Embracing the Wolf

“No, I haven’t really touched him to try.”

“You two looked pretty chummy in the mountains,” Adam said.

Wade looked at Elle. Elle looked at me, and I looked at Adam. A flurry of emotions ranging from embarrassment, hurt, and anger roiled in my stomach. He was acting like a jealous teenager instead of the confident alpha I once thought he was. Like I said, love is a tricky, tricky bitch. It can turn grown men into children and women insecure, but all relationships went through times like these, right? I had no clue. I had never dated anyone longer than two weeks. I always chose to leave before things got serious and messy.

“Can I speak to you … alone?” I directed the question at Adam. It took Wade and Elle all of two seconds to stand and head toward the door. Elle gave me a compassionate look before she and Wade left my room.

“That was an asshole thing to say in front of them, Adam. You make it sound like you found me cheating on you.”

Adam didn’t respond, which only pissed me off more. He just sat on the bed—his hands clasped in front of him, staring at the floor. I wanted to scream and punch a wall or wolf out. I did none of those things. Instead, I stood up and crossed my arms. If he wanted to play the silent game then that was fine by me, but he wasn’t leaving my bedroom until he apologized. At this point, I would even settle for a look of apology, just something that told me he regretted making me look like a cheater in front of my friends. I knew as soon as he was away from me, Elle would find me and ask me what he meant by that comment. The fewer people who knew about Anthony’s strange connection through our Chante bond the better. Now was not the time for people to question my loyalty to Adam.

“It pisses me off,” Adam finally said, still staring at the floor.

“I’m pretty pissed off, too.”

“No,” he said, lifting his head to meet my eyes. “It pisses me off to think of you with anyone other than me. I see the way men look at you, Anna. I see the hunger in their eyes and know what it means, and it makes me see red. I want to rip their dicks off just for looking at you.” He took a ragged breath and studied the carpet again. “I’ve never felt this amount of possessiveness before. If I could, I would whisk you away, and we would live by ourselves in the middle of nowhere. I know how crazy I sound, and that’s why I have done my best to keep a lid on my jealousy, but seeing you with him—seeing him reach for you as though he had done it a million times before and had a right to—I wanted to kill him. I would have had you not stopped me.” He met my eyes again, and my stomach plummeted to my feet. A tiny sliver of fear coursed through me before I reminded myself that this was Adam and not some controlling boyfriend. Adam would never do anything to hurt me. I knew that.

I took a deep breath before I spoke, hoping my voice didn’t sound as shaky as I felt. “You don’t have to trust Anthony, Adam, but you do have to trust me. You should know that whether I’m surrounded by a million GQ models or not, I’m always thinking of you. This relationship is not going to work if we don’t trust each other. Had you waited just a couple seconds longer before charging Anthony, you would have seen me bat his hand away. I know what it must have looked like, but you know what they say about assuming things. And you made me look like an ass with your comment. Now Wade and Elle probably think I’m in some twisted love triangle with you and your brother.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Adam said. “I’ll explain to them, and just so you know, I know you would never betray me like that. It’s just … the thought of men wanting what is mine drives me crazy.”

“It shouldn’t,” I said, forcing a smile. “If you know for sure I would never do anything with any of them, then you should be proud—even a little smug—that you have something they could never have. I can’t do this whole jealous fiancé thing.”

Adam’s eyes snapped to mine. “You’re one to talk. I saw how jealous you got whenever I talked to Chloe.”

Just the mention of her name caused me to scowl.

“See, that look right there,” Adam said, pointing toward my face. “Jealousy.”

“It’s not the same thing,” I said. “Chloe actually thinks she should be your mate. Other than Anthony, no men have come on to me. Speaking of that, what is this I hear about a line of mates you have?”

Adam shrugged as though I had just asked him about a collection of hats or shoes rather than a line of willing females ready to take my place. I glared at him for making me feel like shit when he was the one with the suspicious females in waiting.

“All alphas have a list of acceptable female mates should something happen to our current ones. It sets a good example for an alpha male to have an alpha female.”

I frowned. “That sounds ridiculous.” I now knew why his mother was so against our pairing, not that my mutt-ness wasn’t the number one reason, but also because I wasn’t on the list of acceptable mates. I was sure Mommie Dearest had handpicked them all. It reminded me of some eighteenth century marriage agreement. Not an ounce of romance or love required, just good genes and a powerful family name.

“It’s our way, Anna,” Adam said. “Or at least it was. I obviously didn’t follow protocol when Eve died. Yeah, Chloe should have filled her spot, but I love you. You’re the one I want by my side. I lived through a loveless relationship once; I wasn’t going to do it again.”

A million thoughts raced through my head, all of which would only cause another fight. The loudest thought screaming in my mind was whether Adam would have picked me had we not bonded. Had I not given into him the night before I was supposed to be killed by the Leaders, would Adam have chosen me over Chloe? None of those insecure thoughts voiced themselves, though. Instead, the most unimportant of them all did.

“But I thought Chloe was gay? That’s what Elle said.”

“She’s bi,” Adam said in explanation.

“Well, that clears that up.” I turned to leave, but Adam reached out and grabbed my arm to stop me. I kept my back to him, my inner voice loud as it repeated the important question in my head. I was too afraid to ask, because nothing good ever came from asking yourself the “what-if” questions. We were together, and that was all that mattered, right?

“As soon as I saw you,” Adam said, “even before we slept together, and the Chante mark appeared, I wanted you, Anna. You were mine from the moment you set foot on my mountain, and I will always be yours. No list or politics will change that.”

I turned and shook my head to keep the tears in my eyes from falling. “How is it you always know exactly what to say?”

Adam smiled, tugging me toward him. He wrapped his arms around my waist and hugged me tightly to his chest. “It’s easy when it’s the truth.”

Chapter Nineteen

I was not cut out to be a spy.

Elle, Wade, Adam, and I headed down the cracked walkway of the motel ready to introduce the vampires to a little sunlight. After describing who we were looking for to the chubby guy in the office, he had directed us to Room 16. Now, Elle and Wade stood on the left side while Adam and I took the right. It only took half an hour of arguing with Adam for him to give in and let me come with. What he didn’t know was I didn’t need his permission. I was coming along whether he wanted me there or not, but entertaining his idea that he had some control over the situation seemed to make him happy enough.

“Ready?” Wade sent the message to all of us, his voice filling my head. Adam nodded and I did, too, not that my readiness mattered. Adam made it clear that while I was going, I would not be fighting with the vampires should it come to that. Again, it was cute he thought he could tell me what to do.

Wade stepped out in front of the door and, in one swift move, brought his leg up and slammed it toward the door, kicking it in. The flimsy door caved in on itself. Pieces flew into the room while other small pieces hung from rusty hinges. Moving quickly, Wade entered the room with Adam right behind him. Elle followed Adam, and of course, I was the last to enter. That had been the designated order they agreed on when we were driving into town. I sat in the backseat, rolling my eyes and ignoring their plans to keep me out of harm’s way. It was sweet, but annoying. The best way to prove you can hang with the big dogs is to prove yourself. I planned to do just that.

I stared into the room. It had the same matching twin beds and ugly carpet as the room from my vision, but the room was empty.

“They knew we were coming,” I said, and three heads turned to look at me. “Taren received a phone call shortly before my vision ended. Whatever the person told him on the other end, it didn’t sound like good news. I wonder …” I pursed my lips in thought, trying to remember exactly what Taren’s responses had been.

“What?” Elle said. “You wonder what?”

“Well, whoever hired them must know I can see into the past. I wonder if the person on the phone called to warn them about my power. They would have to know that after the fight the other night, I would want to find out answers, and there was vampire blood all over. Seeing someone’s past is easier when I have some of their DNA.” When I was trying to figure out what Eve was up to, Wade had cleaned hair from her brush and made me hold onto it in hopes of it helping me connect with her, and it had helped a lot.

“Shit,” Adam said under his breath. “How are we going to find them now?”

“Well,” Wade said. “They’re vampires and it’s daytime. They have to be somewhere that would protect them from the sun. I say we knock on every single door of every single hotel in Buffalo. If they’re not hiding out at a hotel, then we start checking empty houses.”

“That’s going to take forever,” Elle said. “Why doesn’t Anna just interrogate all the wolves? It’s your right, as the hostess of the conference, to question the wolves on your mountain, Adam.”

Wade smiled. “And you have a Leader there to enforce your ruling. They cannot defy my judgment.”