Desert Wolf by Heather Long Page A

as they went clothed. “However, whatever makes you comfortable.”
    “Unlike this conversation, which makes you very uncomfortable.” She leaned against the glass and folded her arms. “So tell me, Cassius, now that it is just the two of us…what do you need from me?”
    Very well . Time to put all his cards on the table. “Everything you have.”
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    H er gut clenched at the blunt declaration. “Everything I have?”
    “Yes.” The deep gravel of his baritone sent a shiver over her skin. The man was so utterly raw. Wolves by their nature were somewhat primitive. Dominants. Submissives. Alphas. Omegas. Healers. Hounds. Hunters. Everyone had a place in the pack. Even the Lone Wolves established a sense of hierarchy. Cassius was different. His power seemed to be a part of him, a feral being barely leashed and the only one holding his leash was him.
    “Explain.” She could make up a lot of stories or inferences from his request. “And be explicit. No side talk or implications.”
    “Your word what we discuss does not leave this room? Not even to your Alpha.”
    “Well that could be a problem.” Her loyalty belonged to Serafina.
    “Nothing we discuss impacts your Alpha, or your pack for that matter. It is exclusively about my pack, me, and my plans for the future.”
    Frowning, she turned the statement over in her mind. “Plans which require my involvement, which in turn involves my pack because Faust is here…it’s really splitting a fine line between what involves them and what doesn’t.”
    “If I can’t trust you with this information, you won’t be able to help me.” Anger scored the words, though not his scent. So perhaps it was only frustration at their current impasse.
    “You know, I’ve known you less than twenty-four hours, and I’ve managed to piss you off four times.” Would he respond to teasing? “One could say we were old friends.”
    His eyes narrowed a fraction. “I only counted three.”
    Extending her index finger, she said. “I got distracted by Faust breaking someone’s neck, and I was worried about him.” Raising a second finger, she added. “I didn’t listen to you immediately after the fight, and had to check on the bodies.” Though some of her memories of the battle were still foggy, she recalled those explicitly. “I nearly abandoned your plans altogether at the rest stop and you had to convince me to stay and, now, I’m not willing to give you my blind promise to keep everything you tell me a secret.”
    “Huh.” His grunt wasn’t really a response, but he shrugged. “I counted everything at the rest stop as one. You were irritating but alive, so I didn’t complain too much. You weren’t cooperative when we arrived here and refused to let me see you and, yes, you’re inability to promise is annoying, but I am not truly angry.”
    “Like I said, we’re old friends already.”
    “I don’t have friends.” The sober truth in the short sentence surprised her.
    “I find that hard to believe. You’re Alpha.” Even Serafina had friends and, from what she remembered of Mason during his time in Delta Crescent, he likely had friends as well.
    “Well, you would, princess. You’re from a soft pack with a soft lifestyle, and you probably make time for dinner parties and socials. Sutter Butte isn’t kind. It isn’t friendly, and friends come in only two varieties.”
    Unease coiled through her gut, so she almost hated to ask. “Which are?”
    “The ones who want to get close enough to stick a knife in your back, and the ones who can be used to control you.”
    “What an ugly way of looking at the world.”
    Another shrug. “It is what it is, princess. Your Hound out there? He’s all about protecting you. I’m sure you trust him utterly. You let yourself be helpless around him.”
    “Of course. He’s my Guardian. We’ve been together for years. He’d die for me.” As she would for him. “I won’t apologize for trusting him.”
    “If he could be