Wicked Werewolf Passion by Lisa Renée Jones Read Free Book Online Page A

we’re alone having a conversation I might have erased.”
    Shi did what he would never do with the group of misfits he employed, who required a strong leader to maintain control. He broke eye contact with Carmen and let his head fall back against the window, his lashes lowering. His gut twisted with the knowledge that no matter how much he wanted to tell her he wouldn’t clean her memory, he couldn’t do that. Hell, he wanted to tell her everything was going to be okay, and make her feel better, but he didn’t have it in him to lie to her when he knew what she didn’t.  Once he’d made sure he’d discovered her father’s secrets and done damage control to protect The Society, her father would be sentenced for his crimes. Her father would be charged and punished, and the punishment for a council member betraying his people, was death. In this case a discreet execution that would appear an accident, meant to maintain the integrity of the council. 
    Shi couldn’t save Alexander even if he wanted to, but his involvement in proving Carmen's father guilty was something she’d never be able to forgive him for, no matter how much she might see the truth of her father’s actions. It was a natural. Alexander was her father and Shi would again be the enemy.
    “Shi,” Carmen said softly, drawing his attention, her voice quivering and something in her tone warned him he wasn’t going to like what came next even before she added, “You can erase my memories but you won’t erase the betrayal. Deep down, if you wipe my memories, I’ll still know what you did to me.” She paused, her teeth scraping her bottom lip. “Whatever that might be.” 
    She turned away from him and faced the front. 
    Everything was most definitely not going to be okay.

 
    Chapter Five 
     
     It was a good thirty minutes of riding later, and Carmen was mentally replaying everything her father had done in the past few months, trying to find something, anything, that stood out as odd, but there was nothing. She still lived inside the ‘Hotel Italy’, close to him, but truly, she hadn’t spent much quality time with him in almost a year. She’d thought life had gotten busy, her career more demanding, but was there more to it than that? 
    She was angry. She wasn’t sure at who, only that her life was falling apart, and the only two people who’d felt like family – her father and Shi – were both in jeopardy of being stripped away from her forever. Deep down, she’d always hoped for, well, hope. She’d thought somehow, someway, they’d both be in her world. It was a fairy tale story, but for years she’d gone to bed at night, dreaming that tale.  Now she realized she had never really given up on it, even if she hadn’t allowed herself to think about it anymore.  
    Carmen stared out her window, unable to look at Shi, trying to suppress the emotions expanding inside her, knowing he could feel what she did, and staring at the highway, without seeing it. At some point, she’d told herself Shi wasn’t her mate, or he wouldn’t have been able to stay away. So why now, in his presence, did she feel they were mates, clear to her soul? Why did this fire between them exist, why did it resemble the mating heat she’d always heard about, and yearned for with Shi? Her parents had loved each other, lived for each other, and so did every other mated couple she knew. But Shi had been matched with a Rebel and they’d hated each other. So being mates meant what? Hot sex with another wolf who may mean nothing else to you? Why did she want to be mated then? No, thank you. If she couldn’t have love, she’d be alone. 
    The vehicle hit a gravel road and Carmen glanced up to find they were pulling into a secluded ranch property just outside the city limits. Her gaze cut to the left to find Shi still propped against the window, staring at her. She squeezed her eyes shut against his probing inspection and refocused on the huge white house and the