Luke watched Quinn hurry down the corridor and noticed the view looked just as good from behind as it did in the front. Damn, that dress hugged every gorgeous inch of Quinn Orson’s body. It had taken every bit of his willpower not to touch her. His cock pressed uncomfortably against the fly of his jeans. Just looking at the woman made him rock hard.

He had to remind himself over and over, she can’t be mine. His dick and his wolf argued different. She’s a bear, and who ever she takes as a mate will become chief of her clan. He was here for a job, nothing more. The Wilder woman had made it clear that if Luke didn’t keep focused, Quinn would pay the price.

He knew all the reasons that he couldn’t be with Quinn, but none of them seemed good enough to make him stop wanting her. And, if her scent at the hospital had been a clear gauge, she was attracted to him. He just wished he could smell her now. The spray Gerri had given him to cover his wolf and make him smell like a bear messed with his senses.

He relied on his ability to scent danger, and he worried the spray would get in the way of his ability to do his job effectively. But Mrs. Wilder said it was important that no one know he was a wolf. He’d passed the information on to Marigold, Brandon, Sonya, and Rick. They all agreed to play along with the ruse, but Marigold had voiced her concerns.

When Quinn, after what felt like an hour, finally came back out into the hall, she wore a flouncy pale yellow skirt and a pale purple V-neck blouse that added sass to her sexiness. The way the skirt flowed around her thighs as she walked toward him, Luke couldn’t help but wonder what kind of underwear she wore underneath. White cotton, pink lace, black mesh, or maybe nothing at all.

He bit back a groan as his cock protested its restriction. Quinn gave him an odd look, and Luke shrugged. “You ready to give me the run down?”

“Yes.” She nodded, her shy smile making his heart thump faster. “Let’s start with the foyer.”

“Okay, but after, I’d like you to show me any entrance or exit where someone could arrive or leave unseen.”

“There are quite a few,” Quinn said. “My sisters and I used to play hide and seek in all the secret places.”

“I’d like to play hide and seek in your secret places.” A small smile played on his lips.

“What?” she asked.

He blinked. Fuck. He’d said that out loud. “I said, I’d love to see these secret places. That will really help.”

“Gio Orsino, the first chief of the Orsino clan and my great, great grandfather, created tunnels in the walls that could be used for his family to escape if necessary. This was before humans knew about our existence, and there was always challenges from other clans to worry about.”

“Telling our secrets, Quinn. That’s bad form.”

Luke felt the hackles raise on his wolf. A brute of a man with dark hair and dark hazel eyes watched Quinn with his arms crossed over his wide chest. Damn, Gerri Wilder’s scent spray! He hadn’t even noticed the man come up on them.

Luke, because of his training, quickly recovered. “And who are you?”

“Trey Steele. Soon to be Chief of the Steele Clan.”

“There is no Steele Clan. You belong to the Orsino Clan—for now.” If I don’t kick your ass out.

“You are powerless, Quinn, and you know it. Even if you do mate, I will challenge your husband’s authority. If he can’t best me, then all this is mine. Why don’t you just agree to marry me? Your mother has already given her blessing.”

“My…” Quinn made a frustrated noise. “My mother is not the Ursula. She doesn’t speak for me. I want you to leave.”

Trey took a step toward Quinn, and Luke placed himself between them. “You heard the lady. Leave.”

“And I suppose you’re going to make me?” The bullying man turned his focus to Luke.

Luke nodded once. “I will if I have to.”

“You need to mind your own business.”

Luke felt Quinn’s small hand wrap around his bicep, her lush breasts brushing his elbow. “It is his business. Luke is a potential mate.”

Trey’s eyes widened, but no more so than Luke’s. “This isn’t over,” Trey said. He glared at Luke. “I will rip you apart in the alpha trials.”

Luke covered Quinn’s hand with his own. “You’ll try.”

Trey snorted his derision, but he didn’t say anything else.

Quinn immediately disengaged from Luke when the asshole left. “I’m so sorry I put you in that position with Trey,” she said. “I didn’t want you to fight with him, so the whole potential mate thing just popped out. He can’t fight anyone who might be a suitor until after I choose. If he does, then he forfeits his position, and the next in line is Brandon.”

Was she trying to protect Brandon? He couldn’t quite follow the logic. All he knew was that when Quinn said he was a potential mate, his heart and his beast shouted, yes.

“I have to ask you something,” Quinn said. “Are you and Marigold together?”

“No,” Luke answered. Her surprising question took him off guard.

“Good.” She rose up on her tip toes and kissed his cheek. “Then I don’t feel bad about doing that. Thank you for sticking up to Trey for me.”

He could still feel the soft warmth where her lips had landed on his face. What are we waiting for? his wolf asked. But both he and the animal knew the answer. Quinn thought he was a bear shifter. Making a move on her would be wrong without her knowing the truth about him. Gerri Wilder’s words kept playing in his mind. No one can know. Not even Quinn.

Luke touched his cheek. “No need to feel guilty.” Disappointment creased her brow. He wanted to kiss away every worried line and make love to her in a way that she’d never feel disappointment again. Not while he was with her.

“Great,” Quinn said. Her mouth turned down at the corners. “The first secret corridor is just down here in the wall of my dad’s study. We can start there.”

He followed her, chilled by the lack of warmth in her voice, into a large room with wood paneled walls, floor to ceiling bookshelves, a large picturesque window overlooking a monstrous view of the land, an brown leather loveseat in the middle of the room with a coffee table, and two smaller chair on either side. In front of the window, was a dark oak desk and chair. The room, while seemingly masculine, had smaller touches of a woman. The curtains were sage green, billowy and diaphanous. The lamp on the desk was Tiffany’s in style. Hell, maybe it was a Tiffany’s lamp. Luke wouldn’t have known the real thing from a knock off. There was a calendar on the desk featuring kittens and puppies.

“Cute,” Luke said, indicating to the calendar.

“I like puppies and kitties,” Quinn said, her voice small like a little girl’s.

Damn it, he wished he could smell her. He needed to know if she desired him as much as he desired her. She turned to fidget with something in the bookcase, and the gorgeous view of her rounded ass made his mouth water and his dick swell to attention.

Oh, what he would do to that sexy as fuck body if given a chance. He imagined shoving her up against the wall and licking her from head to toe. He would fuck her so well her legs would buckle and the only thing holding her up would be his cock. He wanted to…goddamn it, he wanted everything with Quinn Orson. Why had the mating gods chosen to be so cruel? Why had they placed this goddess of a woman in his path only to make her impossible to have?

“Here it is,” Quinn said. She pulled a book a quarter way out on the shelf and with a slight click, the shelf opened like a door. She smiled wistfully as if reliving a nice memory. “It’s been a while since I’ve been in here.”

“I should go in first.”

“Do you think some monster is lurking in the walls?”

He could hear the teasing in her question, but there was also a note of apprehension. “Better safe than sorry.”

Luke walked inside the wall, surprised at the spaciousness of the dusty corridor just beyond the door. His body went as stiff as his cock when he felt Quinn behind him. “You shouldn’t stand so close,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” she told him. Her tone was hurt, but very quickly it turned to anger. “Actually I’m not sorry. I feel like I’m getting mixed signals from you. If you don’t like me, just say so.”

Luke turned around to face her, the secret corridor suddenly feeling so much smaller. “I like you,” he said.

Quinn stepped into him. Her pouty lips trembled. “Prove it.”

Luke’s claws bit into his clenched fists as his wolf tried to surface. He bolstered his self-control and forced the beast back. “Be careful what you ask for.”