Read Betrayal: Reckless Desires (Dark Wolves Book 2) for Free Online Page A

mated before? Most wolf shifters mated once. For life.
    “Where is she?” she finally managed to ask.
    “She’s dead,” he told her as he stalked toward the door. He didn’t look at her again. He didn’t say another word. He just walked out, leaving her reeling.
    ***
    The hurt in Amalija’s eyes had stabbed straight through him. He should have softened the blow a little, but he didn’t do soft. Hell, the word wasn’t even in his vocabulary. If the Dark Lands had shown him anything at all, it was that anything tender couldn’t be trusted. So why was his wolf growling at him and his own heart aching with the squeeze seeing her pain had caused? There was no point in letting her think they had a future when they had none.
    Doesn’t mean you had to be an ass about it , his wolf grumbled into his mind. Besides, you’re wrong .
    Shut up. The damned wolf had been pushing him toward Amalija from the moment they’d been introduced, back when his pack had merged with hers months before. He’d managed to stay away from her all that time, but how the hell was he going to do that now? With her scent branded into his skin and the desire he’d shoved aside until now raging inside him, it was all he could do to walk away instead of taking her back to her bed and losing himself in her body again.
    The truth was, seeing Amalija mauled by the enemy, smelling her blood, and seeing it seep into the ground had unlocked something inside him. He’d needed to connect with her. Assure himself, and his wolf, that she was okay. He’d needed the physical contact with her as much as she’d needed his protection as she came down from the shock of the battle. He’d never felt that particular need with anyone else. Not even Kendra, and he’d seen her injured many times over. Though the fact that his emotions hadn’t been fully restored until after she’d died probably had more to do with that than anything else.
    With a grunt, he shook his head. It didn’t matter. None of it did. Amalija wasn’t his mate. Worrying or even thinking about it was useless.
     
     
     

NINE
    Amalija stood there, stunned. He was wrong. He had to be. Maybe he was the rare exception to the rule and was gifted with two mates. She wouldn’t lie to herself and pretend the fact that there was another before her didn’t hurt. A lot. She wanted to be his one and only, as he was hers, but no amount of wishing could change the past. She, of all people, knew that. But to hear him say that he wasn’t her mate… The fact that she knew it to be a lie made it that much worse. Why deny her? Did he already know about her heritage? Had they somehow figured it out? Maybe he didn’t want to saddle himself with a Mahehkan mate.
    No, that couldn’t be it. Considering that the Alpha and his brother wanted to wage a war against the Mahehkans, they would have come to her and gathered all the information they could from her. They were smart men. They wouldn’t go into a mission blind if they had the choice. Her heart stuttered. She hadn’t missed Orrin shifting to his wolf form to follow the male they had released. He had no information. Shit.
    She had to tell them what she knew. If they went to the Mahehkan camp and someone got hurt or killed because she hadn’t told them what she knew, she’d never forgive herself.
    As much as she hated to do it, she had to get back out there. Knowing that the enemy had made it so close to the village without detection made her more than a little nervous. If she were lucky, the wolves would have been the only three in the area, and she could complete her mission without anyone being the wiser. James depended on her, and more importantly, Roxie did. She deserved freedom from pain and fear, a life away from the Mahehkans.
    She showered and dressed in record time. If she wanted to go into the forest and be back before nightfall, she had to get going. With a fresh bundle of dried meat added to the pack, she wrapped it up and headed