Chapter 3 #3
Her face tensed for the briefest of moment, a small hesitation, that made me pay closer attention to the next things she said. “I’m Ciara, Conri’s…” Again, that fleeting tension. “Representative.”
It didn’t matter. I already knew she was the alpha’s sister. And that she was a human. Or rather, a wolf cheated out of her genetic destiny by fate. I’d heard enough gossip about her, enough derogatory comments about her on previous visits here.
None of that mattered to me, though. All that mattered was that she was mine.
And as much as Nic desired a quick resolution to this deal, I suddenly found myself desiring something very different indeed.
If Ciara was my new pack liaison, I needed to take my time.
I couldn’t complete the negotiations until my mate had accepted me.
I needed a reason to keep seeing her, and this had clearly been handed to me by the gods or the universe, or whatever.
It was like fate that our paths wouldn’t only cross—they were aligned now.
I could fulfill my duties to Nic and claim my mate if I did this properly. And I could talk to Nic about Ciara after the official business rather than stressing him now or making him think I had too much of a personal stake to do what he needed here.
“You’ll be dealing with me from now on.” She flipped her brown hair over her shoulder.
I’d said very little so far, and she’d said plenty.
That was the way I liked it. The more information I could get her to volunteer about herself, the better my position.
And the less I gave her, the more often we’d have to meet to thrash out this deal.
I was suddenly sitting in the best win-win situation of my life—even if I factored in my little Francois complication.
Fate might have cheated Ciara, but it had just handed me a gift.
She pulled the paperwork toward herself, and her eyes moved fast as she skimmed the words, her lips just barely parted and moving slightly now and again. Then she shoved the papers back toward me.
“What the hell is this?” Her green eyes blazed with emerald fire.
“What’s what?” I used as few words as possible and my most innocent voice.
“There’s land missing. This deed is incomplete…” She paused before adding, “jackass.” But her gaze and the tension in her posture suggested she’d wanted to use a much stronger insult.
I almost laughed before I pulled the doctored deed from my inside pocket.
I’d been holding this back on purpose, hoping I could give it to Simon, and he’d barely look at it, assuming it was what Nic and Conri had agreed.
But I had no such hope for Ciara. In fact, I wanted her to be clever enough to call me out, to extend our time together.
As she read over the page in her hand, her eyes narrowed, and her brow drew down. When she finally looked at me, she wore a full scowl. “What the hell is this?” She repeated her earlier question. “What the hell game are you trying to pull?”
I lifted my shoulders in a parody of innocence. “No game.”
“Really.” She huffed. “Well, if it isn’t a game, it’s a very big mistake. There’s land missing from this.”
“Nope.” I almost made the p into a popping sound. “It’s exactly right.” I was deliberately spare with my words, deliberately cool, calm, and collected while she became a little more emotional with everything she said, perfuming the air with more of her scent.
“This is crap and you know it.” She thumped the side of her fist lightly on the wooden tabletop.
I shook my head and pressed my lips together. “Just the messenger.”
Doubt crossed her gaze before her confidence returned. “I doubt that, Jason.”
My cock twitched at my name on her lips.
“You’re the king’s right-hand man. He wouldn’t trust this negotiation to a messenger. If he’s trying to pull a fast one, so are you.” She nodded. “I know about you—you’re his sireling.”
“It’s exactly right.” I told the lie and kept my cool and my face straight. The more I could muddy the waters now, the more contact I’d need to have with Ciara to sort this mess out.
She threw her hands up. “Oh, by the fucking lunar cycle. Of course it’s not right. You’ve come in here trying to con us. What even made you think you could get away with that? Because you knew you’d be dealing with a human woman? Well, think again.” Her eyes blazed brightly.
“It’s right,” I said again, still calm.
“The hell it is,” she short back, “and I think this meeting is pointless. It’s over.”
Before I could even reply, she gathered the paperwork, pressed it to her chest and strode from the room, slamming the door hard as she left. I listened to her footsteps—much heavier now—as she strode away down the hall, and I grinned.
I’d been wrong. Today’s meeting had been fruitful and more than worth it. And now I had a new pastime. If I’d wanted to interact with Ciara before, I wanted it even more now. And if ruffling her feathers made her this emotional, I wanted to see more of that too.
I breathed in deeply, savoring the sweet notes she’d left hanging in the air.
My mate was actual perfection, and I intended to ensure she’d accept my claim. Before I tried, though, I wanted her to truly know me.
I wanted her to want me.