Logan

“Invite the Omega to join me for dinner.”

The words escaped my lips before I could stop them.

I shouldn’t be sending for her. With what she was to me, it was the wrong move to make. Surprise flashed across Kael’s face for a second before he subtly bowed and strode out of the room without question. I exhaled sharply, leaning back in my chair.

This was a mistake.

Inviting her to dinner was reckless and stupid.

Didn’t I pride myself on making decisions based on logic and not impulse?

I stared into the empty space, lightly drumming my fingers against my knee. I needed answers. That was all. I needed to know why she’d been in the woods, who might have sent her…and why the hell my wolf was clawing at my insides like a caged beast. That was the only reason.

Nothing more.

I repeated the words in my head, forcing myself to believe them, but when Kael returned ten minutes later, his expression carefully blank, my reaction took me by surprise. He was in the throne room all by himself. And there was only one reason he didn’t have the Omega with him. “She declined,” he informed.

I stilled.

“She what?” I asked slowly.

His mouth opened. Closed. He tried again. “She refused the invitation,” His gaze fell to the ground. “She insisted she had no interest in dining with you.” Silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating. My wolf bristled, a low growl threatening to rise from my throat.

She refused me?

How dare she refuse me?

Not only was she an Omega, she was also my mate. The one thing she was supposed to do was answer when I called.

The mate bond may have been unwanted, but it was there. I had extended her a courtesy she didn’t deserve, given her a place to stay when I should have executed her on the spot. And she refused me? The room suddenly felt too small. “You may leave,” I said through clenched teeth. He paused for half a second before bowing subtly and leaving the room.

The door barely shut behind him before I was moving, my steps heavy with rage as I stormed across the halls. I paid no attention to the Lycans raining greetings, walking until I reached the Omega shacks at the edge of the territory. I knew exactly which one she would be in; the worst of them, because she wasn’t a member of the pack.

I didn’t bother knocking. I shoved the door open, stepping inside the pathetic excuse of a dwelling I had given her.

She was standing near the narrow bed, her arms crossed as she stared out the tiny window. She turned her head just as the door closed behind me. Surprise flashed across her face before she masked it. I hated that the headiness of her scent had me inhaling a deep breath which immediately half-soothed my rage.

“You ignored my invitation.” My voice was measured even though my wolf was anything but.

“I wasn’t aware it was an invitation,” she replied just as coolly. “Seemed more like an order.”

I took a slow step forward, watching the way her breath hitched despite the defiance in her eyes. Good. She should be afraid. She should know exactly who she was dealing with. “You should be grateful I considered offering you a seat at my table,” I said, my voice dropping by a dangerous degree. “Do you think just because I spared you, that you have the right to refuse me?”

She nervously wet her lips, as her head turned to the side. She quickly recovered, meeting my eyes with her head raised high. “I think you should make up your mind,” she said, her voice calm but cutting. “Kill me, throw me out, lock me up, I don’t care. Just end whatever this is and put us both out of our misery.”

The temperature in the room dropped to an icy degree with her words. And then something in me snapped. Before she could take another breath, I had her pinned against the wall, my hands braced on either side of her head.

Her breath shuddered. My own came out ragged.

Too close, too close.

I was standing too close to her.

My eyes dropped to her lips before I could stop myself. I could hear her heartbeat, pounding as fast as mine. The faintest trace of an emotion that was all too sweet hit my nostrils. This close to her thinly thing I could breathe in was honeysuckle and vanilla.

Back off.

Now.

I wished it was that easy to listen to the voice in my head. We stood so close that she was breathing in the air I exhaled. I subconsciously pressed myself against her.

Fuck.

I could feel every inch of her soft, tiny body. Her lashes fluttered, her body going still against mine.

“Tell me to stop,” I growled against her lips.

She didn’t.

I crashed my lips down on hers. Her breath hitched in surprise, but only for a moment before her lips went soft and pliant against mine. A single breath was all it took for us to find our rhythm. She bit down on my bottom lip, lifting her hands to wrap them around my neck.

They were quickly pinned beside her head. I pulled away, releasing a deep breath as her eyes flickered open. “I don’t think I would easily put an end to this if you touched me.” I confessed hoarsely.

There was a mischievous glint in her eyes as they fell to my lips. “Let go of my hands,” she said quietly. Her tone was both pleading and a challenge. Desire skated through me at the huskiness of her voice. Without my permission, my hands lowered.

She bit the corner of her lips, reaching down to palm me through my pants. The words she whispered were so brazen, they had me instinctively leaning forward and bracing my hand against the wall from their impact.

“Take me back to the mansion now,” her lips grazed the shell of my ear. “And fuck me.”