Page 37 of Her Fake Mate

He loads me into his truck. He doesn’t say anything. For an hour.

Eventually, it’s clear where he’s taking me. We’re heading back to the little scattering of cabins that constitute my home. Where my family is.

“Zander,” I say, as calm as I can. “If you’re going to punish me for stealing the pack’s car, please don’t do it in front of the kids.”

He blinks. “What?”

“I know I shouldn’t have done that,” I say in a voice that I use to soothe chickens or children. “But it’s not fair for the kids to watch…”

“I’m not going to hurt you, Mia,” he grunts.

We’re outside of the cabins. All of the elder foxes are gathered out front, and some of the kids as well. I see Josh, holding AJ, staring at us.

There are some wolves milling about. I can see Thorne’s car coming up the road.

I get out of the truck. Zander follows me.

Once I get to the porch of my cabin, I turn to look at him. “You didn’t need to come get me.”

“Like hell I didn’t,” he snarls. “What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that you finally got what you wanted. And you didn’t need me,” I say.

I hear the foxes gasp.

Zander’s face wrinkles in a frown. “Mia. You didn’t see anything.”

“I saw you and… I saw you,” I whisper.

He knows what I mean. “That wasn’t what you think.”

“What was it then?”

“I was turning her down,” he says gently.

I flush. “What?”

Zander steps forward. “I turned her down. She doesn’t want me. But most importantly, I don’t want her. Because there’s someone else I want.”

“Zander…” My voice trembles.

It’s really hard to keep the hope out of it now.

“I need to ask you something, Mia.”

“Why didn’t you ask me in the truck?” Every eye glued on me feels like a brand.

“Because if I’m going to do this, I want every member of the pack to hear it, and especially the foxes!” he snarls.

I move in front of the kids. “Zander,” I say calmly. “Please. Let’s talk about this.”

“I’m trying to! If you’d just give me two seconds…”

“Okay. Take your two seconds,” I snap.

He takes a deep breath. He lets it out, then steel-blue eyes lock on me. “Mia. I want you to be my mate,” he says softly.

I blink.

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