Taken by the Alpha Wolf Read Online Free Page B

Her web of lies had
ripped. It wouldn’t work. Not anymore.
    Because he knew. As a wolf, she’d failed to
pick up Etienne’s delicious and very male scent of musk, sharply
cut grass and fresh rain. She should have responded to it with a
female reaction to her destined mate.
    Any normal Draicon would have.
    Still, she couldn’t work up the courage to
tell him. Not yet. She needed to figure out the right time.
    And then she wouldn’t have to worry about
leaving him. Because he’d leave her.
    “I need to finish this. Have a seat and relax
a little.”
    He swept the room with his steady gaze, his
expression betraying nothing. But tension radiated from him, those
big shoulders growing tight. Etienne looked at the polished
hardwood floor as if afraid to scuff it with his boots.
    He pointed to the desk and her files. “What’s
that about?”
    “I have to leave instructions about these
clients and finish the billing on their files.” At his inquiring
look, she sighed. “My father kicked me out of his business and his
life, but that’s no excuse for me not to complete my job.”
    He studied the laptop as if it held a bomb.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less from you. You’re a professional.
I’ll get your suitcases and start you on packing.”
    Etienne, taking charge as usual. But as he
crossed the room to her closet, he paused at the collage of photos
taped to the silk wallpaper. He touched one of himself standing
knee-deep in the bayou as he held a small alligator.
    “You kept them,” he murmured.
    “Every photo you sent of yourself, and your
family, and your home.”
    She pushed back her chair and joined him,
gazing at the photos. “This is my favorite.”
    Her finger rested on a candid photo of him
lounging on his front porch, beer in hand, legs kicked open, with a
wide grin on his face. But Etienne didn’t look at the
photograph.
    His gaze sharpened on her arm and the large
purpling bruise. Very gently, he held her arm and examined it. A
flush ignited her cheeks. So much for concealing the truth…
    “Did I do this? When I tackled you?”
    “It’s three days old,” she hastened to assure
him. “I hit my arm on a filing cabinet.”
    “Three days? And it hasn’t healed yet?”
    Congratulations, you figured it out.
    “Cyn, what’s going on?”
    She spread out her hands, studied the long
fingers that struggled to work magick.
    “It’s nothing. I can take care of it. I can
take care of myself.”
    Those blue eyes were as fierce and intent as
lasers. “You never did tell me what kind of magick you have. It
might be good to combine powers.”
    “I like to work alone and I can defend myself
against anything,” she said coolly, her heart pounding hard. “Stay
here. I need to wash the dust off.”
    The shower was quick, and felt refreshing,
but did little to soothe her shaky nerves. Cindy dressed and went
into the bedroom.
    A slight charge weighted the air, as if the
molecules shifted. Gooseflesh sprang out on her bare arms. She
turned, frowning, to check the bathroom.
    Cindy whirled as a gust of hot air blasted
her on the chest. It felt like a giant hand slapping her. Crying
out, she collapsed.
    Etienne cursed in Cajun French. Worry etching
his face, he bent down and helped her stand. “You ok?”
    At her nod, he shook his head. “You call that
defending yourself? I barely gave you a tap on the shoulder. And it
knocked you out. You didn’t even see it coming.”
    Ashamed, she avoided his scrutinizing gaze. A
Draicon, a normal Draicon, would not only have seen the energy
coming, but would have fought back.
    “Cyn, level with me. I want to know what’s
going on. Right now.”
     

Chapter Four
    Etienne helped her across the room as if she
were an elderly granny hobbling with a walker. Cindy sat on the
four-poster canopy bed. This was so difficult to admit. But he
waited, sitting beside her, her intent gaze never leaving her
face.
    She didn’t know how to begin. So she just
blurted it