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.

any of that former

intently I don’t even notice his hand slide forward until I feel one of his fingers tracing

don’t like women?” he asks with a

my breath hitching and my eyes growing heavy as he broadens his exploration and gently strokes over my

head to watch the

little farther into his touch. My body is purring as he continues

Two Hundred

my leg, his fingers 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

have to tell him

palm settles over the top of my fact, he raises his hand a bit higher,

I can’t help but

a woman,” he says simply, his hand

a hunter,” I whisper and his hand freezes, his gaze raising to mine.

my face, but he doesn’t remove his

to know.

blue eyes darken when he shakes his head. “I’ve never loved it, but

of hope begins to wind inside of

hand tightening a

eyes catch on his fingers, then ride the vein that bulges over the muscles of his forearm all the way up his

cut biceps to

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

I

he watches my face. “You’re from

exactly, but close

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

out, a little bit of my anger getting the better of me

you can

But okay, go

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 the trap so I knew it was caught.” He takes a deep breath, still not Jooking my way. The first shot I gave her was from a decent distance, but she

out. That’s when I realize I’ve started to cry and my side that he shot me in has started to ache. I swipe at my cheeks to wipe the tears away and his gaze steadies on me, the blue of his irises full of an emotion I can’t quite place. “Go