“I don’t think I do.”
“Let me rephrase that.How the hell did you get back here?”
I smile, making sure my fangs show nicely.“I flashed Daddy’s credit card.”
“Nice try.Your pupils, remember?Don’t lie to me, princess.”
“I made a suggestion.”
“I see.”He moves out from behind his desk, his stealth so…wolflike.“You’re hungry, aren’t you?”
I bare my teeth.“Fucking ravenous.”
“I might be persuaded to give you what you crave.”
“I might be persuaded to let you think you’re giving it to me when I’m actuallytakingit.”
“For God’s sake, princess.Do you give your father this much trouble?”
I laugh.Really laugh, from the gut.“I’m sure he’d tell you I’m way more trouble than I’m worth.”
“Are you?”He grabs a fistful of my hair and yanks on it just hard enough to make my scalp tingle.“Why did he send you here?And I’ll know if you’re lying.”
He’ll know if I’m lying.Good enough.So I won’t answer the question.I can’t.If I tell him, he’ll destroy any evidence I might be able to find.
I press my lips together.
“All right.I can play this game.But you already answered my question, princess.Now I know he sent you.”
“Got me,” I say, straining against his hold.
“I feel I should warn you, princess.”He pulls subtly at my hair again.“Daddy isn’t who you think he is.”
“Are you serious?I’ve no love for the man.I knowexactlywho he is.He’s vain and manipulative and a genuine pain in my ass.A classic megalomaniac.”
He loosens his hold on my hair.“But he’s your king.”
I nod.“He is.And the asinine gene he gifted me with makes me come when beckoned and do his bidding.”
“I’ve often been grateful that we weres aren’t genetically bound to follow the orders of our high alphas.”
“Yeah.You lucked out.”I scoff.
“We follow them out of respect,” he says.
“My father isn’t worthy of my respect.”
“Isn’t he?Tell me why.”
“You seem to already know my story,” I say.“Why don’t you tellme?”
He chuckles and finally lets go of me.“I don’t know as much as you think I do, and unlike you, I don’t possess any talent for mind games, so I can’t force you to tell me.”He moves in closer, his neck only a few inches away from me, and that damned artery is pulsing out of control.
He’s playing me.
He knows what I want, and he knows he has it.
If he lets me feed, maybe I’ll forget I stumbled in here to find him conversing with one of my assailants.