Proposal or Poison

"I didn’t expect you’d request to see me, my lioness."

A cold smirk creased Kai’s lips the moment he entered the empty restaurant and spotted Harlow sipping coffee alone in the far corner.

She smelled like a blend of caramel, vanilla and war. And as she slowly flicked her head in his direction, his wolf became alert to her every movement.

Her dark eye shadow paired with the regal black sleeveless top nearly threw him off. More dangerous than the last time they met, and he liked her effort.

"Call me that again, and I’ll rip your tongue out and frame it," she fired.

The threat didn’t faze him. But the fact that his Lycic vision scanned the restaurant and found no guards? That did. No Alpha came alone to meet the Lycan King. Not on neutral ground, not ever.

Either Harlow trusted him enough to come alone, or was foolish, or simply hated being followed around.

And Harlow wasn't a fool. He knew it.

Still deep in thought, Harlow shifted her focus back to her coffee, though her cheeks flushed red in secret at how heavenly Kai looked in a black shirt that clung to his body like second skin.

Her eyes had tracked the curve of his lips, shaped like an archer’s bow, and the way his lashes kissed his cheeks beneath tousled hair.

Fury soon replaced Harlow's amazement when she remembered the awkward letter he’d sent, along with the confidential address of the empty restaurant that only contained a waiter.

A trap likely, but she came anyway.

"What is it you want to talk about, Alpha Harlow?" His voice elicited sarcastic charm as he slid into the chair across from her.

Harlow punctuated her sipping with a frown. The wheel of her treacherous mind was spinning fast and she, indeed, was going to snap his neck with her blistering stare.

"What I want to talk about? Or the garbage you sent that needs explaining?" she blurted.

"There’s nothing to explain about the marriage proposal. Every man wants to wake up beside his mate every morning," he sneered, reclining in his seat.

She stirred her coffee slowly, watching for signs of guilt in his eyes. None. Good.

"You mean the mate who’s going to kill him?"

Her grip tightened around the porcelain cup as her eyes matched his bitter, unwavering smile.

Kai’s smirk faded into oblivion. "Don’t force this. If I have you, I’ll have your territory without hurting anyone again."

He hated explaining himself. And yet here he was, doing it for her.

“It's just as I thought. You're crazy," she snorted, attempting to rise but he grabbed her wrist with force, making her yelp a little.

“Listen to me. Your pack needs a strong leader and I doubt your strength. You with me, I'll protect your pack from inner and outside enemies," he added, staring at her for a reaction.

Harlow glared daggers at him until he noticed the red mark blooming around her wrist.

Withdrawing his hand, a jolt of remorse and guilt stirred in his wolf, almost prompting him to say "Sorry".

Almost.

But he said nothing.

That was a sentence he had never uttered in his life. And no one, not even his mate, would make him.

Harlow brushed her arm like he had smeared filth on her. Her dormant wolf growled at her in protest, but she didn’t care, for cacophony was swelling in her heart.

"You killed my father! And now you stroll in like a goddamn savior? Claiming me, claiming my pack, all because of a mate bond? That’s not just stupid. It’s pathetic!"

Kai's eyes darkened, his playful demeanor fading at once. “I didn't kill your father!” he injected, and the rage in his deadly calm tone piqued Harlow's interest.

"Hayes died in battle. Yes, I played a role in the war, but I never delivered the final blow. If I had, trust me, you wouldn’t have found a piece of him left."

Silence loomed after his outburst.

“That changes nothing.” She slammed her fists against the table. "Just stay the fuck away from me and my pack. We don't need you."

That was a lie though. She did need Kai.

She had studied his history and found out Kai was a violent volcano that swallowed anyone who crossed his path. He had fought in nineteen wars and had only lost the seventeenth because he got bored of winning.

But that wasn’t the reason she needed him.

She needed her wolf. And being marked by Kai at their wedding ceremony was the only way to activate it.

Relying solely on her intellect and combat skills to conquer enemies would be very difficult without her wolf’s abilities added to the collection.

Kai sat upright and something red flickered in his dark blue eyes. This somewhat sent shivering chills down Harlow’s spine, but she composed herself.

"Whether you need me or not isn’t my concern," he declared. "All I want is your pack. And since I tried a peaceful acquisition and you’re objecting, then get ready for another war."

Harlow’s eyes burned coals of fire. "How dare you threaten me, Kai Dickhead?!"

Kai stilled. Rage scorched his blood.

Hearing his full name without formality always gets him bloodthirsty and he had ripped apart people who once did.

Ian had warned Harlow about this the day before.

If not for the mate bond, Kai would have torn her apart and decorated his silver fangs with her blood. To contain the rage, he grabbed her coffee, downed it in one gulp and smashed the cup onto the ground.

The restaurant shook beneath Harlow’s feet. On impact, the waiter passed out, but Harlow gripped the table to steady herself.

Tension rippled through the air, and the thudding rhythm of Kai’s heartbeats resonated afterward. Harlow could feel the intensity of his fury and it got her wondering if what she'd said had struck deeper than she thought.

She brushed off the thought in less than a minute. Her goal was to bruise his ego, and she had succeeded.

Without another word, Kai flounced toward the exit, but halted halfway as if he’d forgotten something. When he turned back again, the sudden anticipation glowing on her face baffled him.

"Your grace today is because my wolf doesn’t want me to hurt you," he enunciated in a low, abrasive tone. "And I’ll give you one last chance to consider the marriage proposal. Say no..." he paused, "and it means WAR."

"Okay," Harlow replied, and abruptly burst into a peal of laughter.

Kai felt embarrassed by the single-word response and just as he could decode what was so funny, he turned and lunged for the transparent door.

He collapsed supine, crimson torrent gushing out of his nostrils as he convulsed, his throat constricting as if an invisible force were choking the life from him.

Pain engulfed him, then came the blurry images of Harlow closing the distance between them and towering over him with a scoff etched on her face.

"You... you poisoned..." Kai struggled to speak but spat blood instead.A painful smile crept on her face, for she had waited for this moment and had rehearsed it in her mind a million times.

"Shh!" she interrupted, placing her index finger on his pale lips.

"My father taught me to always fulfill my promises." She raised her pistol to his skull after unfurling her spine into her full height.

And this…" she cocked it, her voice cold as a grave, "is me keeping the one where I blow your head off the next time we meet."

Kai groaned, and somewhere between the agony and the darkness closing in, a flicker of confusion crossed his mind.

Had Harlow never felt it? The pull? The bond that strangled him every time she looked away?

And just before the mating bond could set in, "Say hi to my parents," Harlow sniggered and pulled the trigger.

Three times.

One for her father.

One for herself.

And one on behalf of whoever wanted him dead.