she’d agreed to be his friend and nothing more, Felix watched Desiree joke with a fellow DarkRiver soldier as all the adults who’d been helping with the planting that day gathered for an impromptu party. The soldiers had worked out a watch rotation that meant everyone could join in, and Felix had done a run up to the den in the truck to sneak out food and drinks.
Now they sat among the trees to the left of the denuded section, the dark gold of sunset turning the entire area into an oil painting. Felix, seated with his back against a pine, a beer in his left hand, should’ve been relaxed, content. He was ahead of schedule, the mood of the pack lifting with each new square of greenery. The seedlings were taking well, and he had every hope that by this time next year, the denuded area would be covered thickly enough that the pack no longer saw it as a vulnerability.
Instead of being happy, however, he was irritable and aggravated, and it wasn’t difficult to figure out why. His body hadn’t let him get much sleep since the day Desiree stepped out of the trees and sauntered over to him on those stunning legs currently encased in sleek black jeans. He dreamed about the lemon spice and wild cat scent of her, woke up aroused and hungry. Meanwhile, she was leaning against the big male leopard, shoulder to shoulder, the two of them so easy with skin privileges they’d probably end up in bed tonight.
Squeezing his beer bottle tight to the point that he was in danger of fracturing it, he got up and decided to walk off his mood. He left the bottle on a crate the others were using as a table and, hands in the pockets of his jeans, began to stride toward a stream about a ten-minute walk away—hopefully, his head would be in the right space by the time he made the round-trip.
Lemon spice in the air.
“Felix.”
Freezing at the sound of that husky voice, he hesitated only a split second before carrying on.
She came after him, her long legs matching his stride, though he was a solid five inches taller. “You’re mad at me.”
He gritted his jaw. “No.”
“You’ve been scowling at me since the party started. What did I do?”
“Nothing.” No, she’d been . . . friendly. No more dazzling smile, no more flirting, no more sense of invitation in her voice. It was exactly what he’d asked for, and it infuriated him.
Not leaving, she kept walking with him until they were far enough away from the party that Felix could no longer hear the others. Then she cut in front of him. Bringing himself to a halt, he stared past her gray-T-shirt-clad shoulder, though having her this close to his neck deeply discomforted his wolf. A single move and she could rip out his jugular, sever his carotid.
“I’m stubborn, Felix.” Her voice held the edge of a growl. “Tell me what I did to offend you.”
He knew he was tangling with a stronger predator, his wolf clawing at him to back off, but he couldn’t. Not today. “I want to go for a walk. Do I need to ask your permission?”
Flinching, she unfolded her arms. “Fine.” She stalked past him, back toward the party. “Do what you want.”
Fuck. He stared after her, knowing he should let her go. “Dezi.” If she didn’t stop, he couldn’t make her. That was the thing. He couldn’t ever make her do anything she didn’t want to do, would always have to trust that she’d never break his faith if they . . .
She stopped, turned on her heel. “Yes?”
Shoulders tight at the edgy response, he looked at the ground, back at her. “You can come with, if you want.”
A glare, but she fell in beside him again, and they walked in silence all the way to the stream. Sunset was fading into evening by the time they arrived to take a seat on a fallen log beside the water; Felix’s vision had adapted automatically to the fading light and he knew hers would’ve done the same.
Hand fisting and unfisting by his side, he finally blurted it out. “Are you going home with him?”
“Who?” She angled her body slightly toward him. “Barker?” It was an incredulous question.
Felix stared out at the trees on the other side of the stream, his skin flushing from the force of her gaze. “Why do you sound like that? He’s a strong dominant.