I replied, turning serious. “You behave like everyone back home — better even — and I understand your language and you don’t have an accent. Sometimes I forget this is a different realm and a different culture. I don’t know what I don’t know, and you don’t know it, either, so you can’t help me avoid it.”

“That’s a lot ofdon’t knows.” He bumped my shoulder with his, drawing my gaze up to see the warmth and affection in his brown eyes. “It’ll be all right. You’re not alone anymore, Audrey. You’ve got me.” His wry expression deepened, his eyes sparkling with laughter. “And believe it or not, you’ve got Knox. His social skills suck, but for what it’s worth, he won’t betray you.”

Because the bond wouldn’t let him.

But that thought didn’t ring true. Knox was harsh and gruff and might not like me for putting us in an unwinnable situation, but I knew in my soul he’d never purposely be cruel. Not like Sterling had been for all of my teen years and not like Royce when he’d tricked me into thinking we were fated mates.

“Speaking of having your back,” Bishop said as we passed through the open, unguarded gate in the thick stone Old Town wall. “We all agreed that you can’t keep staying in the guest room.”

“So where will I be staying?” After the conversation we just had, I didn’t think they were going to throw me out of the alpha’s residence to fend for myself, but I did fear that they were going to move me in with Knox, something I wasn’t at all ready for.

“A guest suite. You need more space to call your own to figure out what you want to do. Something a little less temporary. The suite has a bathroom, bedroom, and a sitting room.”

“I’m pretty sure I can think just fine in the bedroom you’ve already given me,” I instinctively replied, years of declininggiftsthat were really traps having taught me to say no to everything. No matter how much I wanted it, it was always safer to turn it down even if that meant being reprimanded for being ungrateful.

“It’s already been decided. By now Cyrus has already had someone move your clothes.”

Clothes that they’d also bought me.

“I can’t keep taking advantage of your good will.”

“You’re not just pack now. You’re family,” Bishop said. “Hopefully soon you’ll be family twice over when you accept me as a mate as well.”

My pulse fluttered in anticipation of the thought, even as a whisper of fear curled in my stomach. I wanted so desperately to believe him, believe everything was as it looked to be, but I couldn’t kill that sliver of worry that I was wrong and I was going to go back to living in a nightmare.

We reached the gate in the stone wall surrounding the Residence and passed through. Beyond, the Residence was highlighted by a band of sunlight streaming between two mountain peaks as if the realm were putting the building on display. And it was worthy of display, looking like a spectacular, enormous Medieval castle with multiple turrets and wings and a grand front door.

“You belong in the Residence with your mate,” Bishop said.

But that was only if my relationship with Knox had been normal, if I’d actually been chosen. At the moment, I was his dirty little secret.

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