Chapter 351 The Wolf Beneath the Skin


    <b>Kirby’s </b>POV


    31


    Finished


    Night draped itself over Rogue Pack’s western headquarters, the streemps casting cold light across the roof of my car.


    I had been parked across the street for nearly an hour, engine long dead, mint–scented pheromones roiling in the cabin, restless and sharp.


    Waiting for a chance “encounter” with Leslie. Yet she still hadn’t appeared.


    I leaned back in the seat, eyes fixed on the entrance, my mind reying the image of her- calm, untouchable, her face carved in ice and fire.


    “Leslie, what are you doing right now?”


    My phone buzzed. A message from Leiss.


    I opened it, and the photo made my eyes narrow to slits.


    Lars, Thorbane, Leslie… and Adler. Four of them around a private dining table,ughing easily.


    Lars’s foxlike face wore a grin that wasn’t even disguised–in satisfaction aimed at Adler.


    Leslie sat beside her father, head bowed as she ate, lips curved in the faintest smile. Even through the photo, I could almost taste the pinewood note of her pheromones.


    The image felt like a de, driven deep into my chest.


    Leiss had added a line: “Kirby, she’s already meeting the family. You’re still standing still. Should I introduce you to someone else instead?”


    Meeting the family.


    My grip on the steering wheel tightened until my knuckles went white.


    Rage and jealousy surged like a storm tide. Mint pheromones burst in the car, the pressure nearly snapping my restraint. I wanted to storm into that restaurant, rip her away from them, lock her where only I could see her.


    My heart mmed in my chest<b>, </b>a dark thought exploding inside me: take her, hide her, keep


    her.


    No man should ever be allowed near her. None of them.


    Chapter 351 The Wolf Beneath the Skin


    <b>31 </b>


    Finished


    Lance’s voice slithered in, mocking. “<i>Finally </i><i>showing </i><i>your </i>fangs, <i>Kirby</i>? <i>What’s </i><i>the </i><i>point </i><i>of </i><i>this </i>gentleman act? Keep pretending, and she’ll be <i>marked </i><i>by </i><i>someone </i><i>else </i><i>before </i><i>you </i><i>even </i><i>know </i>it.”


    My jaw clenched. I dragged in a sharp breath, forcing the violent impulse down.


    The gentleman mask had been slipping for a while. The wolf beneath was no longer content with its disguise.


    And Lance was right–wait too long, and I’d regret it for the rest of my life.


    I lowered my head, thumb flying across the screen. A message to Leslie: “Your USB drive was left at Bloodrock Estate. I’m waiting under your apartment.”


    Sent.


    I started the car and pulled away, heading straight for her building. Parked at the curb, eyes locked on the entrance, cold as ice.


    All the while, the photo seared my mind.


    Adler–mild, polished, dangerous in his quiet way.


    Lars smiling at him, pleased.


    The Gold Pack pup. For what reason? What gave him the right?


    I scoffed, fury rising hotter. Leslie couldn’t possibly fall for a man dragging a child behind him.


    But that smile in the photo–so natural, so at ease–stabbed into me like a knife.


    Lance chuckled. <i>Stop </i><i>lying </i><i>to </i><i>yourself</i><i>, </i><i>Kirby</i><i>. </i><i>If </i><i>you </i><i>don’t </i><i>show </i><i>strength</i>, <i>she </i><i>won’t </i><i>choose </i><i>you</i>. <i>Wait </i><i>too </i>long, and <i>she’ll </i><i>be </i>gone.


    I red at the empty air, growling, “Shut up!”


    But deep inside, I couldn’t deny it.


    He was right.


    Send Gifts


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