Free Prymal Lust by Jianne Carlo Page A

buddy of mine is looking for the best international contract lawyer in the business. Money’s not an issue.” Lycus paged through his cell, found what he wanted, and slid the phone across to Mishe. “Here’s his contact information. Give him a call. Mention my name. “
    Axe had to choke back a guffaw. Trust Lycus to hone in on the fact that Wasserman and Litchfield had to supplement all the legal work they did for the Senior Council with non-Wylfen matters.
    Mishe’s attitude changed in a heartbeat. The business lawyer in the alpha took over. “Does your friend have need of a specialist?”
    Taking advantage of no longer having Mishe inspecting him like a hawk, Axe patted the napkin to his mouth. “Your brother just told me you’re engaged to be engaged. To one Lionel Rath.”
    Tania’s spoon clattered onto the floor.
    All the color drained from her face.
     
     
     

 
     
     

Chapter Eight
    Tania froze.
    Engaged to be engaged? To Lionel Rath?
    Mishe halted his conversation with Lycus and gave her a hard stare. “You okay?”
    She spread her lips. “Just being a klutz.”
    Hoping her shock didn’t show, she bent down to retrieve her dropped cutlery and bumped heads with Axe.
    “You didn’t know.” He snatched the silver spoon and pressed it into her hand.
    She met his gaze. Too stunned to speak, Tania shook her head.
    “Finish your soup. I’ll check up on this.”
    How? Why?
    She sat up straight and wiped her spoon with the napkin. Focused on eating the chowder, which tasted worse than fungus.
    All the while her mind raced.
    The Senior Council met the last Monday of every month.
    Mate alliance decisions were handed down then.
    Today was the last Friday of the month. No wonder Dad had been belaboring her moving back home for the last three days. The Senior Council had picked her mate. The alliance laws mandated the details of mate courting. She would be forced to move back home right away.
    In seven days she would be mated.
    To Lionel Rath. II.
    She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t suck in enough oxygen to combat a devastating wave of dizziness.
    Axe gave her leg a quick squeeze. “Drink your water. Slowly. I can smell your panic. Trust in me. It’ll be okay. ”
    What? Axe had lost it. Nothing would ever, ever, ever be okay again.
    “Don’t like the soup?” Mishe asked. He shot her a narrow-eyed glance.
    Resisting the overwhelming temptation to hurl the bowl at Mishe, she said through clenched teeth, “It’s delish. I could eat ten bowls of this.”
    Mishe’s brow quirked. “Really? I’d expected a critical opinion. It tastes pretty watery to me.”
    “You know the phrase, an opinion is like an ass. Everyone has one. That’s mine.” Tania couldn’t keep the terseness out of her pugnacious retort.
    Did both Breede and Mishe know about her mate alliance?
    Jesus. Did Jaz know? Had her twin participated in this betrayal?
    Tania spooned the last remnants of the clam chowder into her mouth.
    She needed to find a toothbrush and brush away the foulness coating her tongue.
    Her family knew she didn’t want a mate. She’d thought her parents had accepted her wishes when they allowed her to move out of the family home two months ago.
    How could her father have done this? Had her mom just gone with the flow? Why hadn’t they told her about the Senior Council’s decision?
    Tania fingered the brass button from Axe’s coat that she’d retrieved on a stupid impulse from the greenhouse’s dirt floor. For some reason the rhythmic caressing of the rounded surface soothed her rising alarm and her Decorum, Discipline, and Deportment training snapped her into a rigid rationality.
    Puzzle pieces began to fall into place.
    Uncle Viktor had always wanted to merge the Rath and Prakov fortunes. That was why he had arranged Lisette Rath’s marriage to his son, Robert. But Robert had been killed and the Raths refused Viktor’s proposal to unify the two companies, Tripe W Corporation and Rath Financial