Chapter 48
Chase
At first I think Kiera is in too much shock to understand what’s happening or process my words. She stares up at me open-mouthed, her poor little heart still racing a mile a minute. She has the most incredible eyes, like molten chocolate. I could stare into them for days.
Her body slowly relaxes when she realizes the danger has passed, and I watch with fascination as the fear slowly leeches out of her, only to be replaced by anger. She pushes away from me, and while my instinct is to not to let her go, I also realize we’re lying in the middle of the street. Rising to her feet and brushing gravel from her dress, Kiera glares at me, “finally figured it out, did you?”
For a moment all I can think is how adorable she is, glowering at me so fiercely you’d think she was the wolf instead of me. Doesn’t she realize I’m twice her size? Then her words sink in, and my amusement dampens. “You knew?” I demand, pulling her onto the sidewalk.
Trying to shake off my hands and failing, she huffs, “Of course I did!”
Belatedly I realize she’s mad at me; mad that I didn’t feel our bond when she did. But she could have told me at any time – she should have told me as soon as she knew.
Too many emotions are warring for dominance in my head. I want to kiss Kiera until she forgets all about her anger, until she forgets her own name. I want to mark her; she’s too beautiful by half and my wolf is insisting it would be dangerous to leave her unclaimed. Then I want to scold her for keeping this secret, not to mention walking into the street without looking both ways. Finally, I want to take her home and wash the blood from her battered legs, then kiss every last scrape better.
It takes all my willpower to focus on the matter at hand. “For how long?”
Kiera bares her fangs at me, “From the beginning.”
Her defiance is provoking my wolf to no end. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“When do you expect me to have done that?” She hisses indignantly, “When you were off rutting Madison?”
So she’s jealous. I ponder, not minding this idea one bit. In fact, it fills me with pride to think my mate feels possessive of me. I can’t keep the smirk off my face, even though I know it will only goad the feisty feline. “You’re mad at me.”
Kiera rolls her eyes. “Apparently your instincts aren’t the only things that are slow.”
A growl rumbles in my chest, and Kiera suddenly seems to remember exactly who she’s speaking to so insolently. When Caspian becomes Alpha I’ll be his second in command, and not merely because we’re friends. I earned my position the hard way, beating out every other eligible wolf for the right to call myself Beta.
Though she quivered deliciously at the sound of my growl, Kiera now tilts her chin up, stubbornly standing by her words. I smother a chuckle. I always thought I wanted a sweet, biddable mate like Viviane, but now that Kiera’s in front of me I realize how mistaken I was. I love her fire, I love pushing her buttons and watching her feathers ruffle. “It’s not like it was a choice, Kiera.”
“Oh! You know my name.” She drawls derisively.
“Of course I do.” I assure her, reaching up to caress her cheek. Kiera jerks her head away, but I catch her nape and turn her face back to mine, deliberately dragging my thumb back and forth over her cheekbone until she settles.
“I’d rather it was a choice,” she tells me sullenly, “I was standing right in front of you and you didn’t even see me.”
“That isn’t true.” I insist, “I saw you, I just…” I honestly don’t know why it took this long for my wolf to feel the bond. I’ve always thought Kiera was lovely, but sometimes it happens this way.
“You just didn’t want me.” She bites, finishing my thought. “You wanted easy, flighty bimbos.”
Gods, I want to bury my face in her dark hair and drink in her luscious scent. “I’m not going to apologize for having a past.” I say instead. “I’ve lived a life just like you have, I’ve been with other women as I’m sure you’ve been with other men.”
“Don’t pretend you know me, Chase O’Reilly.” Kiera’s lip is curled with displeasure, but something about the sudden flush in her cheeks makes me wonder if she’s not denying my assumption, rather than the sentiment.
My wolf sits up at attention, and I pull her a little closer, “Am I to understand you’ve never been with a man?” My low voice sounds gravelly to my own ears, and my prey drive spikes when Kiera tries to wriggle away from me.
Her eyes flash, “That’s none of your business.”
“Babygirl, it absolutely is my business.” I rumble fiercely, sliding my hand into her hair. The hand at her waist clenches reflexively, and she winces in pain, prompting me to immediately soften my grip. She must be bruised from the fall. Suddenly I realize how neglectful this is, letting my mate stand here sore and injured after a near-death experience. We have years ahead of us to spar and flirt, right now I need to take care of her.
“I’m sorry,” I profess honestly, “I wasn’t thinking. We need to get you cleaned up.”
“I’m late for school.” Kiera informs me, trying to pull herself free.
“You’re not going to school or anywhere else in this condition.” I command, looping my arm beneath her knees and lifting her up.
I’m prepared for a fight, and my mate doesn’t disappoint. She immediately sputters and squirms, “What are you doing?! Put me down!”
“You can fight all you want sweetheart,” I promise her, “but it’s not going to do you a damn bit of good.”
To Kiera’s credit, she doesn’t give up, making a fuss all the way back to my car where Caspian is waiting, “Is she okay?”
“No, I’m being abducted!” Kiera complains, sparking a laugh from the Alpha. When she realizes he isn’t going to be any help she goes back to kicking, hissing and spitting curses at me, even though I know it must be aggravating her injuries.
“She’s just a bit scraped up. I’m taking her back to the Pack House.” I inform him, placing Kiera in the passenger seat and shutting her in.
The door handle jerks violently as she tries to escape, but luckily I had the foresight to use the child locks. Sliding into the driver’s seat, I reach across the pint-sized feline to buckle her in, catching her by the hair when she lunges forward to bite me.
“Careful mate,” I warn her menacingly, “you bite me and I’ll bite back.”
Kiera studies me for a long moment, breathing heavily, before pulling against my hold and snapping her teeth at me.
Chuckling as I finish securing the buckle, I finally release her and rev the engine, “Well I’ll say one thing for you little lynx, you’re definitely going to be a handful.” I cut my eyes to her, “but Gods, am I going to enjoy handling you.”
Kiera
I don’t know why I’m so angry, I’ve been waiting for Chase to wake up and notice me for ages. So why, now that he’s done what I wanted, does it make me so furious?
Maybe it’s something in my DNA, some deep-seated need to test his dominance, challenge him and make him prove his worthiness to be my mate.
My legs are covered in blood and screaming with pain, and my side aches horribly. Deep down I want to curl up and let this powerful wolf dote on me, but my lynx won’t allow me to show such weakness. I’ve always taken care of myself, I can do the same now.
Chase tries to talk to me on the drive, but I ignore him, crossing my arms over my chest and glaring out the window. When we get to the packhouse the big shifter comes around to my door, but I refuse to move.
I thought it would annoy him, but he doesn’t seem bothered in the least. Instead he unbuckles my seatbelt and lifts me out of the car, effortlessly carrying me into the big house and navigating through rooms I’ve never seen before.
We enter a modest suite towards the back of the house, and I realize these must be Chase’s rooms. I peek over his shoulder as he carries me into a large, luxurious bathroom, but I don’t see any signs that anyone other than Chase lives here. “Where are your parents?” I ask, unable to assuage my curiosity.
Chase sets me down on the bathroom counter, lifting my legs to examine them. “My mother is dead, my father lives downtown.”
“You don’t live with h– ow!” I hiss when Chase tries to wipe away some of my congealed blood to see the gravel lodged in the raw grooves of my scrapes.
“Shhh,” Chase murmurs, brow furrowed in concern. “I know it hurts, but we have to do this.”
“No I have to do this, not you!” I snap, trying to jerk my bloody leg out of his hand.
“Settle Kiera,” Chase commands sternly, “You’re going to hurt yourself even worse if you keep this up.”
“I don’t want your help.” I growl, “Just go away and let me deal with this myself.”
“No.” Chase responds firmly.
My mouth drops open. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Now be a good girl and take off your dress.” He orders, rummaging in the cabinets for first aid supplies.
“What!” I exclaim.
“I need to look at your ribs.” He states, as if this explains everything.
“I am not getting undressed!” I insist.
Chase arches a brow. “Can you think of another way for me to examine your injuries?”
“The last time I checked, you aren’t a doctor.” I remind him.
“No,” He agrees. “But I am a seasoned fighter who’s seen and helped treat plenty of broken ribs over the years.”
“Oh great,” I snark, “so I’m going to get half-assed medical aid from an underground brawler rather than a qualified physician.”
“Kiera, it’s like this,” Chase growls, a dangerous edge in his voice. “You can take off your dress, or I can take it off for you.”
