“I said I wasn’t negotiating with you.”
“—that you don’t date August until after the duel.”
“What?”
“I want you focused on me. If you’re consolidating a mating link, your mind and body will be too preoccupied with him to worry about me.”
“Liam . . . ” I breathed. “That’s ridiculous.”
“If I’m going to put my life in your hands, I need your hands not to be busy rubbing down some other man’s body.”
Heat smacked my cheeks. “Liam!”
“I don’t see the problem with what I’m asking. The guy’s so infatuated with you, he’ll wait. It’s not like I’m asking you to stay unmated until the Winter Solstice. Just until my duel.”
I blinked at him in disbelief. “Which we haven’t even set a date for. It could take months.”
“Better find out quick how she cheated then.”
This was ridiculous. He was being ridiculous.
“Look, my condition isn’t a way to win you back. It’s just a ground rule to avoid distractions that could cost me my life.”
“A life you were willing to sacrifice a moment ago.”
He stared long and hard at me. “Do you accept?”
He was being completely unfair. Dating August wouldn’t impair my focus. Sure we were mates, but I’d be able to concentrate on other things . . . on other people.
My nostrils flared with annoyed breaths. “What if something happens?”
“If something happens, then I’ll pick the duel date.”
“You do realize how stupid that is, right? You’re blackmailing me with your own fate.”
“By accepting you as my Second, I’m putting my fate in your hands. I’m choosing to give you the benefit of the doubt. Truthfully, I still think I should go fight her right this second.” His gaze shifted to Cassandra’s before settling back on me. “So? Do you accept?”
I hated what he was asking of me. “I’ll still work for him and his dad.”
“No. I’ll pay you from now on.”
I opened my mouth to object.
“Prepping me for the duel will become your job.”
I still hadn’t shut my mouth.
“Your only job. Understood?”
August would be pissed. I could already sense through the pulsating tautness in the tether that my volunteering to be Liam’s Second was eating at him.
“You reeked of him this morning, so don’t think for a second I won’t know if you spend time with him.”
“I’m not even allowed to spend time with him now?”
“Not alone, and not in close quarters.”
“What about college? Do I get to go to college, or is that off the table too?”
“You can attend classes, but as soon as they let out, you’re with me.” He extended his hand. “Do we have a deal?”
“I hate you,” I said, giving him my hand.
“If you hated me, then you would’ve let me fight today.” His smile grew, not wider, just wickeder. “We’re going to have fun working together.”
“Fun? This’ll be a lot of things, but not fun.”
Our hearts were both on the line; our lives both suspended.
He lifted my fingers to his lips and kissed my knuckles.
I snatched my hand away and rubbed it against my cut-offs. “This is just some game to you, isn’t it?”
“In a way, it is. If I play my hand well, I stand to win everything I’ve ever coveted.” His gaze stroked my face. “What do you say we become the characters of the bedtime stories shifters will tell their children for generations to come, Ness Clark?”
“I say, let’s save your damn life so I can go back to living mine.”
His eyes gleamed with the same stealthy smile that adorned his lips. He nodded toward the lawn, slid the door open, and ushered me out of the shadows and back into the sunshine.
Ready for the last chapter in the trilogy?
Get A PACK OF LOVE AND HATE here.
For news about my books, don’t forget to sign up to my newsletter (you will ONLY receive news when I have a new release or a sale).
Want more Paranormal Romance?
Discover my completed Faerie series that’s available as a boxed set and FREE with Kindle Unlimited! Get it here >>>
Or start with book 1. Get Rose Petal Graves here >>>
Acknowledgments
The Boulder Wolves has been praised and criticized since its release back in April 2019, because it didn’t shy away from major triggers. Mainly in the love department.
I do not sanction “bully-love,” which might be the best way to describe how Liam handles his attraction to Ness at the end of this book, but I do realize it exists. And because it exists, I’m going to bring it up.
If my mother taught me one thing (she taught me way more than one thing, but listing them all will lead to a whole other book . . . ), it’s that talking about things—even negative ones—is healthier than keeping silent.
Relationships are complicated, and made even more so when people have baggage. Liam is a complicated person. Not fundamentally bad, but he has a bad way of going about getting what he wants. Spoiler alert . . . he will be redeemed in the last book but will have to fight long and hard against his demons.
Now onto August . . .
Yes, he’s ten years older than Ness.
Yes, she’s only seventeen (almost eighteen).
I know all of this and yet still decided to write their love story. Growing up, I was convinced my husband would be ten years older than me. Why? Because my parents have a ten-year gap, and their love is so wonderful that I yearned for the same one.
As I grew older, I realized that love isn’t determined by years and numbers, but by how well you click with someone. My husband didn’t turn out to be ten years older—only five—but my brother’s wife turned out to be a decade younger than him, so there . . . one of us emulated our parents.
All this to say that I hope you’ll end up loving Ness and August as much as I do.
Thank you, dear reader, for traipsing along on this lupine adventure.
Thank you to my publisher and to my wonderful team—Krystal, Monika, Katie, Theresea, Vanessa, and Astrid—for helping me bring the Boulder pack to life.
Thank you to my mother for her boundless wisdom, and to my father for his unwavering support.
Thank you to my husband for always being my rock.
And last but not least, thank you to my three extraordinary children for being the greatest and loudest cheerleaders.
Be sure to visit http://oliviawildenstein.com or
sign up for my newsletter to stay up to date on all the happenings.
Also by Olivia Wildenstein
YA PARANORMAL ROMANCE
The Lost Clan series
ROSE PETAL GRAVES
ROWAN WOOD LEGENDS
RISING SILVER MIST
RAGING RIVAL HEARTS
RECKLESS CRUEL HEIRS (coming soon)
A Pack of Blood and Lies series
A PACK OF BLOOD AND LIES
A PACK OF VOWS AND TEARS
A PACK OF LOVE AND HATE
YA ROMANTIC SUSPENSE
Masterful series
THE MASTERKEY
THE MASTERPIECERS
THE MASTERMINDS
YA ROMANCE STANDALONES
GHOSTBOY, CHAMELEON & THE DUKE OF GRAFFITI
HARSHVILLE (July 2020, SwoonReads)
About the Author
USA TODAY bestselling author Olivia Wildenstein grew up in New York City, the daughter of a French father with a great sense of humor, and a Swedish mother whom she speaks to at least three times a day. She chose Brown University to complete her undergraduate studies and earned a bachelor’s in comparative literature. After designing jewelry for a few years, Wildenstein traded in her tools for a laptop computer and a very comfortable chair. This line of work made more sense, considering her college degree.
When she’s not writing, she�
��s psychoanalyzing everyone she meets (Yes. Everyone), eavesdropping on conversations to gather material for her next book, baking up a storm (that she actually eats), going to the gym (because she eats), and attempting not to be late at her children’s school (like she is 4 out of 5 mornings, on good weeks).
oliviawildenstein.com
[email protected]
A Pack of Vows and Tears Page 31