ripping the hair right off their heads. But that was all behind her now. She wore his mark. He wore hers. They were together.
Not just a couple, but together-together.
And the best part, the cherry on the top of her I’m-finally-with-my-mate-sundae, was the way Beau made her feel with just one glance. It was everything life was supposed to be, and then some. It filled her heart and her soul to overflowing. It completed her in ways she couldn’t have imagined. It was absolutely everything, and she refused to live without him.
To hell with her father. To hell with tradition. And, definitely, to hell with Terrance Holloway.
Footsteps that started at what she imagined to be the end of a hall, got louder until they stopped, and the creak of a door filled the room. Drowning in the odor of cheap cologne and sweaty wolf, her skin crawled when Terrance’s nasally voice chuckled. “Might as well open your eyes, Lucy. I know you’ve been awake since the boys carried you in.”
Turning her head toward the voice, she slowly opened her eyes and glared. Praying that daggers would shoot from her eyes and spear the bastard through the heart, she refused to speak. It was bad enough that the stinky wolf was standing like he looked good, but when his growing smirk revealed gold on his left canine, it was all she could do not to throw up on his shiny, fake alligator shoes.
Walking forward like he was on a runway, Terrance knelt beside the bed, looked down his nose, and smirked, “Do you think you can behave? Your dad said you were…” tapping the corner of his mouth with the tip of his finger, he sniffed, “…a little upset, and might need some convincing that with me is where you need to be.”
Yeah, well, just wait till I’m holding you down and skinning you alive, asshole. Let’s see how happy you are.
Running the tip of the same finger down her arm, literally making her skin crawl, the wolf went on. “You need to calm down, then I can have the boys remove those nasty silver shackles.”
Drawing circles on her shoulder, she could see the fire flash in his eyes when he saw Beau’s mark, but she had to give the idiot credit. He didn’t lose his temper and schooled his features so quickly had she not been staring right at him, she might have missed it.
The asshole’s been practicing.
Clearing his throat, Terrance plastered on the fakest of smiles. “Don’t you want to sit up? Get comfortable?” Shaking his head, his finger making its way back down her arm, he shrugged. “I mean, we’re going to be mated. I can’t think of any reason why we should discuss our plans for the future while you’re trussed up like a prisoner.”
Brushing a stray hair off her forehead, Lucy held her breath as the asshole leaned closer. Just the thought of having to inhale his horrible scent so close to the source was more than she could bear.
Moving her head as far back as she could as he moved to within an inch of the tip of her nose, Lucy continued to stare into the eyes of pure evil as she ground out, “Do whatever you want. That’s what you and my father plan to do anyway. I have not the desire or need for you to try to play nicely. You’re scum. You’re always going to be scum. Nothing and no one can change that.”
“Oh, come on, Lucy. Why do you have to be that way? Don’t you want us to be happy?” Pulling back, he hunched his shoulders up around his ears and laid his hand across his chest. “I know I do.” Waving his hand, his arrogance rivaling her father’s, Terrance touted, “All we need to do is clear the air. Talk about what each of us wants and needs from this relationship.”
Pausing, his head unconsciously leaning closer to the door, he kept going, but she could tell he was planning something. “It’s important for every marriage to have ground rules. We’re going to be together for many years, and I would hate to have to keep you locked up like a savage.”
Shooting to his feet, Terrance snapped both his fingers, shot finger guns in her direction, and winked while smiling so wide, his gold tooth shined in the light from the broken lamp on the table. Caught up in how utterly idiotic the wolf before her looked, Lucy’s eyes flew to