Mountain Moonlight (15 page)

“It’s symbolic, you moron,” she retorted. “Are you so dense that you can’t pick up  on that? I’m Braslieu royalty. You have no say here.”

“Tell that to your people. They take orders  from me just fine.  I think they’ve been  craving a man in charge around here since your father died. They seemed…how should  I say it? Relieved.”

She longed  to scratch that smirk right off  his face.  “You may have  fucked me last  night and claimed alpha status, but that doesn’t mean you take over my duties.”

“Actually, that’s exactly what I’ll be doing. I’ll make all the decisions now.”

“No, you will not. We  will discuss things together and make joint decisions based  on my input. I know this area, this government and my people, better than you. You will defer to me in all decisions.”

Conner laughed and crossed his arms. “It’s not going to work that way. You can tellme everything I need to know,  but I’ll take it from there.”

How could she have been so blind? He’d  played her  last night.  Now that he was stuck here, he was playing prime alpha to  the hilt. Whatever happened between themlast night wasn’t emotional, wasn’t bonding.  She’d been nothing more than a fuck. She meant nothing more than a means to an end,  the result  being power over the wolves of Braslieu.

He’d done  a fine job of lulling her into thinking they’d work together as a team. How stupid was she? One good fuck and  she’d given everything to him. No, she
 
hadn’t
given. He’d taken.

“Get up from the desk, Katya. You’ve had your tantrum, now let me get some work done.”

“Don’t you
 
dare
 
patronize me!” She slammed her hands on the desk and stood,  leaning over to make sure he understood  exactly who was in charge. She bared her  teeth, allowing the wolf within her to surface. “I rule Braslieu, not you. I will make the decisions, not you. And I will tell my people what to do .
 
Not
 
you!”

She’d shouted the last  sentence to get  her point across, her voice low and husky

with the change.

But Conner didn’t flinch. Instead, he placed his palms on his end of the desk and leaned over so their noses nearly touched.

His eyes darkened with lupine change, teeth elongating, his jaw jutting out. Claws dug into the end of the desk as he growled a warning. “Don’t undermine what I do,  Katya. It’s for the protection of all the wolves here. I am alpha now, make no  mistake. I do not need, nor will I ever ask your permission to do what I think is necessary.”

“We’ll see about that.” She turned her head to the door and shouted for her personal guards. In a matter of moments, they came through the  door.

77

Jaci Burton

“I want you to remove Conner  from the  room,” she said, turning to Conner and

offering a smug smile. Soon enough, he’d see who was in charge here.

But they stood there, confused frowns on their faces.

“Did you hear me? Remove him, now!”

“Princess, he is the alpha. We cannot,” Nicolai said, an  apologetic look on his face.

“
I
 
am alpha here and I command you to remove him.”

Jens shook his head, not making eye contact with her. “We cannot.  The lupine laws  are clear. You have mated with Conner Devlin.  He is alpha male and we take our orders from him now.”

This was unbelievable. They looked to  Conner, who nodded his head and inclined it toward the doorway. The guards made a quick exit.

Seething fury kept the wolf present. She  didn’t even bother to try and hide theferocity of her anger. She had half  a  mind  to  pounce  on  him  and
 
really
 
let him see how angry she was.

She’d lose the battle, of course. No way  could she match his physical strength. But she’d get a few bites and scratches in first.

“I don’t know what you said to them, but I assume you were asking them to move me out of here. That won’t do you  any good, Katya. They know who the alpha is now.”

This wasn’t happening. Yesterday she was  in charge. Today she was…nothing. And why? Because she’d fucked an alpha wolf?

“I’m not here to harm anyone, baby.”

“Don’t call me baby. In  fact, don’t even speak to me.”

He skirted the desk and came around to her side. She moved away.

“Katya,” he said, his voice soft  as if  he was speaking to a child. “We may be adversarial in the way I got here, but now that I’m in place I want  to help. We don’t have to do battle.”

“I’m not doing battle  with you, Conner. I’m not doing anything with you. You’ve  come in here and taken away everything that is mine. That’s unacceptable.”

“I’ve taken nothing away. Believe me, joining with the Devlins was the wisest  decision you could make for your people. They understand that now.”

“I didn’t
join
 
with you! It was a mistake!”

He stared at her with a blank expression  of innocence that infuriated her. She was  getting nowhere with this hardheaded American. “Just stay the hell out of my way,  Conner. And don’t touch or change a goddamned thing around here! This is  my castle, my people, and you do not have my  permission to do anything!”

Before she did something incredibly weak,  like burst into tears, she stormed from  the room, flinging the door open to find Noah, Elena and a dozen of her people waiting  outside. No doubt, they’d heard everything.

Elena looked at her with sympathy, as did the rest of them.

78

Mountain Moonlight

They pitied her! She must look like a fool. Half-human, half-lupine, and wrestling

with female emotions that threatened to  send her into a curled up ball of misery.

This was all too much.

“You follow him?” she asked, inclining her head to the  closed door.

No one looked her in the eye.

“Cousin, you know the lupine laws,” Elena said, her voice quiet.

“You are all fools,” she spat, not even trying to hide the disgust in her voice.

She turned and walked down the hall with  her head held high, refusing to swipe at the tears that pooled in her eyes  and slid slowly down her cheeks.

The wolf within her retreated as melancholy replaced anger.

In the blink of an eye, she’d lost it all.

God help her people now, because the Devlins didn’t have a clue.

79

Jaci Burton

Chapter Nine

Conner stood at the window of the office,  looking out over the thick green and goldforests below and wondering what the fuck  had just happened between him and Katya.

Last night it  seemed as if they might have  struck a tenuous peace, both in bed and out. They’d shared a night of great sex, followed  by an easy conversation  that led him to believe things might work out for them.

He’d pleasured her that much he knew for  certain. She’d come several times, each time more intense than  the last. Then she’d slept soundly in  his arms last night, tuckedagainst his side as if she’d spent her entire life there.

He’d assumed everything had been settled  between them, but then she exploded because he sat at her desk? He just didn’t get it.

The door opened and Noah slipped in, closing it behind him and crossing his arms.

“Well, you handled that well, brother. Anything else you care to fuck up or wasthat your big one of the day?”

“What the  hell are you talking about?  You know  I’m doing exactly what I’m supposed to. Setting things in  motion to protect the wolves here. I’m doing my job,  Noah.”

“I know what your job is. I’m talking about Katya.”

“What about her?”

“You screwed up.”

Conner leaned his hip against the  window ledge. “How?”

“She was in  charge here. You took over without even consulting or warning her

what would happen. Then you made decisions and didn’t ask for her advice.”

“I don’t need her advice. I also didn’t ask to end up here, but it looks like  that’s what’s going to happen, so I might as well take charge and get things rolling. I know what needs to be done.”

Noah shook his head and approached, sitting next to him on the  ledge. “You don’t know shit  about women, Conner.  You never  have. All you do is fuck them. You never consider their feelings.”

Conner’s jaw dropped. Who was this stranger across from him? Noah waxing philosophical about women’s feelings?  “And where did you amass this great knowledge  about women?”

Noah smirked. “I pay attention to details. It’s  my  job  to  read  people  so  that  I  canmanipulate a situation. One of the things  I’ve learned  along the way is how to use a

80

Mountain Moonlight

woman’s emotions to my advantage. And you learn that by observing, by knowing  what makes them happy and what pisses them off.”

“Uh-huh. Well, Katya knew what she was doing when  she set out to play  her little game. She gambled and long term, I win. I’m the alpha here now,  and the sooner she gets used to it the better.”

“This is all because you feel trapped into  something you didn’t get to decide for  yourself. This is your revenge, right?

“No, this is  business.”

“Bullshit. It’s payback. So you’d rather have  the princess at odds with you instead of on your side.”

“There are no sides. We’re all the same pack now. She’s my mate. It’s her duty to follow my rules.”

“That’s all well and good for lupine laws,  Con, but we’re also partially human. And  that means emotion comes into play. Women’s emotions. You don’t want to fuck with  those, trust me.”

“I know what I’m doing,” Conner  said, moving back to the desk.

“You don’t have a goddamned idea what  you’re doing. This venture will be a  helluva lot more successful with Katya’s cooperation.  Without it,  you’ve got one major  battle on your hands.”

Heaving an exasperated sigh, Conner looked  up at Noah. “So what do you suggest I do?”

Noah’s lips curled in a smirk. “First thing  you’ve got to do is pull your foot out ofyour mouth. You’re going to have to learn  that being alpha doesn’t necessarily mean that you bully everyone into doing it your  way. Besides, Katya knows this area. She canhelp you.”

“I can figure it out on my own. Plus, her people will help me.”

“They will, but only because they’re honor bound to do so. If they see you mistreating their princess, you could end up  with a mutiny someday. Hell, Con, youhad her right where you wanted  her. Then  you had to go act like an  ass. You think they didn’t notice how you treated her like she  was nothing? Don’t you think they’re going to wonder if you’re really here for their best interests, or your own?”

Noah had a point. Maybe he’d been a  little bit too domineering with her. But dammit, it galled him that he’d been so easily manipulated. Maybe he had been lashing out at her instead of acting logically. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to enlist her aid.”

“Yeah, if she ever speaks to you again. Hope  you got a  good fuck last night, bro. It’ll probably be the last one you get for a while.”

Noah turned  and left the room, his snicker echoing down  the hall.

Shit. He didn’t need this. Why couldn’t things run more smoothly?

And how the hell was he supposed to figure  out how to  deal with a woman and her emotions? He’d never been able to  fathom that mystery before.

81

Jaci Burton

He knew how to treat them in the  bedroom. Never had any complaints there.

But business was different, and this  was business. Didn’t Katya see that?

He glared at the phone, not wanting to make the call but knowing he had no choice.

Before he chickened out he lifted the receiver  and dialed the international codes to the

U.S., hoping she’d actually answer her cell phone for once.

“This had better be good. It’s the goddamned middle of the night.”

“Hello, Chantal.” He ignored her surly attitude. His  sister was always grouchy when she woke up.

“Conner, somebody had better be dead for you to be making this call.”

Yeah. Him,  if he didn’t  get Katya  figured  out. “No one’s dead. Sorry to disappoint you.”

“Then what is it?”

Her biting tone made him smile. God he loved his sister. He flinched as he blurted

out the words. “I need woman advice.”

He rolled his eyes at the sound of Chantal’s hysterical laughter. Okay, he only loved

her sometimes. Other times she was a real ball-busting pain in the ass.

* * * * *

By nightfall, Conner had at least made some  inroads on the construction aspect of

the mission.

That had been the easy part. After Chantal had chewed him a new asshole and pointed out all the ways he’d screwed up  with Katya, he figured the hard part wasabout to begin.