Tangled

6 Lucas: Gala (II)

LUCAS

I stare down at my phone, reading Kellan’s texts with a furrowed brow, tapping my foot against the seat in front of me. I have yet to enter the ballroom, because I don’t like dealing with this kind of shit. The annual fated mate hunt, where barely legal women throw themselves at you in hopes of finding that mystical

connection. Fuck that.

[KELLAN: The Blackwood wolves are here, just as we suspected. There are definitely two daughters. The rumors might be true. I’m going in.]

[KELLAN: Keep an eye on the younger daughter. Something’s off about her relationship with her family. Grey just about threw her away when I came up, and he’s trying to get the older one in my pants.]

I’m surprised. It would make more sense if they had aimed for me, as the alpha, but to send Jessa Grey into Sᴇaʀ*ᴄh the FindNʘᴠᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Kellan’s arms…

Unless they wanted another daughter. If Grey didn’t want Kellan anywhere near the other one, perhaps it

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6 Lucas: Gala (II)

was because he had another target in mind.

If both his daughters were mated to the alpha and beta of my pack–yeah, I can see the appeal, if I was a two–headed snake like Grey. He would probably be running my pack within the year, if I were stupid enough to let something like that happen.

He must really think less of me and Kellan for being so young, as if we can only think with our dicks.

Unfortunately for him, I’ve never been tempted to dip mine into poison.

slip my phone into my pocket and slide out of the car, throwing my half–smoked cigarette to the ground and crushing it beneath my heel. Smoke wafts out of the

I keep to the shadows, avoiding the gazes of the other attendees. The last thing I need is to be accosted by some desperate she–wolf looking

scan the room, searching for any

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Gala

and his brood. It doesn’t take long to spot them. Grey stands tall and proud, his chest puffed out like he owns the place. His son, Phoenix, hovers nearby, his expression stoic and unreadable. And

young, but I’m not stupid. I know better than to trust a pack with a reputation like theirs. Their alpha didn’t even show up, proving that he had little respect for the Council or the other packs within it. Any alliance would be nothing more than a facade in an attempt to

The real question is, why has

turned to us?

my phone and shoot off

Kellan.

wearing? I don’t see her with the

continues to roam

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almost hidden in the shadows. Her dark blonde hair falls in soft waves

blue of her

ice.

fingers twitch as the fabric swirls gently around her hips, giving just a hint of the curves beneath. I don’t pay much attention to women’s clothing,

lot.

Classy. Sexy. Mine.

deep in my gut, and my wolf growls in the back of my mind. It’s a sound I’ve never heard before, a primal recognition

scent her, and my wolf urges

shadows and keep my eyes on her. She’s uncomfortable, and walks as though her shoes are foreign, but she’s clearly a little older than most

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Gala (II)

Moon–forsaken matefest.

way that I can see from here, and her head begins to dart around, her brows furrowed. I’m certain she can sense my regard, and my wolf salivates at the idea of the hunt, even as he howls in my head that I need to get my ass closer. Close enough to sniff her, to hold her against my body, to scent her. Only her shoulders and arms are showing in that black dress she wears, and her pale skin

that little hint of her breasts in