dilated at my closeness. Seeing that, I dared to lift a hand and gently brush a lock of her half blonde, half vibrant red hair from her cheek. “But I don’t want to fight you. I want you to come to me because you want to. I will do what I have to, though, to keep you safe. Besides, you’ll forgive me eventually; you always do.” I smiled. “It will be worth your anger just to know you’ll be safer as part of a pack.”
Ember seemed at a loss for words, looking at me like she had no idea how to respond to my remarks or my touch. I kept my gaze on her and wrapped my big hands around her ribs. Again, she let me, her eyes held captive by mine, or was it the other way around? I hid how much it meant to me that she let me touch her and kept my attention on her face as I carefully increased the pressure. She didn’t wince, so I let my hands slide slowly away, immediately missing the warmth of her skin. At least her pain seemed to have eased. I hadn’t fully remedied her lip, not wanting it to appear too obvious to others that I’d healed her. Any shifter who knew about life bonds and alpha matings would know what it meant, even if Ember didn’t.
Shaking her head, she began pacing again.
“Is there something else you wanted, Firecracker?” I infused enough amused arrogance in my voice that she did a double take. I pointed at the door, and raised my brows, knowing it would bring out her feistiness. “You can go now. Come and find me when you’re ready to be marked. Then we can fight whenever you like. It’ll be fun getting to know you again.” Unable to help myself, I dropped my gaze down to the enticing dip between her breasts. Heat shot straight to my groin, and I deliberately raised my eyes back to hers, trying not to let her see the effect she had on me.
Her hands fisted, her chin lifting defiantly. “What makes you think I want to get to know you again, you arrogant arse!?”
I grinned. “Yep, I am arrogant, because I can be.” Despite the fact that she looked like she wanted to slap me, I stepped forward and leaned closer, lowering my voice. “And your body tells me you want to get to know me again. As do these flushed cheeks and the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen.” Her face heated and her mouth gaped open. Damn, part of me wanted her to slap me, just so I could have the pleasure of subduing her by catching her wrist and kissing the hell out of her.
“W-what?”
I smirked at her stuttering response. It wasn’t often Ember was at a loss for words. I decided to push her buttons a little more. “I’m telling you that you can leave, unless you’d like me to mark that lovely neck right now?”
“No!” And she stumbled back, past Stone, Reed and Myles. Her shoulder caught Stone hard in the chest as she turned her back on me.
“Hey! You wanna watch where you’re going, she wolf?” he yelled after her.
She stuck her middle finger in the air, but didn’t look back.
I laughed. Firecracker fit her perfectly. She’d always been feisty, and I loved it when she challenged me, but it was as if she really didn’t give a shit about her own safety. My stomach sank and my grin faded. Well, I cared about her safety, more than she or anyone knew, and there was no way I was going to let her get herself killed out of stubbornness.
“Tomorrow, Firecracker!” I yelled. “You know you need help to stay safe!”
She just kept walking away, not deigning to answer me. I happily watched her, enjoying the sight of her fine arse swaying until she disappeared. But it took everything in me to let her go, even though I knew I’d see her again soon.
Chapter 7
Connor
* * *
“What hold does that woman have over you, Connor? You suddenly changed the rules after just one request from her; rules that have never bothered you before. Who gives a shit about the weakest of this place? Doherty’s only going to use them for his weird-assed programme anyway, and we all know they aren't walking out of here. What difference does their honour make to us? We need to keep training the strongest; that’s where our attention should