“Okay,” I said a bit breathlessly. “But I’d like to ask one thing of you, too.”

“Anything.”

I paused. Strangely, I had a feeling he actually meant that. “Stop sneaking up on me. I don’t like it.” When I twirled around, he abruptly stepped back until he was two yards away.

“I can do that.” His jaw locked.

We stared at one another. Rolling fire and luminescent gold bled through his eyes. His expression looked strained yet guarded.

My body responded, that desire pooling inside me again.

His nostrils flared, but he didn’t advance. “Would you like to train since you’re no longer hungry?” He cleared his throat, and the rasp in his voice abated. “You need to learn to control your new power.”

Train? A stone sank in my stomach. That was another way we could pass the time here, but at the moment, I couldn’t even think about that. Images of the hunter shirtless and sweaty came to mind. Yep, definitely couldn’t deal with that.

I crossed my arms, my chin jutting up. “I’ve already trained today. I don’t think my muscles could handle another round, but I was serious earlier about wanting to meet your pack. So, what do you say, will you take me there?”

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter 13

The hunter studied me, but his expression gave away nothing. “Why do you want to meet them?”

I shrugged. “Call me curious.”

His cocky smile returned. “Does this have anything to do with you wanting to get to know me?”

A salty reply was on the tip of my tongue, but then I paused. Did it? Was that really what this was—curiosity about getting to know him on a deeper level because I did want to understand him?

And then it hit me. Yes. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I wanted to know him.

I kept my expression carefully neutral. “Maybe.”

“If you want to learn more about me, all you have to do is ask. I’ll answer your questions.”

I snorted. “As you have so readily so far? Yeah, I’ve seen how that goes. I’ll be lucky if I get more than one-word responses.”

“I could be better.”

“Oh, really?” I crossed my arms. “Then in that case, why do you never come back here?” I waved around at his cozy cabin and the breathtaking view through the window before crossing my arms again. “How come you haven’t been back in ten years?”

He stared at me—a totally blank, leveling stare.

Le sigh. “See?”

He grumbled. “I don’t really see why that’s important. My pack has nothing to do with me. Why don’t you ask something that’s actually relevant?”

“Like what your favorite color is?” I asked sarcastically.

He smiled devilishly. “Black.”

I rolled my eyes. “So original.” I tapped my foot, trying to figure out why he was so cagey about this place, but of course, I didn’t know. “What are you so afraid of me learning? Or are you hiding me from them? Do you not want them to meet me? Is that what it is?”

“No, I just don’t want to see them. What’s the big deal?”

I nibbled my lip, eying him again. “Did something happen here?”

A single flame appeared in each of his irises before it was extinguished. “My former pack is a worthless bag of shit that I want nothing to do with. It doesn’t mean anything happened.”

Right, and I’m Cleopatra. My eyes narrowed. “Did they do something to you? Hurt you or something?” My fingers curled into my palms at the thought. I couldn’t imagine anyone hurting the hunter, but I only knew him as an adult. I’d never known him as a kid.

That tightness entered his jaw again, and—surprise surprise—he didn’t answer.

“How old were you when you came to live here?”

“A baby,” he replied in a clipped tone.

I didn’t ask anything further. From the energy strumming from the hunter, it was obvious I was pushing into territory that he didn’t want to enter, and as much as he’d claimed to be willing to answer my questions, he clearly wasn’t.

Sighing, I ended with, “What about Ocean? If you don’t want me to meet your pack, can we go see her?”

Some of the hard lines softened around his mouth. “Yeah, I’m always happy to see her.”

I grinned. “In that case, let me grab my coat.”

∞     ∞     ∞

Of course, we didn’t venture to his sister’s house in a car. Oh no, that would be too normal. Instead, the hunter pulled out his yellow crystal after I’d slipped my jacket on.

“What about the wolves guarding this place?” I fluffed my hair out of the jacket to trail down my back. “Don’t we need to tell them we’re leaving?”

“I sent them a text when you were upstairs. They know we’ll be gone for a bit.”

“And we don’t need them at your sister’s house?”

“No, you have me.” He grinned wickedly, as if his protection was all I’d ever need. And while we were awake that was probably true, but sleeping . . .

My blood chilled when I remembered the two supernaturals diving into my bedroom at night and trying to abduct me.

The familiar anger brewed in me again, that all of this was because of that fucker, Jakub-Dipshit. Taking a deep breath, I waved at his portal. “Don’t you ever get tired creating those?”

“Not usually.”

“How can you not? That takes an immense amount of energy. You’re the first supernatural I’ve met that can conjure portals.”

He grunted. “What kind of supernaturals do you hang out with?”

I bit back a smile. “Are you seriously saying that you have friends who can do the same thing?”

He chuckled. “I never said that.”

“So you’re admitting that you’re the only supernatural you know of that can create his own portals?”

His eyes glowed wickedly. “Maybe.”

I blew hair from my eyes. “Gods help me. And you wonder why I ask you so many questions. It’s because you never answer anything.”

He studied me for a moment, his portal swirling behind him. “You’ve learned more about me in a week than my closest friends learned about me in a year.”

A flutter drifted through my belly again. Ugh. Why did he have to make comments like that? Things that made me feel . . . special?

My eyebrows raised, and I tried desperately to hold on to the banter between us that, dammit, I was growing quite fond of. “You must have had very interesting and in-depth conversations with your close friends then.”

He shrugged. “We spent most of our time drinking and talking smack when we first met, not baring our souls to one another.”

I snorted a laugh as I stepped closer to his portal. Winds from it caressed my cheek as I asked more seriously, “Does that mean you think you’ve bared your soul to me?”

“Perhaps a bit.”

“Does that mean we’re friends?”

“I’d like to be a lot more than your friend.” He gave me a seductive smile.

I raised my gaze skyward. “As I’m aware.”

“But I’ll settle with friendship. For now.”

For now. A thrill ran up my spine despite trying to stomp it down. “Something tells me you and I could never just be friends.”

He stepped closer, until his hand brushed mine. He cupped my palm, then entwined our fingers before tugging me forward. “No. You and I could never just be friends. I’d want to fuck you way too often for that.”

A flood of desire shot to my core, and his nostrils flared.

So that was one thing we agreed on. The hunter and I were never meant for a platonic relationship. So what did that mean? That my body recognized him as my mate? But I wasn’t a wolf, so how could it?

With that thought on the edge of my mind, he wrenched me forward until my chest was glued to his, and then the portal winds sucked us into their embrace.

His warmth was everywhere, and even though the twisting and popping sensations that accompanied magical transfers jolted through me, my brain was focused on one thing and one thing only—the Fire Wolf.