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Dmitri

I allow my hand to transform. It becomes bigger than it is now, hair shooting out of the pores on the top of my hand and fingers, nails transforming into long, sharp claws. She never asked for proof when she could have, so I want to give her this validation. I want her to trust what I say completely, without a sliver of doubt.

Instead of fear, she reaches out and strokes the fur on the top of my hand. Once again, Sky's reaction is unusual and unpredictable. Most people are scared, their fear pouring out of them. She isn't afraid.

As she strokes my hand, I watch her intently. As fascinated as she seems to be with my hand, I am with her.

"Can you feel the tingles between us, or is it just me?" she asks, dragging her eyes from my hand to look directly at me. Even as her embarrassment sits on her now pink cheeks, she asks this question. Brave even when it makes her uncomfortable.

"I can feel them too, Skylar." I hold her gaze until finally, the intensity forces hers down.

"Is that normal between humans and werewolves? I mean, does every person who touches a werewolf feel tingles?"

"It's not normal. I have no explanation for why it happens when we touch. I have been alive for centuries and never felt something like this." I nearly say, 'I have never felt something like the way I feel with you,' but I thought that would definitely be too creepy.

"How old are you?" She is frowning slightly as she asks.

"Very old," I answer, not really wanting to disclose that information.

She doesn't push me for an exact age, which I appreciate. And normally I don't mind saying. But with her, I fear she will be repulsed. And that is the crux of why I don't want to answer her. I don't want her to feel disgusted with my age, like I'm some sort of perverted, vile old man. It shouldn't matter, I tell myself. You are not getting involved anyway, right?

Her frown disappears, replaced with a smile before she says, "Should I call you grandpa?"

I nearly choke on the coffee I have just sipped.

"Definitely not," I mumble, my answer making her chuckle.

"I prefer older men," she says, the words tumbling from her and clearly not what she intended, as her eyes widen and her cheeks turn red. Again. Fuck, she is cute.

"More coffee?" she asks quickly, trying to distract from the awkwardness she has just created with her comment.

"I'm fine, thank you, Skylar."

She clears our mugs, placing them in the dishwasher before returning to sit at the table, her pink cheeks back to their normal shade.

"I should get dressed and ready for work." She doesn't seem enthused about this, which clearly indicates her tiredness. If I know anything about her, she loves what she does, so for her not to feel keen must mean something.

"I spoke to Ivan last night when you were sleeping. Rene will look after the shop during your absence today. You need to get proper rest, and we have more to discuss."

"I would have managed, but thank you, Dmitri. Let me give her a quick call, as there are some urgent orders that need to go out today."

With that, she wanders off down the passage to call Rene. I wasn't sure how the next conversation we had would pan out. I needed to keep her safe. My security team was currently busy organizing and installing security at the renovated and new houses being completed on the bordering land. That meant that they would only be available to upgrade security on Sky's property in just over a week.

Anything could happen between now and then. I had come up with a solution. I just didn't know whether she would accept it.

"All sorted," she says, sitting down at the table, bringing me back to reality.

"We need to talk about your safety, Skylar."

"Well, I'll just have to be extra careful when coming home and leaving. I have thought about this, and I don't want any of your men guarding me, my house, or my shop. I'm not your responsibility, Dmitri. We barely know each other, and I can't put your men in harm's way. They don't even know me. It's bizarre. This whole situation doesn't feel right. I'm still cut up about Ruan, and I'm just not comfortable, and that is putting it lightly, with having people's deaths on my hands." She finishes her calmly spoken speech, looking me straight in the eyes, hers watering briefly as she blinks the moisture away.

I mask my expression, not wanting to give anything away. Sky saying she is not my responsibility triggers a rush of possessiveness. That and an element of fear. The thought of leaving her to her own devices and then having something happen to her affects more than just my pride at being the protector of this town. I actually fear losing her. That alone tells me there is more to this situation, more between her and me, than we know. These kinds of feelings are not easily elicited from me, and especially not by some bewildering human woman.

I need to keep her close to me. No matter what.

"The agreement with this town and my pack means that as the Alpha, you are under my protection. Ignoring that would mean breaching the contract and ending an arrangement that has existed since before you were born. It's not that simple, Skylar," I say sternly.

"Tell me, how exactly do you think you are going to protect yourself against a highly trained hunter?"

She hesitates, thinking for a bit.

"I see your logic. I'm not ignorant enough to think I have the skill set to do that. I just have no other option at the moment," she trails off thoughtfully, and then her face suddenly lights up.

"Oh, I'll ask Ben to come stay with me for a week. He has been threatening to come visit, so now would be the perfect time." She claps her hands together, her elation eliciting a feeling I fundamentally detest. Oh, hello, jealousy, been a while, my friend. She wants another man to come stay here. Not fucking happening.

"Ben?" I say impassively, balling my fists under the table where she can't see.

"Ben and I have been friends for years, since my aunt and uncle adopted me."

"And Ben is going to protect you how?" My skepticism seeps into the words. I was looking for a logical reason beyond my jealousy for that arrangement not to become a reality.

"Well, he's not as... muscular as you," she says, struggling to find the word as she motions towards my body, looking at my torso and arms as she does.

"But he is a pretty big guy, and he told me once that he had extensive combat training when he was in military school in the South," she finishes, looking pleased with herself and her idea.

"And you are okay with putting him in danger?" I ask her expressionlessly, deciding that working on her emotional side was the only way I could get her to drop this suggestion. This suggestion was making me angrier and angrier as she spoke about this fucking Ben guy.

Bingo. Her face drops.

"I didn't think about that," she says, hesitating before a small, "no, I'm not really okay with that either," comes out of her mouth. Her eyes trail from mine down to her hands despondently. I feel like she might start crying again.

"I have a solution," I say to her quickly before any tears can fall. She looks back at me when I say, "You just might not like it." 

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Gathering of the Eastern Packs. A mandate I cannot refuse. And one that changes my life forever.
Ava
I'm a rogue. Happily have been since the age of eighteen when my mate, and the Alpha of my old pack, rejected me.
Living amongst the humans for the last nine years with my bestie and staying far away from the werewolf world that showed me nothing but abuse and heartache changes with one event and one sniff.
The King of the Werewolves, my second chance fated mate... strong, dominant, and the sexual tension between us is off the charts.
But with wet panties comes the bubbling up of long-hidden secrets and a man I would rather forget, The Butcher. I have something he wants, and he will stop at nothing to get it.
Braiden
At thirty-four years old and still, with no fated mate in sight, I have finally chosen my Queen, a carbon copy of my mother.
Until I scent her.
My mate, the white wolf, is an exact match to my black one. She just has to realize it.
My Queen wants none of this world, her past standing in our way, along with secrets that reveal our connection long before now.
With every fiery interaction, I can feel her resistance crumbling. Soon, she will see that there is no escape.
She is mine. She is The Alpha King's Queen.

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Corrupting Lily

Lily

You know how the saying goes: out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Just when I escaped one dangerous man, I catch the eye of another.

Except this one makes me feel more than fear.

With a bounty on my head for a secret someone is willing to kill me for, no one can keep me safe. No one but the angel of death himself. A nickname not bestowed lightly and one the Mafia Don who has taken an interest in me wears with the confidence of one who has earned it.

With each heated glance and words that heal me instead of tear me down, there is no escaping his corruption. And when the time comes, do I really want to?

Dominico

She is everything I am not. And everything I crave.

Her innocence begs me to corrupt it. When a bounty threatens to take her from me, the only way to keep her safe is by making her mine.

I set out to corrupt her, but who knew little flowers could bloom in the dark?

Now there is no way I am giving her up.

She is mine.