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favor of living to snoop another day, so if he thought I had a talent he could use I was definitely willing to
pretend.
Sure. I shrugged as though it was no big deal. I m a member of theWinterhaven Coven, I said,
taking a chance.
Huh, he grunted thoughtfully,then looked up at Carl. But you say she was raising power with her
man? She s no good to me if she has a recent mating mark on her.
Carl shrugged. That s the thing -- they raised a hell of a lot of power but they didn t even consummate.
And she doesn t smell marked to me. Sniff for yourself.
All right. In a move so fast it was ablur, Savage came around the table, dropped to his knees, and
stuck his face directly in my crotch.
I pulled back my leg and kicked him as hard as I could in the face. My sensible black heel connected
with the side of his nose and I heard a dull crunching sound of cartilage crumpling likean aluminum can
when you step on it. It was a reflexive action, and one I might not have taken if I d had time to think
about the consequences, but it had the desired effect. Savage immediately yanked his face away from me
and stood. I was sure I had caught him off guard, or I never would have gotten the kick in at all.
There was blood streaming down the big werewolf s face. As he loomed over me, looking down from
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an almost two foot height difference, it occurred to me that his shoulders were almost exactly twice as
broad as mine. When I was with Ben, the fact that he was so much bigger and stronger than me made me
feel safe and protected. With Savage it was the exact opposite. I felt the way a mouse must feel when a
snake is just about to swallow it whole -- tiny, helpless, and doomed.
As I watched, Savage s nose, which was crooked from the kick I d delivered, straightened itself as if by
magic. Then the blood flow dried up. I d seen Ben heal in a similar manner the night before, but there
was still a strangely surreal quality in watching the injured tissue repair itself.
You re feisty. I like that. Savage smiled at me, but there was rage in his inhuman yellow eyes. Without
warning, he drew back one ham-sized fist and back-handed me. I saw the blow coming, but I couldn t
avoid it -- he was too damn fast. I felt the sharp agony of my bottom lip splitting and heard the flat crack
of his hand across my cheek, which immediately went numb from the stinging blow. My mouth filled with
the warm, copper-salt taste of blood and my eyes watered in pain, but I wasn t going to give him the
satisfaction of seeing my fear.
There was a high, buzzing hum in my ears and a sharp throb that promised to become a really nice bruise
across my right cheekbone. I hadn t been physically assaulted since my last fight with Mitch, the one that
finally made me go through with the divorce. It was painful as hell, but not as shocking as it might have
been. I think once you ve been hit like that, once you ve experienced a truly horrible beating, a part of
you is always waiting to get hit again. But I was no victim.
I turned my head and spat blood on the floor. If you kill me, I m no good to you, I said.
Savage laughed. That was just a love tap to keep you in your place, little girl. He looked up at Carl.
You re right -- no mating mark and I like her spirit.
Carl frowned. Yaknow, I didn t think about this, but she s new to the pack. Molly isn tgonna like this.
Savage shrugged. Fuck Molly -- she doesn t speak for the pack,I do. He nodded at me. She s new,
but we ll have a formal claiming ceremony tonight at the Skylight and bring everybody around to the
idea. He grinned at me, showing teeth that were sharp and white and far too long. If she s as good as
you say,tomorrow night should be aMabon to remember.
Chapter Twelve: Ben
By the time I got to La Bella Luna,Dani was gone. I found the back room easily enough while pretending
to get lost hunting for the bathroom, but there was nothing in it but three chairs and a half empty bottle of
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