“You should be,” he says, and it’s so low and serious I’m not sure if I’ve heard him correctly.
Something sharp pricks at my skin through the fabric of the dress, and I inhale in surprise.
Claws.
Of course it is.
“Are you trying to scare me?” I ask him, summoning all my bravery. I stop, and he does, too, pulling me close to him so our bodies are pressed together.
My brain stutters, and I try to hold on to my train of thought. He just feels… right next to me, the lizard part of my brain liking everything about him very, very much.
“I don’t need to try. I can scent your fear clouding your perfume.” His eyes dilate, and his nostrils flare delicately as he dips his head.
I inhale in surprise as his nose rubs a line across my throat.
“I smell arousal, too, Aileen. You can’t hide anything from me. Does that scare you?”
It should. It should, because I’m not an idiot, and having a stranger husband who can read my moods through my skin should be enough to shake me in my boots—or lack thereof—but it doesn’t.
“No.” The word is an admission, a breathy whisper that surprises us both.
His hands tighten almost painfully on my body, and my core clenches in response.
“They said you had to uphold the terms of the contract, too,” I tell him, and there is a blatant challenge in my voice. “Or I can leave and still get paid.”
I jut my chin up in defiance, and a growling bark of a laugh tears from his throat.
“Brave little thing. You think I’d let you leave after mating you?”
My heart skips a beat. Mating. That sounds… more intense than marrying. More permanent.
“I think you wouldn’t hurt me. Or break the contract.” I’m testing him, still pressing closer. “What would you stand to gain from that? You need me, or you wouldn’t have bothered with the Starlight Lottery.” It’s a gamble, a stab in the dark.
But his eyes flare, and a small smile kicks the corners of my lips up.
“What do you know about the Wulfric?” he asks. “What do you know of our ways? Of our mating ceremony?”
I throw my shoulders back, pulling away from him as Tessa, his sister clears her throat.
“I have a feeling you’re about to tell me what I need to know.” I toss my hair for good measure.
He doesn’t move, just leans closer, giving me a close-up look at his inhuman canines.
My, what big teeth you have.
I smile back. I have teeth, too.
“During the Wulfric ceremony, I will bite you.” His fingertips trace a spot along the place where my shoulder meets my neck, and I shiver involuntarily. “Here. It is a claiming bite.” His eyes flash gold.
I suck in a breath, riveted by him.
“They did not tell you that this is part of our contract, which cannot be undone. They did not tell you—”
“You don’t have to bite her to marry her,” Tessa interrupts.
He growls at her.
It sends a shockwave through me.
“I will bite her. She’s mine now.” He turns his attention back go me. “Unless you want to say no. Do you want to say no to me? Or do you want to see just how far the rabbit hole goes, little human wolf?”
Mute, I shake my head.
“I’m going to need more than that.” His hand tangles in the hair at the nape of my neck, and I let out a small moan as he licks the spot he just touched. It sends an electric pulse through my body. “Tell me you want the chase, pet.”
I don’t really understand what I’ve gotten myself into.
“I will make it so good for you, Aileen,” he whispers in my ear, lips brushing featherlight against it.
I don’t know this man—alien, er, werewolf, whatever—at all.
But my body? My body knows it wants everything he’s offering and then some.
“I don’t know,” I say thickly. Heaven help me, but I do know.
I want whatever he is selling, but I’m afraid.
“I need time,” I say plaintively.
“Honesty. Good,” he says, releasing me. His nostrils flare as he inhales. His hands fist at his sides, his eyes darkening as he stares me. “We will take our time. You won’t be scared for long.” He pauses. “I can take my time.” The words are low and reverent, like he’s trying to convince himself.
“Your pheromones are affecting her,” Tessa says, frowning slightly, though there’s blatant amusement dancing in her eyes.
I sway, missing the pressure of his body, chilled and dizzy without the scorching heat and muscle there.
Then I still, coming to my senses. “Wait… are you smelling me?”
“Yes. He is. We are.” She coughs delicately, and I can’t help but think she’s hiding a laugh under it. “Our senses are much more, ah, delicate than humans.”
“Advanced is the word you’re looking for,” Brekker interrupts. “Our senses, our bodies, all more advanced.”
My throat goes tight as he looks at me meaningfully. “Right,” I choke out.
I close my eyes, willing myself to get some semblance of control over my body.
“This way,” Tessa calls out. Her bright blond ponytail swings down her back, caught up in gold ringlets that catch the light.
I follow, my feet cooperating in a way that my mind doesn’t seem to want to.
This was easier to think about on the Starlight Lottery hub. A life of luxury, a life I could have never made for myself on the last station, and a husband I had to tolerate at most.
Now, though, with the husband in question at my side—squeezing all the attention from my mind, taking up all the air in the hallway—I don’t think tolerating him is even close to the right word.
This werewolf I’m supposed to marry?
He’s a force of nature, and I’ll be lucky to survive him.
CHAPTER 6
AILEEN
There’s no white dress, no string quartet or relative to walk me down the aisle.
There’s not really an aisle at all.
The moment I put my hand on the stone archway, all eyes in the huge room turn to me. I’ve never seen a space so big. After the station, it’s boggling. At least three stories high, metal braziers with real fire burning in them lighting the massive hall.
The smoke stings my eyes, and I look away from the crowd of aliens as I blink it away.
Blink it away and try to get my bearings all at once.
The stone arch teems with carvings. A deer, something I remember from an old Earth book, hides between thick foliage. A wolf stalks it, the arch displaying the progression of the hunt.
The deer ends up on the forest floor, the wolf’s fangs sunk into it, another wolf so lifelike behind it I can almost hear the howl coming from its open mouth.
My heart slams into my chest as the reality of what I’m doing truly sinks in.
I am marrying an alien.
An alien werewolf.
“Welcome to the newest member of Clan Claw, bride of Brekker Claw, Aileen,” a loud voice booms out from the end of the hall.
The werewolves congregated let out a blood-curdling howl. Goose bumps immediately prickle across my skin.
“I smell your fear, which means they do too,” Brekker’s lips brush the curve of my ear. “I need you to smell like something else.”
I can barely hear him over the noise. It grows louder as it echoes off the stone walls and high ceilings, reaching a crescendo that should terrify me.