Darkest Wolf by Rebecca Royce Page B

rough and calloused?
    “Did they give you any trouble checking in?”
    She shook her head, trying to smile. “No more than what is to be expected. Come on.
    Let’s go inside.”
    “What? Than what is to be expected?”
    Rex planted his feet where he stood, and she knew there would be no moving him until they addressed this problem—even if she would rather stick her hand in a blender.
    “He objected to my face.” Rex moved forward. By the set of his eyes, she could tell he intended to go into the lobby and let the man know what he thought. She stopped him by placing a hand on his chest. Beneath her fingers, she could feel the strong beat of his heart. She had to swallow through the dryness assaulting her whole body at the contact.
    “Look, I took a page out of your book and I borrowed his phone without his knowing.
    Why don’t we say that’s enough?”
    Rex stared down at her, a small smile finally crossing his hard features. “I’m a bad influence on you.”
    She nodded. “Clearly.” Holding up the phone, she stuck it in his hand. “Do you want to call Tristan?”
    He’d used that name a few times. At some point, she’d come to realize it was one of his brothers, the alpha of his pack. Rex seemed to be preoccupied with him. Maybe phoning him would take his mind off her.
    She gasped as his hand came down, cupping her chin. “No, I have no interest in speaking to Tristan right now. Not even a little bit.”
    “No?” Words seemed to have left her or at least the ability to speak without staring at his mouth. “Did your rest do you good? You weren’t asleep very long.” He took her hand, grasping it in his own as he placed the phone back into it. His fingers were so much larger than hers. “Elizabeth, there is something I need to do.” She blinked. “What?”
    “I must feed you before you fall over.”
    “Feed me?” As if on cue, her stomach growled. She hadn’t been aware of how hungry she was, but now that he’d mentioned it she couldn’t think about anything else.
    When was the last time she’d eaten? She hadn’t even gotten to have a meal at the diner.
    “Yes, you need to eat. I can smell how your blood sugar is dropping. We will get some food.”
    “Where?” She looked around. “It’s the middle of the night. I doubt anything is open.”
    Rex pointed at the lobby. “The man who objected to your face, he will help us.” The wolf who had made her life very odd since she’d met him, dropped her hand and walked with a determined stride toward the lobby.
    “Well, do you want to give him back his phone?”
    He shook his head as he called over his shoulder. “We are not done borrowing it yet.”
    Elizabeth stood in shock. She could have sworn Rex had been talking about something quite different when he’d first grabbed her hand. What had changed and why did it bother her?
    The phone in her hand vibrated. She looked down. The area code was the same as the one she’d used when she called her mother. Someone was calling from Key Biscayne.
    She took a deep breath to steel herself. There could be no doubt in her mind she knew who would be on the other end when she answered it.
    “Hello?” she whispered, turning her back to the lobby. Rex was in there. She didn’t want to look at him.
    “Liz. I hear you have abandoned my daughters. Tell me why I shouldn’t put your family to death—right now.”
    A thousand retorts filled her mind. She’d love to be able to tell the woman she should leave her family be because it was the humane thing to do, because any witch worth two cents in the world would know they were to cause no harm. But Drea had shown herself to be amoral more times than Liz could count at this point.
    “Because I am in possession of knowledge about the Westervelt Wolves. One of them thinks I am his mate. I can tell you things we have never known before.” She silently prayed it would be enough to get her family released. Despite Rex’s belief they could simply go in and