“What!” I exclaimed, unable to comprehend the idea. “But I’m not ready!”

“You will be,” he promised. “Aileen will continue working with you tomorrow, and then we’ll go shopping so you can look the part. It’s only a meal; no one will quiz you on werewolf politics.”

“I don’t know,” I fretted. “What if I say the wrong thing?”

“I’ll be with you the whole time,” Sinclair vowed. “Don’t worry; I won’t let you put your foot in your mouth.”

This reassured me somewhat, but I still felt far from confident in my ability to pass as a completely different species. “Can’t we wait a little while?” I asked anxiously. “I promise I’ll never miss another event; I just need a little more time.”

“Ella, the elections are in three months,” Sinclair said softly. “We don’t have much time to waste. Very few people change their minds at the last moment. My image has been marred by controversy from day one because I don’t have a family.”

“I don’t understand. Why is that so controversial if the King is elected? It’s not like having an heir will decide the future of succession.”

“Because it’s not about succession. It’s about personal stability. Unmated alphas are viewed as more temperamental and aggressive. If I have a mate and a pup, however, people will view me as more grounded and cautious,” Sinclair explained.

“Is that true?” I asked. “That unmated alphas are wilder?”

Sinclair grimaced and nodded. “To a degree, yes. Some men are naturally more or less aggressive, but it makes a difference when you have someone to care for—someone who might be harmed if anything happened to you.”

“Okay, so you’re saying it has to be tomorrow?” I surmised. “The sooner you improve your image, the better.”

“That’s right,” Sinclair agreed. “As long as you’re well enough, I need you there.”

“And you promise you won’t leave my side?” I asked.

“You have my word,” he vowed.

“Okay then,” I agreed, feeling far less confident than I sounded.

The doctor, who had finished his exam, stepped out, leaving me with Sinclair to change clothes before we checked out. However, Sinclair didn’t leave; he remained in the exam room as if he expected me to change in front of him.

“Aren’t you going to…?” I trailed off, hoping he’d understand without me being more explicit.

“To what?” he asked, a knowing smile on his handsome face.

“I can’t change in front of you,” I protested, my cheeks flushing crimson. “I’m only wearing underwear under this gown.”

His brow furrowed, but a mischievous glint in his intense eyes suggested he understood perfectly. “Human modesty,” he clucked his tongue and shook his head. “So prudish. You’ll see soon enough; wolves aren’t nearly as repressed.”

“I’m not a prude! Or repressed!” I retorted hotly, climbing down from the table and instantly regretting it. A moment ago I was Sinclair’s height; now he towered over me.

“The Goddess made our bodies perfect as they are; why would we hide them?” he asked silkily, the same devilish smile on his face.

Narrowing my eyes at him, I grumbled, “Fine.” Whipping the gown off over my head, I stomped over to the corner where I’d left my clothes neatly folded. I quickly put them on, but not so quickly that Sinclair would think I was embarrassed. When I turned back, he looked mildly impressed.

“I didn’t think you’d actually do it,” he confessed. “But I’m glad you did.”

I defiantly lifted my chin. “I don’t back down easily. You might have seven senses or whatever, but it will take more than that to figure me out.”

His smirk widened as he closed the distance between them, filling my space with his powerful presence. “I can’t wait.”

A few hours later, standing before a full-length mirror in a gown that cost more than my apartment, I asked, “What do you think?”

“I prefer the green one,” Sinclair responded thoughtfully, his penetrating gaze sweeping over my body as I tried on another dress.

I felt conflicted about this shopping trip. I was captivated by the stunning clothes, but the extravagance felt excessive. I was acutely aware of the starving orphans in the city; wouldn’t the money be better spent on charity?

I voiced this to Sinclair, but he only smiled. How had our relationship changed so quickly? A couple of days ago he’d only glared at me; now he always seemed to look at me fondly. “Did you find nothing about my finances when you were ‘snooping’?”

“Research is not snooping,” I retorted. Then the memory surfaced: he donated at least half his fortune to the less fortunate. “If you still have this much to spend on clothes after giving away so much, maybe you should give more.”

Sinclair surprised me. He nodded thoughtfully. “Maybe I should.” I could only blink. Mike had never listened to my advice—or anything I said—with such attention. Only now, seeing true consideration, did I realize how deficient Mike had been as a partner.

Shaking off my thoughts, I changed the subject. “So, the green one?” I confirmed, knowing the dress he meant. It was the same emerald shade as his eyes, studded with gemstones and rose gold accents that matched my hair precisely.

He nodded. “It suits you, besides, it covers your shoulders.”

“Why should that matter?” I asked, confused.

“Because I haven’t marked you, and I don’t want people to notice,” he explained.

“Marked me?” I squeaked, not understanding.

“I take it Aileen didn’t get that far?” he guessed, rising from the dressing room chair and approaching me. My pulse quickened as he neared, and I suddenly understood why I’d felt like a rabbit facing a wolf when I’d pleaded Cora’s case with him. That’s what we were; he could devour me in one bite, and I’d be helpless. “A mark,” he began, hooking his finger under the spaghetti strap of my gown and tugging it off my shoulder, “is how a wolf claims his mate.”

I gulped, too focused on Sinclair to fully process his words. “Mark how?”

“It’s a bite, right here,” he traced a finger over the spot where my neck met my shoulder. “A deep bite, one that leaves his scent permanently on her skin.”

“I—doesn’t that hurt?” I fretted.

Sinclair laughed, a dark, husky sound. “No, sweet Ella, not if you time it right.”

“Time it right with what?” I inquired innocently, furrowing my brow.

Sinclair’s eyes glowed with his wolf form, and my knees weakened. “Maybe I’ll explain it to you one day. In the meantime, I’ll just scent mark you,” he remarked cryptically. “Now stay there; I’m going to get one more dress.”

When he left, I realized how attuned I was to his presence. I hadn’t been aware of my surroundings when he was near; he consumed my attention completely.

Once he was gone, I noticed a pretty blue dress on a rack outside the dressing room. I reached for it, but another set of hands landed on the hanger, trying to pull it away. “Hey, I saw that first!”

The woman was blonde and pretty but sneered with a terrible expression. She pulled so hard that I almost lost my balance. She must be a shifter; she was too strong to be human. I was only holding onto the dress because it was keeping me upright, but she tried to pry my hands loose. “I said let go!”

I was about to give up and fall when a pair of strong hands caught my waist, steadying me.

“Take your hands off her, right now!” Sinclair barked, his snarling voice silencing the store. The woman quickly released me, shrinking under the infuriated alpha’s gaze. “I’m so sorry, Alpha,” she apologized. “I didn’t know she was with you.”

“That shouldn’t matter,” he declared, coming to my side. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” I insisted, but another man spoke from behind us.

“Brother, don’t tell me you’re attacking defenseless women now,” the shifter said, turning his attention to me. “And who is this?”