Free Dangerously Red (A Dark and Dirty Tale) by Kristin Miller Page A

roars, spinning on his hind legs, and pounces onto Lukas’s back.
    He has him from behind.
    Reaper claws into Lukas’s flanks. Bites the back of his neck. Thrashes with intent to kill. They tumble over one another in a heap of fangs, fur, and blood.
    No…
    This is wrong.
    I’ve slept with both men in the last few hours and witnessed sides of them that have aroused and frightened me in the most erotic way. I’ve seen them vulnerable and protective and have felt their strength swell inside me.
    They shouldn’t be fighting. Not over me.
    “Stop!” The voice isn’t mine, though I’m screaming the same word in my head. The door bursts open, and the Omega, “grandmother” and the oldest werewolf in the pack, strides inside, a burgundy shawl covering her shoulders. “What the devil has gotten into the two of you?”
    Reaper and Lukas separate, each as if the other is on fire, and bow in front of their grandmother. Bending their front legs, they lower their muzzles to the floor, and I can finally breathe again.
    It’s over.
    Relief sinks to the pit of my stomach, and my legs suddenly feel as if they weigh a thousand pounds. Must be the “adrenaline dump” I’ve heard people talk about.
    As the Omega measures Reaper and Lukas over the rim of her glasses, she sighs disapprovingly. “You think spilling each other’s blood is going to solve anything? Ivy has the choice, remember? It’s her decision whether she wants to be bonded to you”—she nudges her pointed chin at Reaper, and then Lukas—“or you. And she’s already made up her mind.”
    She nails me with an expectant glare, and the blood drains from my face. “I have,” I answer quickly, unable to meet Reaper’s eyes. “That’s why I came—to find Reaper and tell him good-bye. I’ve chosen Lukas.”
    It wasn’t like the choice was entirely mine. After talking with the Omega earlier, I faced the reality of the situation. I’d already had sexual encounters with Reaper—three oh-my-orgasms, to be exact. And then, after I’d lined up with the other pre-shifting females, Lukas chose me to dominate and control.
    I loved every blissful second of each sexcapade.
    But I’ve been forced to swallow the bitter truth. Lukas may have chosen to whisk me away to his private chamber and seduce me, but the decision over who to bond with rests solely on my shoulders. If I declare Reaper as my mate after being seduced by the Alpha, I’d be rejecting him in front of his pack. Humiliating him. As retaliation for my choice, he’d banish Reaper from Castle Arcana, and he’d be alone, never allowed to return to the only family he’s ever known.
    I can’t bear to do that to either of them.
    Lukas lifts his head slowly and glares at Reaper through coal-black eyes that are so narrowed, they’re nearly slits. From the way he’s standing, with his shoulders pulled back and his chin lifted slightly, he seems to think he’s been victorious over his cousin.
    As if I’m no more than a trophy.
    If he were happy about my choice, truly thrilled at the prospect of being with me for the long haul, wouldn’t he be looking at me ?
    Is that all I am to him? A conquest? A way to prove his dominance? The possibility sickens me. I want—and deserve—so much more than that.
    “See?” the Omega snaps, standing between the cousins. “It’s over and done. Her decision has been made.” And then she turns to me. “You will declare Lukas as your mate in front of the pack in thirty minutes and be bonded for life.”
    My skin crawls as her words cycle through my head. Why did it suddenly feel like a jail sentence? Is it because the choice isn’t entirely mine? Or because I truly don’t want him?
    “Head back to your chamber and clean up,” she says. “Ready yourself and get your thoughts in order. You are about to declare to the entire wolf pack that you are fit to rule beside my grandson. If you pass out on the stage again, it will show weakness. As his future wife, you