Page 53 of Soul Fated

“Lana!” I ran out of the trees, my sweatshirt on, but no pants. “Stop. It’s not what it looks like.”

“Yeah? What does it look like, do you think?”

I shoved my feet through the leg holes and pulled up my pants. “It looks like we were mating in the trees.” I panted. “But we weren’t.”

My response took her off guard. She glowered at the two of us. “What were you doing then? Alone. And naked.”

“I shifted, Lana.” I straightened, tossing my hair behind my shoulder. “My wolf was fine.”

Lana ground her teeth. “And you expect me to believe he just stood there? Didn’t even notice you were still in heat?”

Kael's jaw tightened. "I don't give a shit what you believe."

Lana's eyes flashed. "You think you can just do whatever you want, don't you?" She took a step closer to him, her arms tensing. "You think you can come into our territory, threaten our pack, and then?—"

"Nothing happened," I blurted out. Which was technically true. Even though my heart felt like it had an ice pick jabbed in the middle of it. “I was trying?—”

"Just stop." Lana cut me off, her eyes boring into mine. "I don't care what you were or weren't doing. What I care about is that he thinks he can waltz in here and disrupt everything." She turned back to Kael, her voice dripping with disdain. "You're not even part of a pack. You don't get to break our rules."

Kael's eyes darkened, and my stomach twisted. “Lana, stop.”

"You're trying to what? Prove something?" Lana scoffed. "You've already proven you can't be trusted. That you're a threat."

I gaped at her. What was she talking about? She hadn’t said a word of this to me, and now she was acting like this?

Lana pointed a finger at him, her eyes blazing. "And if you think for one second that I'm going to let you?—"

"Enough!" Kael's voice thundered against the house, and I jumped. He took a step forward. Kael straightened his T-shirt. "You don't get to tell me what I can and can’t do.”

Lana’s eyes narrowed. "This is our territory?—”

“Like hell it is. This is neutral land.”

Lana ground her teeth. “We’re only here because you forced us?—”

“I forced her.” Kael pointed at me. “You’re here by choice.”

Lana’s hands shook with rage. "I’m third in command of the Black Lake Pack. I can tell you whatever the hell I want."

Kael's eyes darkened, his breath coming in shallow bursts. "I'm not part of your pack. Remember?"

Lana's nostrils flared as Kael stalked past her up the steps. He walked into the house and slammed the door.

Before I could catch my breath, Bill stumbled out onto the porch holding his shotgun. “You girls okay?”

“I could’ve used that a second ago,” Lana muttered.

Bill looked back at the house. “For what?”

Lana huffed a breath. “I’m done with this.” She stormed past me into the trees.

We had to leave. If Kael and Lana had to spend another night trapped in this house, they were going to combust, and my heat, though still uncomfortable, was manageable.

“All that commotion was the two of them?” Bill pointed between the house and the trees.

“It’s not like her,” I said.

Bill scratched his beard. “It’s not like him. But, then again…” He fixed his eyes on me.

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