The Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates

Chapter Two Hundred Eighty

PAUL

It’s harder to step away from my door than I want it to be. Every inch gain is a fight, especially when I hear a dejected whimper escape Anastacia’s lips from beyond the confines of my bedroom walls.

Is she crying?

Maybe… After all, she’s been running for her life since the day her grandmother died without any real time to grieve, so she might be doing so now.

The image of her in the center of my bed, gazing up at me like she was searching for something to say, something that might keep me at her side a little longer, has me ready to turn right back around to give her exactly what she wishes.

She may need someone tonight.

No. Not someone.

You.

I have to stop. It’s not true. For a

all I know, she could be crying over her recent break up. They were together for more than two years. The fucking years!!! How many times was he able to slither between her leg Every night, probably. The son–of–a–bitch. If she was mine. though, it might be more like every few hours… minutes… seconds…

But she isn’t mine. She was his. She even said so.

It’s with that realization in mind that I’m finally able to start down the stairs.

“What’s on your mind, brother?” Rainier asks, gazing past me toward the landing and my closed bedroom door.

I hardly hear him as I descend, barely aware of the fact that everyone is talking as the pot stews inside my head.

I mean, what kind of name is Drace anyhow? What exactly did she want from him in the first place? The man that I saw in the woods is a joke. A zombie. A fluke. There isn’t anything particularly special about him. He’s the Alpha of a pack of dogs. Mutts. Mongrels.

form as he is when he’s shifted. More wiry than he is cut, and leaner than he is Like most hounds, Draco’s just as skinny in his human fo muscular. Judging by the way Anastacia’s eyes blaze with fire every time she catches sight of my bare chest and arms skinny is not what she’s into.

She’s b

power and heat and… connection and… fuck! So am I.

top of h

his head. A crooked smile, if it could

Dark skin, rugged beard, beady black eyes. Twisted black locks that sprout like weeds from the top be called one at all.

Nothing spectacular there. He is roguishly handsome at best.

hasn’t left the blackjack table in days. His features are haggard and sunken in. As if he’s constantly dehydrated. He basically my polar opposite and probably even has a small cock. There’s only one person I know who can

what drew her to him in the first place, then? Why him? How did he ever grab her attention

not always about looks, Paul.

1/3

Hundred

it about? Fake loár kufikie? An anchola that bore har anek her magic? And what did

Fuck no, not happening

be thinking about right now. Not the angen tur i det every time I picture Anastacia’s perfect mouth.

snaps,

eyes skate around the room to find everyone’s gaze

they talking to

I guess so

“Yeah. What’s up?

urge to knock

“Har

witch, motherfucker. And therefore dangerous. None of

lip lifting in a smirk. “None

puffing he slimy lips on

teeth. He marks his lips. “Ipt it. That

her,” I sad beber I

None of us? He gestures to

us? He asks with a chuckle and a hod in

been way too omery lately. What the fuck is

here we go. Onery. Did

dictionary

point. You’re so aortalte lately, one has to consider what it is that you’ve been

reading.”

guys want… I will go out and handle them all by myself”

“Says

man with a pup or

reminds. “Why don’t we go handle

shoot toward the stairs at my back then back to

stay then. I’ll keep

happening, 1 growl, surprising myself when my fangs shift out.

Rainier murmurs observantly and I’m forced to avoid the question in his

“And why

I attempt to redirect. “About the hounds, I announce, forcing myself not to turn around when I hear my bedroom door creak upen. What the fuck is she doing? She’s supposed to be sleeping. Apparently

his gaze

soft patter of footsteps as they wander onto the landing. Goddamn it, “Go