He studied me for a moment, not replying. When I was about to throw my hands in the air, a small smile curved his lips. “You want to get to know me.”

I rolled my eyes. “This is truly just basic information, you know. I know more about my employees at Practically Perfect than I do about you, and we’ve spent the past few days together.”

He took a step closer to me, that infuriating smile still in place. “I don’t usually talk about my family, but for you, I will.”

I ignored how that declaration made my heart trip.

“I have two older brothers and an older sister. You’ve already met Ocean.” The smile slid off his face. “My brothers are named Cameron and Gavin. Cameron’s thirty-nine, married, and to be the next pack alpha. Gavin’s thirty-seven and still single.” His jaw locked, fire rolling in his eyes.

So the dude had issues with his brothers, okaaaaay. “What about your parents?” I winced after I said that. Something told me his dear mother didn’t live here. She was a demon after all.

“My father, Paxton King, is the current alpha of the pack. He lives in the alpha mansion on the other side of town, and my mother . . . I have no idea. I’ve never met her.” His voice stayed even, but his face went utterly blank.

My eyes widened. “You’ve never met her at all?”

“Not that I can recall. Obviously, she birthed me, but I don’t remember any of that.”

“And you’ve never visited her in the underworld?”

“Not . . . really.”

A million questions burned through me at that declaration. I still wanted to know how his parents had met, how his father had impregnated a female demon, and how the hell this hunter also held sorcerer magic. But given the closed-off expression that had fallen over his face, the dude was no longer in the sharing mood.

“So now what?” I asked, gazing around.

“We unpack and settle in.” He sounded a bit too happy about that.

“Don’t you need to work? Surely, your pack can keep me safe while you’re, you know, doing your hunter thing.”

“I haven’t taken on any new jobs, so no, I don’t need to work.” He grabbed my bags and headed toward the stairs.

I followed him ’cause I wasn’t sure what else to do. “So we’re going to be together, here, until they catch Jakub-Dipshit?” Oh gods.

He flashed me a smile over his shoulder. “Yes.”

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter 12

The stairs creaked under the hunter’s heavy weight as he climbed them, and my heart was racing way too fast for a simple jog up a flight of stairs.

“How long do you think it’s going to take them?” I asked when he began walking down the short hall. Ahead, three doors lined the sides. Please let this cabin have two bedrooms. Please have two bedrooms.

The Fire Wolf stopped at the door on the right. It revealed what I guessed was the master suite. A large king-sized bed waited in the middle of the room. A wide chest of drawers sat in the corner, and two windows spewed sunlight across the floors.

I peeked into the room across the hall. A full bathroom. With quick steps, I went to the last door. Surely, this is another bedroom.

I swung the door open, but it revealed a quiet sitting area. One small couch, two end tables, and a massive bookshelf was all it contained. The low, sloped ceiling held a skylight, and on the far wall was a sliding door to a tiny balcony.

“Is that a pull-out couch?” I asked hopefully.

The Fire Wolf grinned. “Nope. We’ll share the bedroom.” He hefted my bags over his shoulder before disappearing into the only bedroom in the house.

Heart thudding in my chest, I followed him into the room to find that he’d plopped my bags on the bed and was unzipping them.

I stopped mid-stride. “What are you doing?”

“Unpacking.”

“That’s my stuff.”

“As I’m aware, but this still needs to be put away. Surely, you’d be more comfortable if you were settled.” His hands dipped into my clothes in one of the bags, but then he stopped, as if suddenly aware of what he was doing and how incredibly inappropriate that was. His jaw slackened, and his hands dropped to his sides.

Yep, the dude had just realized he was about to unpack someone else’s clothes, and that someone wasn’t technically his girlfriend. Hell, even if I was his girlfriend, that would still be a little weird, but doing a task like that wasn’t unheard of in mated wolves.

Gah! This was going worse than I thought it would, because once again, his wolf was ruling him.

The hunter flashed me a tight smile and took a step back. I’d never seen the dude look unsure, but that was exactly how he appeared at the moment. Yep, so despite his love of teasing me, it was obvious he knew I was his mate, ’cause that look on his face was full-blown must-make-my-mate-comfortable-and-happy. This was true mating and courting shit.

Crap on a lap.

“I can unpack my things myself.” I walked stiffly to the bed, and then slid my bag away from him. “But we can’t stay in this room together. I’ll sleep on the couch in the other room, but I’ll keep my stuff in here since there’s more space.”

His brow furrowed. “No, you’re staying in here.”

I planted my hands on my hips. “We’re not together, therefore, we won’t be sharing a bed. End of story.”

A rumbling growl worked up his throat before he said through gritted teeth, “You’re not sleeping on a couch.”

“Fine. Then you sleep on the couch.”

“I won’t fit.”

“Not my problem.”

His nostrils flared, and he stepped closer.

I hastily retreated, not liking that predatory look in his eyes, but he kept coming until he’d backed me into the corner. Seriously? How did I end up here?

He leaned down, his nostrils flaring more. “Release your cloaking spell.”

“What? Why?” I sputtered. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Just do it.”

I sucked in a breath. “No way.”

“If you stopped hiding and started showing the world who you really are, you’d be much happier and so would I.”

“Why would you be happier? So you could walk behind me sniffing me all day? That’s weird.”

His body pressed closer, and he inhaled again. That damned fluttering began in my stomach once more. I fought the moan that wanted to slip from my lips. Just the feel of him so close to me . . .

This really wasn’t good.

A hum of satisfaction came from him. “You want me, even now, I can scent it. You want me as much as you did yesterday morning. Remember, when I made you come? I could do that again. Why are you fighting this?”

My eyes fluttered closed. Dammit all to hell. I did want him. Even now, when I knew that his interest in me wasn’t real, I wanted him. More than anything, I wanted to drop my cloaking spell, let him go all possessive, domineering wolf on me, and have me hauled against the wall with my legs wrapped around his waist as he thrust inside me.

Which was exactly why I couldn’t let that happen.

I wanted him too much, and I would never be happy with someone whose animal side was the reason he’d chosen me.

I placed my hands on his chest. Warmth from his skin seared into my palms, and a deep purr sounded in his throat. Oh yes, the hunter liked that I was touching him.

I shoved him away. “You and I are not together. Why do I have to keep reminding you of that?”

That cheeky smile lifted his lips. “But we could be together.”

Lord all mighty. I raised my eyes skyward. “For what? A few weeks? Is that why you wanted me here? So we could fuck like rabbits for the next month while the SF is out hunting Jakub-Dipshit? And then what, we go back to our normal lives? Me living in Chicago managing a magic shop, and you returning to your orgy factory in the Shadow Zone?” A tingle of jealousy snaked up my spine. I hated thinking about him returning to the Black Underbelly, where every female in the joint would be baring their breasts for him and offering to ride his dick.