Page 42 of Savagely Mated


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“Abductions are the only way we can do what we do,” he continues. “We have to take someone and explain things to them. Usually that’s what happens. We go to the woods, we give the person time to decompress away from the city, we explain what’s really going on here, and they get a chance to fully be their wolf selves for the first time. You’ve made that difficult.”

“Yeah. Well. I don’t like the woods. I don’t like hiking.”

“Not liking hiking is probably the oddest reason I’ve ever heard for stealing a van and getting it impounded,” he chuckles handsomely.

He really does think this is all quite amusing. There’s something very attractive about the handsome ease with which Rafe moves through the world.

“Does that mean you got abducted once as well?”

“Oh, not me. I was thrown out of the palace, but most of us are pulled out of the King’s Guard as soon as we’re identified. Some of the older, more indoctrinated ones who are already in service can’t be saved, but anyone still at the academy is fair game.”

“So you didn’t decide to take me because you were impressed by my dueling skills.”

“You’re cute with a sword.”

“I killed someone!”

“And it was adorable,” he smiles at me. He’s teasing me, and it’s hard to stay angry even though I very much want to.

“So why are you guys stealing all the shifters? We belong to the king, don’t we?”

An almost imperceptible shadow passes over Rafe’s eyes, but is gone as soon as I think I saw it.

“The king of Eclipse has always been a shifter. This city was built for our kind. Over time, normal people moved here, and the cardinal and the capital rose to power, but yes, in some sense shifters belong to the king. What’s currently happening is a kind of forced servitude. That’s why we are freeing as many wolves as we can. Eclipse was supposed to be a place we’d be free.”

“But Einar bosses me around like he fucking owns me.”

“Einar is an alpha, and your mate. So am I.”

“And Kirin?”

“Kirin’s a whelp,” he laughs. “But yes, actually, all three of us have the alpha gene.”

“Oh, it’s a gene, is it?”

“It is, actually.”

I don’t know why all of this makes me feel so incredibly sulky, but it does.

“I want the alpha gene,” I mutter to myself, under my breath.

“Oh, you have it too,” he laughs. “There’s no doubt about that. Why do you think you’re such a handful? Alphas are practically impossible to control when they’re female.”

“Why when they’re female?” I brighten at the news that I, too, get to be alpha.

“Because nature, in her wisdom, makes most female shifters some variant of beta or natural submissive. Doesn’t make them any less dangerous, but orients them toward kindness, compassion, and caretaking. Those types don’t like to rock the boat.”

“I like to set the boat on fire.”

“I know you do,” he smiles. “And that’s probably why you bonded with all three of us. Nature knows you need a small pack to handle you.”

I don’t know if he’s appealing to my ego on purpose, or if he’s just telling the truth, but whatever it is, I like it.

And then the morning gets even better.

“Pancakes,” Einar says, coming into the room with a stack of big, fat pancakes on a silver tray. There’s syrup, too, and rich butter.

Once it is all served, I take a dubious bite, and my mouth is instantly full of the most delicious flavor I’ve ever experienced. It’s rich and slightly crispy and sweet and fatty. It’s perfect.