Page 4 of Her Fake Mate

Zander

If I thought teenage wolves were bad, they genuinely have nothing on foxes.

With another snarl, I herd the enraged fox shifter back to his house. I’m sure that he’s going to be too embarrassed to tell Mia that I caught him not even a mile away from the house.

I’m kind of banking on it.

Because if he tells her that I not only followed her parting request, but that I had already thought of it before she did…

I don’t want her to know that.

Her brother, Josh, is a wreck right now. I know what it feels like to be that full of emotion with nothing to do about it. I feel kinda sorry for the kid. Until he’s a major dick to his sister.

She’s honestly working her ass off for them. I see her, every morning, coming down to the bakery to bring the cookies she’s selling to make a little extra money, and to help out until it’s her shift to take care of the kits.

I also know firsthand that Mia can be… prickly. But you’d think that seeing your sister bust her butt for you would inspire more than a little gratitude.

Apparently, however, little Josh and I have very different takes on gratitude.

I see a flash of red as a very distinctive fox tail disappears under a bush. Fine. He’s close enough to home now that I don’t feel as bad dumping his ass back here. Hopefully he has the good sense to head in and apologize to Mia.

Sighing, I trot back to my own house. The foxes live in the farthest corner of the pack’s lands, and I don’t live in the town proper, but near enough so that I can reasonably do the work I need to. Even so, it takes me a solid hour of loping to make it home.

The distance between our places is so goddamn annoying.

When I get home, I shift on the back porch and let myself in. I shower, and since it’s my night off, I’m considering whether I’ll cook myself something or head down to the Oakwood Café when I hear a knock on my door.

Another quick sniff, and I can tell that it’s the alpha.

And someone else.

Sighing, I walk over to the door. The house creaks under my feet, something that I’m used to at my height and size. Hard-packed dirt sometimes makes a noise of protest when I step on it. I swear I’ve heard a mountain grumble as I walked on it.

“What,” I say, opening the door.

Thorne raises his eyebrows. “Hi there, Alpha,” he mimics in a singsong voice. “So nice to see you. Won’t you come in?”

I raise my eyebrows and stare at him.

Thorne brushes past me, and Briony smiles at me. “Hi, Zander.”

“Briony.”

“Zander, I was hoping to get a status update from you on how the fox leash is settling in,” Thorne rumbles.

“Um. I don’t know.”

“You aren’t up there every morning?”

I freeze, my hackles raising. “What?”

“We have you on the trail cam.”

Damn it. How did I not know about that? “I like to run up there.”

“Sure. Whatever. Anyway, just wanted to see what your thoughts were,” Thorne says.

I lean against the wall that leads to my kitchen. “They’re fine.”

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