“Absolutely not.” He shook his head. “It’s on me.” He cocked his head in the direction of the stores. “Come on.”
* * *
Twenty minutes later, Mila tried on a burgundy coat with a faux-fur hood in one of the clothing stores. She’d never entered any of establishments in the village before, which was full of shops and restaurants, because her pack often criticized the Franconia pack’s developments. Still, she had to admit she appreciated the quality and convenience of buying clothes here—plus she liked the way they felt on her body.
“It looks good on you,” Rafe noted with a nod of approval.
She glanced in the mirror, admiring the color and fit. “Thanks.”
“Would you like it? Or do you want to try on others?”
This entire situation was peculiar. That morning, they’d lashed out at each other with pure hatred. Now they were going shopping together? She chalked it up to their hormonal wolves.
Yet, for a powerful alpha, he’d occasionally shown a considerate side, such as with the clothing and setting her free. She couldn’t picture her father being so lenient.
“I’m happy with this one,” she replied.
After he paid for the coat, they exited the store. Was it time for her to leave?
She shuffled before him from one foot to the other, not exactly sure what to do next. A part of her stalled, not wanting to leave him. She attempted to dismiss it as her wolf’s yearnings once more. Mila should be itching to get out of there. They were Franconia shifters after all—and they’d imprisoned her.
So why wasn’t she running?
“Well, I guess I should head on over to my pack.” Why did she sound reluctant?
Rafe studied her for a few intense seconds, and her pulse jolted. “I hope you return, Mila.”
“Of course I will,” she replied. “We have an agreement.”
“I’m aware of that.” His eyes seemed to pierce her, as if trying to detect her sincerity.
Mila swallowed her guilt because her intentions were purely duplicitous. She raised her chin in an attempt to stifle this strange attraction to Rafe from messing with her mind. She’d come up with a strategy and intended to stick to it. Rafe was foolish to let her go—and even more so to invite her to stay.
She’d exploit his belief that she was his mate and set her plan in motion to spy on his pack. Only one small snafu—she’d also have to ignore her wolf’s desires.
“Goodbye, Rafe,” she said. “I’ll be back tomorrow.” Then she forced herself to walk away from him and back to her territory.
Chapter 5
Mila
As Mila trekked back through the snow to her pack’s territory, on two legs this time, her wolf urged her to return to their mate. She attempted to ignore the uncomfortable yearning and prepared to talk to her father. What she’d need to do was cover up her failure and spin the discussion around to the positive outcome.
His cabin soon came to view, and her familiar anxiety rose. Since she was young, she’d been vying to get his attention and make him proud. He didn’t show affection, so she didn’t expect that, but even the smallest acknowledgment would go a long way.
Her muscles tensed. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves before knocking on the door.
He opened it seconds later, his formidable physique filling the entryway. He stared down at her from under his heavy brows with his hawk-like gaze. “How did it go?”
His tone didn’t show any concern for her wellbeing. What did he think—that she was out as a wolf all night?
Or, had he not even noticed that she hadn’t returned? Sure, he didn’t keep tabs on her, but he was her father. Didn’t parents worry endlessly about their children? And she’d been on a mission in dangerous enemy land, no less. Did she mean no more to him than any of the other shifters in the pack who had also volunteered to infiltrate the ski resort? Since he didn’t show any distress at not seeing her until now, it appeared unlikely.
“Better than expected.” She stifled the shame at being captured.
He scrutinized her. “Is that new clothing?”
She bit her lip and her cheeks burned. “Um, yes.”
He sniffed her. “You stink like them.”
She hunched her shoulders and gestured with palms up. “I was in their territory.”
He pinned a steely gaze on her “All night?”
Time to divert the conversation. “Papa, I have some good news. I managed to accomplish something big, something that will provide critical information.”
He nodded inside the cabin and said, “Come in.” Once she’d entered, he narrowed his gaze. “Tell me.”
She’d have to omit many of the details, especially the part about her wolf recognizing the Franconia pack’s alpha as their mate. Her father would lose his mind. He definitely wouldn’t agree with her mad plan then.
“While talking with shifters over there, I found a weakness. I came up with a new plan, a better one that will not only help us destroy their operations, but may even give us an opportunity to overthrow their pack.”
Her father crossed his arms. “I’m listening.”
“They were foolish enough to make an offer for me to go there and stay for a week to—”
“What?” he boomed. “Stay with the Franconia pack. Absolutely not!”
“Papa, listen, please. There’s a reason for it.”
His nostrils flared as he breathed through them. “Continue.”
“Their reasoning is that I can go there and spend time with them. During that time, we can try to come to some sort of agreement to avoid war.”
Her father snorted. “We attempted that twice. First, with our betas, and then with that deceiving witch they’d sent over. You can’t trust them, Mila, no matter what they offer.”
“I don’t and I won’t,” she replied. “I have no intention of trying to work with them. My plan is to gain firsthand knowledge on exactly how they operate. With that kind of insider access, think of all the information I could bring back to you—information that could help us destroy them.”
Her heart thudded with excitement as she finished revealing her strategy and awaited his reaction.
“What makes you think that you can provide more information than Victoria? After all, she lived and worked in the business.”
Mila scowled. She wasn’t going to let that two-timing shifter ruin this. “How do we know we can trust her? She betrayed her pack. Who’s to say she isn’t doing the same to us? With me, you know I’m loyal.”
Her father nodded and made a sound of acknowledgment, but then his stare turned hard. “Something is off. Why would they have you stay there when you could just come and go for any discussion, just like that witch?”
She hadn’t expected that question and had to wing an answer. “Perhaps they think it will be more beneficial with us spending more time together. Providing hospitality and such.”
It’s because you’re mates with their alpha, her wolf sang. Mila intended to keep that complication a secret even after she figured out a way to squash the disturbing urges from her body in reaction to Rafe.
Her father scanned her from the head down. “Is that why you have new clothing?”
“Uh—yes.” She did not want to admit that she’d been caught red-handed and buck-ass naked by a Franconia enforcer while failing in her mission.
He snorted and then paced across the hardwood floors. “You can’t seriously want to stay over there, Mila. What if it’s a trap? They could be using you to get to me.”
“Then why would they let me leave to come back here?”
He cocked his head and pinned her with a probing glare. “What do you mean by letting you leave?”
Hell, she shouldn’t have revealed that. Her cheeks burned. She was tripping close to revealing how they’d captured her and locked her up.
“What I mean is if they wanted to grab me and use me like a pawn against you, they could have done so while I was there.” Her words tumbled out as
fast as her racing pulse as she attempted to cover up her story. “They didn’t.”
He continued to stare at her and then nodded slowly. “True.”
“Besides, it’s only for a week.” She shrugged and gestured with a carefree wave. “We can hold off on our plans to destroy their resort while I gain more valuable intel. Then we’ll be able to hit them where it will hurt the most.”
“I need to think about this. We’ll talk later.” He dismissed her.
Once she left his cabin, she headed home. Well, she didn’t get a yes, but she didn’t get a no either. She should have expected that. No way would a suspicious shifter like her father think there wasn’t an underlying motive in an invitation from a Franconia.
Yet, she was the one caught up in deception right now. If it helped her carry out her task, then it would be for the greater good of the pack and worth it in the end.
Rafe
“You let her go?” Grayson jerked his head back as his eyes widened.
“Don’t remind me.” Rafe grunted and took a swig of beer. He met up with Grayson after work at Kelly’s Pub, a favorite spot for the après-ski crowd.
“I’m just surprised,” Grayson replied. After he drank some of his own beer and glanced around the pub, he returned his gaze to Rafe. “No, actually, I’m not. If she’s your mate, you may astonish yourself by acting out of character.”
Rafe shook his head and squeezed his lips together. “She’s Kane’s daughter. I could have kept her prisoner here and used that in some way to get back at him. I must be out of my damn mind to let her walk away like that. It defies all common sense.” He rubbed the coiled tension from the back of his neck. “What I should have been doing was thinking about protecting the pack, not considering any part of this cursed connection between us.”
“But you are thinking about the pack in attempting to work with her. You said you two would try to find some common ground,” Grayson pointed out. “That’s a good thing. If you two can keep the packs from going to war, we’re all for it. You know how much I want to avoid bloodshed.”
“Yes, I know.”
Grayson hated violence. He had since Rafe first met him, after his parents had been killed in a skirmish between packs. Rafe picked up a mozzarella stick, dipped it in marinara sauce and chewed, contemplating this situation.
“Nothing moves forward with any of this if she plays me and doesn’t return tomorrow.”
“Do you think she will?”
Rafe pictured Mila and how her pretty eyes had darted around when they’d discussed the situation going forward. “I don’t know her one bit, but she’s a Sacco. And that means I can’t trust her.”
And yet, he’d invited his enemy right into his den.
* * *
Rafe continued to question his decision as he paced barefoot over the hardwood floor of his living room that night. He couldn’t sleep as he thought about Mila, so he put on one of his classical music playlists and wandered back and forth through the empty house.
How could she be his mate? He’d always pictured his mate as being someone loving. Someone to share this space with and make it a home. Someone who would look at him with warmth in her eyes, not hatred. Yet, that’s how they’d greeted each other that morning, eyes spewing poison as they had to swallow the bitter fact of their connection.
Still, by the time she’d walked away from him in the mountain village, they were more civil to each other. A layer of her frosty veneer had melted.
And who was he to talk? He’d been just as hateful that morning, in a murderous rage. He’d demanded answers like her name and why she was there before he gave her a blanket to cover her naked flesh.
Picturing her like that again didn’t help. He closed his eyes and envisioned her here with him, welcoming him with open arms.
Hell, thinking about her that way increased his conflict. It was time to get out of his barren house and let his wolf burn off some of this unrest.
He disrobed and exited out one of the French doors to an enclosure off the deck where he often shifted. It kept him from having to walk through the snow on bare feet. He initiated the shift, and the magic rippled through his body, transforming him to wolf form. On four legs, he bounded from his house and into the snow, sniffing at the scents as he headed to the forest.
He had no urge to hunt tonight. Instead, he ran up through the trees to the mountain peak. He glanced down at Sacco territory in the distance below, mostly covered by trees.
Where was Mila? What was she doing? He pictured her sleeping soundly in bed. Or, she could be out running in wolf form like himself.
Had she thought about him at all since she’d left?
If she had a fraction of the thoughts he’d been having about her, she’d be consumed with wonder.
Let’s go to her, his wolf suggested.
No, we can’t. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow until she returns, Rafe replied.
If she returned.
Chapter 6
Mila
Mila tossed in her bed that night, finding it almost impossible to get comfortable. Her bones seemed to grind at each other and her skin crawled.
Her wolf itched to run back to Franconia territory. Let’s run to him. Find his scent.
That won’t happen, so stop, Mila protested.
Nevertheless, her mind wandered, and where it did was far from appropriate. In one fantasy, she replayed when Rafe had entered the room and she’d lost the blanket in the shuffle. When he bent down to retrieve it, she didn’t struggle against the desire that had coursed through her body. As he wrapped the blanket around her, their gazed locked. Neither attempted to disguise their hunger.
Rafe bent down and brushed his lips against hers, igniting her with pure, carnal lust. Rather than cursing him out, she gave in to her body’s demands and her wolf’s cravings. The blanket fell back to the floor, and she didn’t care how vulnerable she was in that state.
He pulled back an inch, yet remained close enough that their breaths mingled. Rafe traced his fingers over her cheek and down her neck, leaving a fiery trail of need in its wake. All she wanted was more of his touch. More of his lips on hers.
She bent her head and closed the agonizing distance between them until their mouths crashed together again. She kissed him with greedy abandon. His hands traveled down the sides of her body, searing her with his touch as if she were his. Liquid heat thrummed beneath her skin, drawing her awareness between her legs, where she desperately wanted him.
Mila acted out her sensual thoughts in her bed as she traced her hands over her body, fantasizing that it was Rafe touching her. He brushed his rough fingertips over her breasts and over her nipples. After caressing them until she was squirming with a need for more, he took one in his mouth. He continued to stroke the other until she was panting and writhing on the bed. He alternated between kissing and touching her, moving his hands and mouth down lower, driving her insane with need for him.
As her hand fluttered over her stomach and farther down, a twinge of guilt slipped in. Was it wrong to fantasize about her pack’s sworn enemy?
Yes.
Still, it didn’t stop her. She’d heard that some things that seem so wrong felt oh so right. And now she understood why.
The next morning, Mila’s father stopped by her cabin with Lars. His hair was dark and unkempt, in contrast to her father’s close-cropped salt-and-pepper hair.
“I’ve thought about this and talked it over with Lars,” he said.
Mila glanced at him, trying to get a read on the situation, but failed to do so. When she glanced at Lars, she suppressed a shudder. Why did he have to come along?
What an odd response. “Oh,” she replied, while trying to understand her reaction. Although she wasn’t interested in being his mate, something about him this time struck her as repulsive.
It’s because he’s not our true mate, her wolf declared. That makes him a threat to our happiness.
Mila dismissed that explanation. Whatever thi
s attraction was to Rafe was simply a means to achieve her ends.
“If spending a week there to spy on the Franconian pack is a risk you’re willing to take,” her father said, “I agree you should do so.”
Mila exhaled, her outlook brightening. She pictured herself providing value to the pack and finally getting recognition in their eyes.
“The opportunity to get insight on their operations is too valuable to resist,” Lars added.
Her mouth twitched into a scowl, which she covered with her hand to not give away her feelings toward him. Of course, he would care more about how it benefited him and showed zero regard on any impact on her.
“Yes, I’m happy to do this, Papa.” She addressed him specifically. Happy wasn’t the best word to describe it, although it was exactly how her wolf reacted inside, prancing with glee at the news that they’d return to Rafe.
Mila wanted them to realize that this was a sacrifice she was making for the benefit of the pack, so they’d appreciate her efforts. “It won’t be easy to spend so much time with those shifters,” she clarified with a distasteful expression, “but I’m willing to do so to get us critical information.”
“Pack comes first,” her father declared.
“Agree.” She nodded. “Pack first.” She glanced around her cabin and exhaled. “I guess I’ll prepare to head over this afternoon.”
He replied with a curt nod. “Good luck, Mila.”
He walked outside her cabin. No hug, no concerned glance, but what did she expect? He never showed affection.
“I’m looking forward to hearing the news when you return,” Lars said and followed her father out.
I bet you will, she thought to herself while holding in a snort. He didn’t even wish her luck. Typical of Lars. One benefit of leaving her pack was that she wouldn’t have to see him for a week.
The Alpha and His Enemy Wolf: White Mountain Shifters 3 Page 5
