Free Prymal Lust by Jianne Carlo Page B

Investments.
    Viktor was the alpha of their pack.
    He had sold Tania to the Raths.
    Dad hadn’t told her because he suspected she’d bolt.
    And she would.
    No way was she going to become her mom. Not that she didn’t love her mother, she did. But she wanted to be her own person, not a typical Wylfen wife who catered to her mate’s every whim.
    Why had they let her taste freedom if this was what they’d planned from the start? Why had they let her believe she could remain unmated?
    A pastry chef in a fine dining restaurant like Chez Noir where Tania’d worked for the past eighteen months earned good money. More than enough to pay for her living expenses and bank a couple of months’ salary. Exactly how much did she have saved?
    Tania picked up her phone, set it in her lap, logged into her account, and checked the balance: four thousand, nine dollars, and twenty-five cents. She couldn’t count on getting back the first and last month’s deposit from her rental apartment.
    Would her boss, Andres, give her a good reference if she didn’t give the requisite two weeks’ notice?
    Jaz. Would her twin help her? Sure, he’d stood up for her when she enrolled at the Culinary Institute. He’d even persuaded Breede and Mishe to take her side. She knew her parents had only agreed to allow her to attend classes because of the combined backing of her three brothers.
    And when she’d decided to move out, it had been Jaz and Mishe who’d convinced her father that being on her own didn’t violate any Wylfen laws.
    But, Jaz had changed during the last year. They no longer spoke as often as they used to. His texts and emails had slowed to sporadic trickles. Her twin now wore an edgy air of danger, but she had put that down to the whole military training thing. The last two times she’d met him for lunch, Tania had sensed a banked fury raging in him. When she’d asked him about it, he’d been evasive.
    She glanced down the table.
    Noticed the empty seat next to her father. Prayed Lionel hadn’t been invited. She willed Jaz to look her way, but he was staring at his cell. He frowned and his thumbs got busy. She checked the grim set of her twin’s mouth when he stared at first their father, then Viktor, and finally met her gaze.
    Her phone dinged.
    What’s up with u?
    The message was from Jaz. She shuttered her eyes. Then texted back. Need to talk to u.
    Jaz stared at her. Worked his keypad.
    Lobby. After dinner.
    Ok. She replied.
    The dinner slogged on and on.
    She forked a mouthful of the spinach and strawberry salad.
    Axe left the table while the wait staff cleared the salad plates and returned right as the entrée was served.
    Tania cut the Chicken Kiev into tiny bites, but couldn’t digest more than two pieces. Relieved that neither Axe nor Senior Chief Johnson bothered to engage her in conversation, she forced herself to eat the mixed vegetables and a couple of forkfuls of rice pilaf.
    She stared unseeing at the musicians taking their place on the podium. The aroma of coffee broke her out of a numb reverie. But her mind was on some sort of strange lock down and her normal sweet tooth didn’t activate when the waiter plonked the dessert plate in front of her. She separated the raspberry icing from the Black Forest cake. Tasted both the red sweetness and the moist cake, more out of professional curiosity than real hunger.
    “Lost your appetite?” Axe asked, his voice low.
    She flinched and looked up to see if Mishe still stared at her. He did.
    Tania swept Axe a sidelong glance. She nodded yes, but didn’t speak.
    A familiar, but just-out-of-memory melody swelled through the room.
    “Let’s dance.” Axe gave her no chance to refuse. He twined their fingers together, stood, and helped her out of the chair.
    “My sister hates to dance.” Mishe threw his napkin on the table.
    Axe didn’t respond to Mishe’s barked statement. “That right, Tania?”
    “Tania. You don’t have to dance with anyone.” Mishe