Page 20 of Exiled Mate

I’m not sure that I can leave her again.

I want this.

For some reason, over the last two years, I’ve managed to convince myself that I don’t need Terra. That I can do whatever it takes to live my life without her. That dying in a fighting ring is a good alternative to letting myself waste away while yearning for her.

But now, after this? There’s no way.

I need Terra. I want her with every fiber of my being. Sitting here with her, the early morning light filtering through the canvas roof of the tent, I know that there is no walking away from this.

I need to talk to Thorne.

This is no longer about the fact that I need to tell the alpha some information about the pack. I can’t just drop Chet’s gambling activities and walk away.

No, I need to convince Thorne that I’m right. That I know exactly what’s happening, and that I have evidence that Chet is taking pack assets and selling them to gamble on fights.

Fuck.

Terra stirs. I hold her close, my lips brushing over the back of her neck as I breathe in the smell of her skin. “Morning, Terra,” I whisper against the softness of her neck.

“Mmm,” she says. Her voice is hoarse and throaty, and lust punches through my gut in a rush. I’m already hard as she rubs her perfect ass back against me. I tug her close, kissing her neck, licking at the shell of her ear.

She’s so beautiful. So fucking beautiful that I can’t stand it.

“Last night was fun,” she purrs.

I laugh. “Fun?”

“Would you use a different word?”

My world tilted on its axis. The stars faded compared to you. There is a timeline before last night and after last night, and they are completely different.

“It was fun,” I agree instead.

“Hmm,” Terra murmurs. She turns, wrapping her arms around me. Her green eyes sparkle.

Fuck. I have to get Thorne to believe me.

Getting Thorne to believe me, though, is going to start with Terra. “I spent the last two years in fight rings,” I blurt.

The smile fades from her face. “What?”

Great. Now she’ll think I’m a fucking monster. “Um. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told you that.” I pull away, trying to extract myself from her arms, but Terra shakes her head and pulls me in closer.

“Sorry. No. I didn’t mean to scare you. I was just asking… what do you mean, you spent the last two years in fight rings?”

Slowly, I let my body relax. I shuffle, looking at Terra, who is staring at me with concern… But not revulsion.

I take a deep breath. “I’m not smart or creative or anything like that. I’m not like you,” I say softly. “I never have been. The only thing my dad taught me was how to fight.”

“I know,” Terra nods. “You were a good enforcer, Ry.”

“I’ve always just been… muscle. So when I was exiled from the pack, I didn’t have anywhere to go. I didn’t have any money. And I kind of…” I don’t know how to say the next part.

I kind of had a death wish.

“I was having a hard time,” I say, sanitizing my thoughts. I can tell Terra knows that’s not what I was going to add, but she lets it slide. “I was in Denver, and I heard a rumor.”

“About a… fighting ring?”

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