Page 16 of The Wolf's Mate

“Yeah, well, that rule might have been helpful an hour ago,” she scowls, “and Grass had to pee. No one was around. What the hell would you have me do? Let Grass pee in your bed?”

Hettie’s chest heaves, pushing her breasts against me. It’s a cold morning, and I feel her hardened nipples through the thin fabric. It’s very distracting.

“What I expect is for you not to leave the packhouse alone and run out into the damn woods.”

“I didn’t plan on frolicking through the fucking woods, Rip. Grass was acting crazy, and then someone?—”

“Who?” The other familiar scent still lingers.

“I don’t know, he called himself Michael and—what the fuck?! Let me down!”

I toss Hettie over my shoulder, and her small fists pound into my back. She squirms, and I’m so tempted to smack her ass, but I don’t trust myself to be gentle enough. Not after hearing Michael was here. That’s why the scent smelled so familiar. It belonged to the damn leader of the rogues.

How the fuck is he slipping through my guard? Probably the same way Hettie got out of the house with no one seeing her today. I’ve gotten too lax with our rules and structure. I wanted bodies in these guard roles, but I haven’t set the expectations yet, which means the forest is unsafe for the time being. I need to drag Hettie’s ass back to the packhouse.

“Grass, come.” My command is met by a whimper and then the soft footfalls of Grass walking alongside me. He keeps his head down, sensing my tumultuous mood.

I don’t like feeling out of control. Hettie’s safety is the most important thing. Not only for her sake, but for the survival of the pack as well. And I’ve been too distracted by other shit to let that fact fully sink in.

No, it needs to be done. I have to mate with the human. The thought puts a sour taste in my mouth. It feels a lot like a mating against her will, never mind that is exactly what we both signed up for. King Alphas rarely mate for love. They mate for strength and gain. For the betterment of the pack.

“Put me down!” she shrieks again, pummeling my back with her tiny fists. If there’s one thing about this human—she’s relentless. She’ll need to be for what’s coming.

I ignore her protest and carry her the entire way back. She throws curses at me like daggers, hoping they’ll cut deep. What she doesn’t understand is that her words mean nothing to me. Let her continue her assault. It’s worth it if it keeps her safe.

I say nothing to her as I take her back to our room. Curious eyes stare at us, and by this evening, the whole town will know I dragged my human mate kicking and screaming back to my room. Stories of what I do to her will fuel the gossip channels for days.

Let them speak.

I find I no longer care.

Chapter 8

Hettie

“Put me down, you motherfu—oof!” The air leaves my lungs as I bounce onto his bed, landing in a heap in the center. That bastard tossed me. He tossed me! As if I were nothing more than a sack of potatoes he was discarding.

I grab the closest thing to me, which, unfortunately, is a pillow, and hurl it at his head. He steps to the side, and the pillow hits the wall behind him with a dull thud. It drops pathetically to the ground, only serving to piss me off more.

I lunge for another pillow, but Rip is on top of me in an instant, holding my wrists above my head. My breath comes out in desperate pants as I do everything I can to push the man off me.

“Stop. Struggling,” he growls, and I get some satisfaction when my knee catches him between his legs and he grunts.

It’s then I realize Rip is still naked, like butt-ass naked. His hardness presses into my thigh, and even through the thin layer of fabric that separates us, I can feel every inch of him. My traitorous body sends heat straight to my core.

I meet his eyes, and his pupils are blown wide with…something. Fuck, lust? Disgust? A mixture of the two? He growls, and my body responds in kind. I don’t realize I’ve stopped fighting him until he slowly, almost reluctantly, lets me go. He backs away and puts as much distance between us as possible.

Through all of this, I didn’t make sure Grass was following, but my panic quickly eases when I see him lounging in a doggy bed in the corner. That wasn’t there last night, meaning someone brought it up for him today. Grass is sleeping pleasantly, not concerned at all with the giant naked man in the room.

Well, that makes one of us.

“Do you want to tell me why you just dragged me back here like a runaway convict?” I glare, my ire unable to be contained. It’s honestly impressive how little we’ve talked, and yet he’s pissed me off both times.

“You are not to leave this house without me, Thorne, or a guard I appoint you.” He parrots what he said earlier, and I swear I see the back of my head when I roll my eyes.

Classic fucking alpha males. Always ready to dish out orders with no explanations.

“Who is Michael, and why did he know me?” The man got under my skin. I’ve run with many crowds before, but Michael’s energy…it’s different from anything I’ve ever experienced. It’s dangerous.

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