Carli

el pushed his door open, stepping out onto the concrete befo

ather cushion. "Why did you bring me to a grocery market? The drama a

d my seatbelt with one hand, and hauled me out onto the pavement by my waist. "

meless words, and I pulled away from him. "I know how

nterlaced our fingers with crushing force as he dragge

of Axel-standing at a towering six-foot-four in a custom cashmere overcoat-push

ut his fingers were like forged ir

eral thick cuts of A5 Wagyu beef marbled like white frost. Because high-ranking werewolves burned through immense

pressure radiating off Axel's shoulders, his hands shaking as h

e down the organic produce aisle, picking out fresh aspar

a bizarre sense of unreality washed over me. How could a bloodthirsty tyrant who

ige trench coat pocket lit up, the scre

ut, my thumb moving to reject the call, but Axel's long

el smirk curved his lips, and he tapped th

sle. 'Vivian! Where the hell are you? Chloe just called me sobbing her eyes out! She s

ommunicator, only for Axel to hook his free arm aroun

o you have any idea how much humiliation she suffered because of you? Get your as

ght the communicator close to his mouth, his deep, velvety v

wed by three seconds of dead silence before Declan roared in outrage. "Wh

is lips against my earlobe and let out a cold laugh into the recei

er end, and when he spoke again, his voice cracked int

"I ran into her in the commercial district and brought her to buy some

ing without a trace as he groveled. "Thank you for looking afte

he communicator back into my trench coat pocket. "Is that the mate you ch

heeks burning, unable to refute his bruta

bach sped away from the glittering downtown core and pulled up in fro

open with my shoulder, desperate to escape the suffocating heat of t

nt and plucked the bags right out of my arms. "I

overcoat. "You can't! This neighborhood is full of low-rankers, m

reetlamp, his amber eyes glowing with feral savagery in the dusk

the nape of my neck and steered me through

pward, the tiny metal box filling to th

venth floor, revealing a dim ha

702, I fumbled with my brass key with shakin

wide and strode straight into my private sanctuary,