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.

I don’t see any of that

me so intently I don’t even notice his hand slide forward until I feel one

asks with a quick

and my eyes growing heavy as

he says, tilting his head to

when she said that, I explain, shamefully leaning little farther into

Hundred Fifteen

becoming more and 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 up the

still have to tell him who you are!

find the joke to be nearly as funny as you did,” Cane 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

can’t help but

a woman,” he says simply, his hand kneading

You’re a hunter,” I whisper and his hand freezes, his gaze raising

for a moment, then my face, but he doesn’t remove his hand. “Right, I

I want to know. “Do you love it that much? Hunting?”

he shakes

wind inside

don’t,” he rasps out, his hand

his fingers, then ride the vein that bulges over the muscles of his

biceps to

with it, his grip on my thigh. “You probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” he says

me.” I say.

slightly, his eyes sparkling a little as he watches my face. “You’re from Port

but close enough,”

as is satisfied. “Then I’m sure you’ve heard the stories about the animals that live there in the woods.” I nod, eager to see where he’s going

I point out, a little bit of

is why so many do it. If you can get away with it, there’s not much competition from other hunters.”

But okay, go on.”

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 was the sound of a wounded lion. I could hear it thrashing in

my cheeks to wipe the tears away and his gaze steadies on