“You?” I ask, pointing at the girl.
“Me?” she asks, her head popping up. Her beauty momentarily disarms me. It’s a quiet beauty that has my cock stirring for the first time in my thirty years. It is impossible for the wolves of the McAlpine clan to get hard for anyone other than their mate. Her voice is warm and inviting. The rich timbre hits every single nerve in my body.
“Yes, you,” I reply, trying my damndest not to chuckle at her.
“Seneca Floyd, twenty-two. Gerald and Irene Floyd.”
“Mayor Floyd is your father?”
“Yes, sir,” she says.
“I’m Dane,” I say dumbly. I am pretty sure everyone in this town knows who I am, though, for the life of me, I don’t know why I never saw her before; obviously, fate works in mysterious ways.
“Nice to meet you,” she says, stepping forward a little bit. I reach for her outstretched hand, and a bright white light hits my eyes. I hear some gasps, but no one says anything. She pulls her hand away like it’s been burned. As soon as she does, the light disappears. She falls back in line with the boys. Now, I do take a second and rub my hand over my heart. It does nothing, not even calm me down.
“So, I take it you were not out causing trouble with the boys here?”
“Um… No,” she says, giggling. A sexy little giggle that goes all through me. “I came to talk to the alpha of the pack, which I take to be you?”
“That’s right, love,” I say.
“Hmm. You’re not what I expected.” The boys to her left chuckle.
“Silence,” I growl. They straighten up and look at me.
“You will help the old women with their laundry for one week. If I hear of you putting one toe out of line, you will all suffer the consequences. Do you understand?” Jared raises his hand. “What?”
“Help them how?” he asks, clearly confused by my seemingly lenient punishment. They must not know the grannies like the kids of my generation do. God, and now I sound like my dad.
“Whatever they want. If they want you to take them down to the river and beat them on rocks, you will. If they want you to fluff and fold it, you will. I better not hear of anything that you do upsetting them. Now get out. Everyone out,” I say, and they all scramble away. “Not you, Ms. Floyd.” I stop her in her tracks as she tries to hurry out of the room with the others. The door closes with a snap, and then we are alone.
She turns on her heels and stares at me. At this time, I look her up and down. She’s fucking gorgeous, and she may not know it yet, but she’s mine.
“Yes?” she asks when she’s had enough of my not-so-subtle staring.
“What did you want to talk to me about?” I ask, turning the conversation to something light before I tell her that the pull, she feels between can’t be broken.
“My father says he’s been having trouble with youths from your pack. I came to offer my assistance, I think. I don’t know. I’m sorry. I don’t really know why I came here,” she says, her shoulders sagging. “I was sorry to hear about your grandfather’s passing. He was nice to me when I was a child. He’d come to my father’s office and bring me shortbread.”
“He never mentioned that,” I say, realizing that I am just a hair's breadth away from her. Unbidden, my fingers reach up and wrap around a curly tendril of her jet-black hair that’s escaped from the confines of her ponytail.
“He wouldn’t have remembered me, I’m sure. I was forgettable.”
“I doubt that,” I say, leaning down, claiming her plump lips. Light explodes behind my closed eyes.
MATE.
MATE.
MATE.
Two
Seneca Floyd
Oh. My. God. The voice in my head, the one that’s never been my own, is telling me that this man, this wolf, is mine.
MINE.
MINE.
MINE.
That notion makes me bolder than I have ever been. My hands grip the back of his shirt. Through it, I can feel every muscular sinew that cords his back. My hands roam freely as he devours my mouth. Moaning, I know that I am going to let him do whatever he wants to me. With my eyes closed, I see the future vividly for the first time. Dane and I are lying in bed, our fingers entwined. My hair is a mess, and we are breathing heavily. My powers usually only let me see the past, so this is new, and it’s exciting.
The second I walked into the room, my belly jumped into my throat, and my heart started beating hard and fast. The magic in my blood makes me hum on a typical day, but right now, with this man’s lips on mine, I feel like light and energy are shooting out of my skin. I pry one open and see that it is. Shit. My eyes dart up to his and find them closed. The kiss deepens, and his tongue touches mine. I moan again, and pussy throbs. Throbs for him. I ache everywhere, and I need relief, like right the fuck now.