I turned my face in the direction of the river. The shifters milled around, packing their stuff and getting ready to depart.
To get past them would be difficult. Or I could just leave like a normal person, peeling off from a group I didn’t belong in.
Act normal and get the hell out of here.
I turned on my heels and restrained myself from running.
“Where are you going, Catnip?” Canary called and jogged after me. “You’re heading in the wrong direction.”
“No, I’m heading in the right direction,” I said, waving a hand at them without turning. “Bye, guys. It was nice to meet you.”
Moving faster than a flash, Sideburns blocked my path. “You’re not leaving.”
I arched an eyebrow mockingly. “Really? Who says so?”
“I say so,” he said. “You’re staying with us. I have questions for you.” Despite him being a jerk, and despite the fact that I wanted to shove him
out of my way, the attraction between us rippled like rays of sunshine.
I snickered as I put a hand on my hip. “You’re not the lord of me, and
you have no right to detain me.”
Sideburns gazed down at me. This close, I could feel his intoxicating
heat, his lust crashing into me like bricks.
Fire twirled between my thighs, licking my perky bundle of nerves. I
had to fight not to squeeze my legs to stop the aching need within me.
He sniffed again, and his eyes turned bright silver.
“I can smell your wolf, girl,” he said, inhaling deeply as if he couldn’t
get enough of my scent.
But then he caught himself the next second and held his breath. His fists
clenched at his sides. The Alpha Heir was trying hard to rein himself in.
His body wanted me, but it wasn’t his will to desire me.
I got it. Look at him, and then look at me. Anyone would understand
why it was a wrong fit.
“You’re a shifter,” he said in a hard voice while heat simmered in his
eyes. “Every shifter in North America is the Shifter King’s subject, whether you like it or not. You’re probably a rogue wolf, yet you’re still under the king’s jurisdiction. I’m the Alpha Heir, who speaks for my father in his absence. And thus, you’re my subject and you’ll do exactly what I tell you.”
I was tempted to show him a vulgar gesture and tell him to fuck off. I also wanted to tell him he was mistaken about me being a wolf girl, but then, I had no idea what I was.
I knew it wasn’t wise to provoke him, but it didn’t stop me from stepping back and kicking a cloud of dust and dirt into his eyes. He yelped in surprise and brought a hand up to rub at them.
I made a mad dash toward the river.
I JUMPED OVER A BUSH. All hell broke loose as the shifter soldiers surged toward me from three sides, shouting like fiends.
Why had I chosen to hide inside that shrub? Now I had to cross over fifty yards to reach the river.