The Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates

Chapter Two Hundred Fifteen

GAYLE

My stomach drops when I realize I’ve just crash landed onto Cane’s bare and beautifully sculpted chest. He dexes undemeath me, his body tensing up as I turn my head and my breath fans out across the grooves of his abdominal muscles. After working so hard not to get caught staring, the smooth solid feel of him warms with sparkling energy against my skin and I shudder. My laughing stops and I lift my head slowly, not wanting to accidentally knock him in the face too. Catching glimpse of the large bulge that has developed behind his m shorts, I feel n

I my cheeks pinch with heat.

With a package like that, he would fit in so well at the den,

Just that thought is enough to depress me, because I know what I want is impossible. It’s not that I don’t think I could convince Taedora and Goose to accept him. It’s that I know Gryffin won t

Unless..

I shake off the idea before it can take root inside my head. Cane is a a hunter. The only reason he’s even been flirting with me is because he thinks I’m just some pretty girl. A girl, just as human as he is.

If he knew… Or more like when he finds out that I’m not, he might be disgusted by me. Hunters are the way they are for a reason. They kill animals for sport. If Cane felt anything for the girl he had in his arms on the night we met, he wouldnt be out here training to hunt More shifters.

I have attacked every hunter.

or I’ve ever met since my mother was killed. I should hate Cane too. I really should. But God help me, I dont

“I’m so sorry! Did I hurt you? It really was an accident. Just another uncharacteristic bout of clumsiness I seem to be experiencing whenever he’s around. The find one being when I fell into his steel trap. Not that I’m going to tell him about that.

“I’m fine,” he says huskily. Then, “Nothing you could do would ever hurt me.”

“You don’t think I can hurt you?” I snort, dipping my head down so that my hair fell over my face.

“I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sure you could. It’s just,” he sighs, “I know that if you did hurt me, it wouldn’t be any more that I deserved.”

*I

I tremble at that, flipping my hair out of my eyes to assess his mood. A few minutes ago, I was sure he had recognized me. The sudden scowl on his face was aimed directly at me and he looked so disappointed I could hardly breathe. Even Delilah seemed worried.

But she knows everything about him that I don’t, so when she left me in here to go and talk to Quinn, I knew I’d be okay. Well, I hoped. Now that we’ve actually met, just the image of him realizing who I am and taking aim to shoot me threatens to crush my heart.

at him again, I don’t see any of that former disappointment in his baby blue eyes.

forward until I

he asks with a quick

whisper, my breath hitching and my eyes growing heavy as he broadens his exploration and gently

fuck,” he says, tilting his head to watch the graze

I explain, shamefully leaning little farther into his touch. My body is purring as he continues

Two Hundred Fifteen

more bold with every passing second. I’m forced to bite down on my lip just to keep making any catlike noises and by the time his fingertips skim the back of my ass I’ve nearly given

tell him who you are!

says, in a low, steady mire as his palm settles over the top of my fact, he raises his hand a bit higher, a little closer to my core, I found it pretty

can’t help but ask.

woman,” he says simply, his hand kneading my

and his hand

studies my eyes for a moment, then my face, but he

know. “Do you love

shakes his

begins to wind inside of me.

I don’t,” he rasps out, his hand tightening a little on

vein that bulges over the muscles

cut biceps to

and with it, his grip on my thigh. “You probably wouldn’t believe

me.” I

he watches my face. “You’re from Port Orchard,

close enough,”

the woods.” I nod, eager to see where he’s going with this. “A few nights ago my buddy and

to hunt out there,” I point out, a little bit

he chuckles. “Which is why so many do it. If you

But okay,

that I’m working toward and I knew that would be the one place I could find it. Within the time frame that I’ve been given, I had to make a splash so I headed out there confident I could get what I needed. 1 set up more traps than ever before in the best location possible and then headed back to the cabin and 1 waited. Monitoring the area with a high frequency mic, I was able to hear every rustle of leaves, every whisper of wind… every animal cry.” He looks away from me to stare straight ahead at the wall.. “It didn’t take long, maybe an hour, before it screeched through my headphones. Even though it was my first time hearing it, I knew right away it

he shot me in has started to ache. I swipe at my cheeks to wipe the tears away and his gaze steadies on