4 | Little White Lie

Dominic was torn within himself. He was both intrigued and enthralled by the amount of desire this woman could evoke in him. She would be perfect for what he had in mind. He knew this because she was feisty and strong enough to deliver on the deal if it went through between them. But, to know for sure, he needed to tell some little white lies first to test the waters and find out if his suspicions about her upcoming unwanted mating were true before deciding on the final action.

So, in answer to her previous question, Dominic growled the name of the man he knew she wouldn't want to hear. "Mark Colton."

*****

Natalie's wolf growled inside her head at the mention of that bastard's name. "What about him?" Natalie couldn't help but grit out, trying her best not to show just how much she hated him.

"He is a man I want to see destroyed."

Natalie frowned in confusion. "Why, and how does that concern me?"

"I need to lure him to me so that I can have my pound of flesh. And the only way to do that will be to - "

"Ah, now I get it. You believe I am something he wants and so you are going to lure him here with the pretense of a trade of some sort." No shit. Although this would be an amazing opportunity to get rid of that bastard once and for all, Natalie knew that it was a very dangerous game to play because if Mark wins, she would finally be tied to him forever, with no means of escape. So no matter how palatable his plan sounded, her answer was a big fat no.

"You're not so much insurance as you are a little reminder that he owes me and I'm not a patient man. With that thought in mind, I am sure he will be rushing over here in no time."

Natalie was getting pretty tired of being underestimated. She wasn't a patient woman either. Neither was she taken to being drugged and kidnapped. But did anyone give a shit? No. She was going to have to do something about it sooner than later.

"Look, maybe in your culture it's perfectly fine to drug and abducts a person, but it sure as shit isn't acceptable in mine." Natalie kept her steely gaze on Dominic as she said this. Whatever his aim was, she sure wasn't going to go along willingly or make it easy on him in any way. That was for sure.

"As soon as Mark arrives, you can leave."

That wasn't fantastic news in any way. She wanted to rant and rave, but what good would it do? She would only end up being confined in that damn bedroom again and that would drive her and Raven crazy. With lust, of course. Also, she was a believer that it was best to have your enemy in sight, not out of it.

"Have you called him yet?"

"He'll be here soon," Dominic gritted.

"Well then, can the captive get a coffee or what?" she asked no one in particular.

Aside from Dominic, Davina and Talon, there were four other males in the room; a broad frowner with a military haircut, a gorgeous blonde with caramel skin, a tall wolf with tousled dark curls and a clown-wide smile, and a burly rugged guy with claw mark scars across one cheek. It occurred to her that she could just label them Angry, Blond, Happy, and Big.

Other than Talon – who seemed strangely fascinated with her for having managed to claw him – none of the other wolves looked at all pleased about her presence. She guessed that they weren't a fan of her dad either. Not many were. Even the wolf who was wearing a huge grin looked intrigued as opposed to friendly, and she had the feeling that his smile was permanently there. Or maybe he was imagining what it would feel like to rip out her throat and hand it bow-tied to her asshole of a father. With his arrogance, deviousness, and 'I own the world and can do whatever the hell I want attitude, her dad was as good at collecting enemies as he was at gathering alliances. Even those who allied themselves with him only did so because of how influential he was – it was all just politics.

Natalie watched Dominic nod to a grinning Davina who then switched on the coffee machine beside her and retrieved a mug from the cupboard. Then Dominic tilted his head as if to consider her. "You know, you're not what I'd expected."

"Is that right?" Natalie said flatly.

"Mark usually likes airheads and submissives." Even with white platinum hair, Natalie knew she didn't have that bimbo look about her. No one could miss the sharp, keen mind behind her light blue eyes. She smiled inwardly at his words. Only if he knew. "Funny how a person's true mate can be the opposite of what they go for," Dominic continued and Natalie couldn't help but hiss at his words.

"He's not my true mate." It came out snappier than she had intended.

"If you haven't found your true mate yet, why would you mate with someone else? It's not like you haven't got plenty of time to find him. You can't be much older than twenty-four, twenty-five."

"My mate's death. Died when we were kids."

"Well, then that's something you and I don't have in common. I haven't lost my mate, but I am very sure I don't have one."

Natalie took in his cold calm expression and felt a pang of sympathy for him. The loss of a mate wasn't something anyone could understand unless they had experienced that kind of pain themselves. But she would take that over never feeling what it's like to have a mate.

There was an awkward silence before Dominic rasped. "Hmm, now you and Mark as a couple make even less sense. If you're not true mates, then that means he's chosen a spitfire. It really must be love."

Natalie had to bite back a snort. Love? Yeah, right. The reason Mark was so determined to fuck her was simply that she hadn't responded to his charm and his ego couldn't handle the blow. As for why he wanted to take her as his mate…The only thing she could figure out was that he wanted an alliance with her dad.

"When's the mating ceremony scheduled for?" Dominic asked.

Oh, there would be no mating ceremony. Mark was keen to get it over with but her dad had insisted on there being one before he would hand her over completely – only so he had an excuse to have a get-together with all his alliances and look the big man. No way would she bind herself to someone she didn't care for or even like. Then there was the matter of Mark being a control freak; she had picked that up from his interactions with his enforcers, all of whom were intimidated by him. She didn't believe they were scared of him in a physical sense. It was as though he had some sort of hold over them like he held their secrets in the palm of his hand or something like that.

Also, if the rumors were right, Mark got his kicks from inflicting pain on women, and not the pleasurable kind. Considering he had almost forced himself on her back at her pack house, she had no problem believing that. She had expected him to strike her after she practically crushed his balls with her knees in retaliation, but when he could finally stand and had finished panting, he merely smiled. It was a creepy smile that swore revenge, but he hadn't stopped her from walking away and she knew why. He was biding his time. And there was no way in hell Natalie was waiting around for his time to arrive.