Free Hunter's Heart: Wolf Shifter Romance (Wild Lake Wolves Book 5) by Kimber White

floating
away.
    “I told you. We don’t force ourselves on women. And
frankly, we don’t usually have to. What is your heart telling you right now?
Listen to it. Closely.”
    I didn’t have to listen closely. It thundered in my
ears like a bass drum. With each step Derek took, the pull between us grew that
much stronger. Undeniable. Kinetic. I knew if he touched me, the world might
become light and stars. I almost couldn’t contain it.
    “What does it mean?” My voice wavered.
    “What does it feel like?”
    I let out a bitter bark of a laugh. “It feels like
you’re inside me. I can’t breathe. I can’t shut it out.”
    “Do you want to?”
    I couldn’t answer. Not yet. “I don’t know you.”
    “Yes, you do. You know everything you need to know
already.”
    “No!” Too much. I pushed away from the bars and
paced just like I did back in my trailer. The more agitated I became, the
calmer Derek seemed to get. He just stood in the center of that damn cage with
his hands crossed in front of him, waiting me out.
    “You feel like . . . like. I don’t know!” I flapped
my hands in front of me. Still, Derek didn’t move.
    “Yes, you do. Say it.”
    I let my breath out hard, like I was bracing to do a
dead lift. I paced more. “I can’t. I can’t even think it.”
    “Yes. You can.”
    “Fine!” I whirled on him. I stormed up to the cage,
getting just an inch from the bars, though I wouldn’t touch them again. “You
feel like . . . like mine !”
    When Derek smiled, my heart imploded. I wanted him.
God. I wanted him. He was right. Goddammit. He was right. And smug. And
standing there watching me spin myself into the ground. All I wanted to do was
touch him. Have him touch me. Kiss him. Throw myself at him. My nerves lit with
wildfire, sending waves of desire through me. This was elemental, instinctual.
    “I don’t even know you.” I said it again, meaning to
shout it, but it came out as a whisper as I brought my hands up and gripped
those bars again.
    “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
    “Why didn’t you tell me this ?” I waved my
hand in the space between us. “You knew, didn’t you? From the very beginning.
You looked at me. Your eyes did that . . . that wolf thing. You knew .”
    “Didn’t you?”
    “No!”
    He smiled again. He still hadn’t moved from that
same spot at the center of the cage.
    “Okay, yes. There was something. I’m not . . . well
. . . I’m not that bad a shot.”
    He laughed.
    “Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked again.
    Derek finally took a step forward. But, just a step.
He didn’t come close enough to touch me. “Well, the thing is, Jessa. You shot me!”
    I opened my mouth then clamped it shut, realizing as
an afterthought I must have looked just like my father. I started to pace.
“Well.”
    “Well what?”
    “Well,” I turned on him and crossed my arms in front
of me. “Well. I’m sorry.”
    He took another step forward. “Thanks. It means a
lot.”
    “Now you’re just being sarcastic.”
    “No. It really does. Are you thinking of shooting me
again?”
    “Constantly.”
    “I wouldn’t recommend it.”
    I pressed my forehead against the bars. “Tell me
what it means. This mate thing.”
    “You belong to me. If . . . you want to.”
    “Grammy has a bite mark on her neck. She called it
an Alpha’s mark. You would do that? If . . . if I let you.”
    “Maybe.”
    “Why maybe?”
    “It’s a big responsibility. Maybe I wouldn’t want
the hassle.”
    “You’re teasing me again.”
    “A little.”
    “That’s how she knew you were an Alpha. If I let you
bite me, would it make this feeling go away? You know. The part where I can
feel your heartbeat. At least, I think that’s what I’m feeling.”
    “No. It would make that even stronger. But, you’d
want it. It would become part of you.”
    “Tethered. That’s what Grammy said. She was tethered
to the Alpha who did it to her until the bastard finally died. Killed