Read Wolf's Oath (After the Crash 3.25) for Free Online

“What are you doing upstairs? Men aren’t allowed up here.”
    Did she have any idea what her strength did to him? Lust. Love. The two wrestled with his control. He wanted to crush her mouth under his, to feel her body molded against him. He wanted to give her comfort and assure her nothing would ever be allowed to make her cry again.
    Before he could do something he would regret, Katie poked her head in the door. “Um, I brought him up. My bad. Sorry.” Her gaze went to the bottle on the table. “Should I take that out?”
    Connie wrapped a protective hand over the neck of the bottle. “No,” she snapped.
    Katie retreated half a step. “ Oooh-kay .”
    Connie jerked her chin at Des. “You can take that out.”
    Des braced his feet and folded his arms over his chest. “ That isn’t going anywhere until you tell me what’s wrong.”
    Connie’s pale blue eyes narrowed. Then she briefly closed her eyes, drew a long breath and let it slowly out. “Look, Des, I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. Really. But this isn’t any of your business.”
    She was his mate, unclaimed or not, so anything that affected her was his business. His wolf demanded he fix whatever was bothering her. “Miss Connie, something is wrong. Maybe talking to someone will help.”
    She scrubbed her hands over her wet cheeks and stared at him for a few long moments. “All right, fine. Katie, would you please give us some space?”
    Katie glanced between them before closing the door. He heard her walk across the apartment and then the outer door closed. Connie seated herself on the bed and waved at the stool at the table.
    “Make yourself comfy,” she invited. “But this won’t take much time to tell.” She splashed some whiskey in her glass and offered him the bottle. He shook his head, attention fixed solely on her. She shrugged. “To make a long story short, we all have to find husbands in the next three weeks or Mayor Madison will find them for us.”
    Icy fingers gripped his heart. “What brought that about?”
    She took a long sip and shrugged. “Tonight, two morons from the Omaha area climbed the fence and hit on Katie and Sammie. Thought we were all whores.”
    Des maintained his calm, relaxed posture on the stool. He marveled at his own self-control.
    “That’s when Faron sprang it on me.” She tipped the rest of the drink down her throat and waved the empty glass at him. “Madison never expected us to actually open a restaurant. He thought we’d all be married off before spring. Like women just can’t manage to exist without a man to take care of them. Ha! As if. Right?”
    He waited for her to continue. When she didn’t, he ventured, “As if what?”
    Her scowl showed annoyance. “As if. It’s a saying.”
    “Okay.”
    “So. Madison can’t afford to keep feeding us and arranging guards for the compound, so if we don’t find husbands on our own, we’ll be put up for auction. How is that fair?”
    He could see the small signs of inebriation now in her too-careful speech and slightly too-precise movements. The room seemed to evaporate when she looked directly into his eyes. The connection threatened to stop his heart. “It’s not,” he said in a quiet voice.
    “Do you think a woman can’t function without a man?” she demanded.
    “No.” But he didn’t know how much longer he could function without her. If she were to marry another man his wolf would go into full rebellion. “Women are strong. They have to be or the race would die out.”
    “Damn straight!” She banged the glass down and jumped off the bed to pace. He inwardly cringed when he saw that her limp was more pronounced. “Why does a woman have to be married? Think about Sammie. She’s only nineteen, for God’s sake. And Nikki! Why should she have to get married when she’s only just become a widow? It’s only been two months! No way in hell is that enough time to get over the death of one man and fall in love with another. Is it