to join his alpha in the privacy of the forest. “Is something wrong?”
Hair of silver-gold glittering in the sunlight lancing through the canopy, Hawke said, “I heard Desiree made a move on you.”
Pulse thumping, Felix nodded.
“Are you fine with that?” It was a blunt question. “I know the more dominant leopard females can come on strong—with interpack dating still new, they don’t always read our cues well. If you found it difficult to say no to her, tell me now.”
Felix flushed. “No, it was . . . I wanted it, want her.”
Hawke reached out to grip the side of his face and jaw. “Look at me.”
Unable to refuse a direct order, Felix obeyed his alpha, his wolf sitting stock-still inside him as it stared into the pale blue eyes of the most dangerous predator in the entire region. Hawke could move like lightning in either form, his body a muscled and dangerous machine.
“You really okay?”
“Yes.”
Hawke released his grip. “In that case,” he said as Felix broke the eye contact in shuddering relief, “have fun and try not to get scratched too hard.” Amused words.
Felix felt his lips curve at the memory of the claws that had pricked him through his jeans. He’d liked it, liked that even though he was submissive to her dominant, she didn’t see him as too weak to play with the way she wanted to play with a male. “You’re a good alpha, Hawke,” he said as they walked back, conscious the other man had made specific time in his day to check up on a packmate he’d worried might be in over his head.
Hawke paused, then wrapped an arm around his neck in an affectionate contact between two wolves. “Come on, you might as well put me to work for a half hour while I’m down here.”
That was another thing that made Hawke such a great alpha—he didn’t ever denigrate the work of others in his pack. Felix was nowhere near the power structure, but he was the horticultural expert and, in this arena, Hawke always gave his ideas weight. He’d asked Felix to sit in on the strategy meeting for this section of their territory, had requested he arrive with a plan for replanting. That plan had been discussed in detail, with the alpha and his lieutenants questioning Felix’s decisions and giving him the go-ahead only once he’d satisfied them he knew exactly what he was doing.
Same as they’d do with any other operation that involved the safety of the pack.
No special treatment. No condescension.
Giving Hawke a shovel, he said, “You might want to dig near the juveniles. They turned up to do extra shifts voluntarily. I suspect it’s because they want to flirt away from the maternal females, but still.”
Surprisingly, Hawke scowled when Felix had expected an amused and affectionate grin. “I don’t blame them.” The alpha’s scowl deepened. “Would you believe Nell told me off for kissing Sienna in the corridor?”
Felix couldn’t fight his own grin. “Way I heard it, you were doing more than kissing. Wasn’t there a half-unbuttoned shirt involved?”
Hawke’s bad-tempered growl reverberated through Felix’s bones. “I can’t wait to have ammunition against you. I hope Dezi pounces on you in public.”
The idea made Felix’s entire body go hot. The idea that Dezi might one day pounce on him for more than sex, that she might claim him not only for a night but for forever, it threatened to stagger, to bring him to his knees.
Too soon, warned his wolf, too soon. Pull back.
Felix tried, but he knew it was a losing battle. This was why he hadn’t wanted to get involved with her in the first place—she drew him too strongly, made him want too much. If her leopard decided he wasn’t enough, if she walked away . . . it would hurt. Bad.
• • •
“You and the cute gardener, huh?”
Desiree grinned at Mercy’s sly words as the sentinel climbed up to sit on the little porch off Desiree’s aerie, where Desiree was having a late lunch. The evening before had been her final night shift on this rotation, which meant she now had her nights free to seduce her very cute horticultural expert. “Word travels fast.”
Mercy shrugged, her long red ponytail sliding over the deep green of the scoop-necked tee she’d paired with her jeans. “You know the pack—the information highway has nothing on us.” She glanced at the savory muffin Desiree was devouring. “Is that one of Tammy’s?”
“Yeah. Want one? There’re two more on the table inside.”