Page 18 of Owning His Mate

Fuck!

I spin around, my heart thumping. “Why are you spying on me?” I hiss at Wyatt.

His brow lifts. “I… uh… live here.”

“Then why are you awake? It’s early.”

“I could ask you the same thing.” He juts his chin in my direction. “What happened to your wrist?”

I glance down. I didn’t realize I was clutching my arm to my chest, but I’m not surprised he asked the question. There’s definite swelling, and a faint mottling is emerging on the skin. It’s going to bruise badly if Halle doesn’t heal me. “I fell while I was running.”

He takes this in for a moment before he answers. “Were you running or being chased?”

I roll my eyes at him, stepping into the kitchen and heading over to the coffeepot. “I said I was running, didn’t I?”

“I can smell a male on you.”

Sometimes, I forget I’m surrounded by people with extraordinary talents. “He’s a pain in the ass and the reason I fell.”

There is a sudden change in the air. I feel the tension as if it is a palpable, breathing thing. “Did this asshole hurt you?”

The anger lacing his voice surprises me. I wasn’t aware the males in our little group really gave a shit about me, but Wyatt seems pissed at the thought Kye might have put his hands on me. It’s enough to prompt me to look at him. “Kye didn’t do this.I’m not lying when I say I fell, Wyatt. I mean, technically, it was his fault because he scared the life out of me, but he didn’t touch me.”

Wyatt’s shoulders relax, and he goes back to eating. “What happened?”

I consider lying, but he’ll find out soon enough. “We bonded.”

Wyatt leans back against the wall, his brows climbing up his forehead. “You found your mate? Congratulations.”

I head into the kitchen area, opening the freezer. Finding a packet of peas, I pull them out and wrap it in a cloth before carefully placing it on my swelling wrist. “Don’t get too excited.”

“You don’t want him?” he asks, following me into the space. When I turn to him, he’s leaning against the counter behind him.

“I don’t want anyone.”

“Why?”

That’s a long story to tell and not a memory I want to revive. “I’m not entirely sure how that is any of your business.”

His shoulders shift. “It’s not, but I was just curious. Makes sense that you’d reject him, though. You don’t like being told what to do.” He says that last part with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes that tells me he doesn’t think this is a bad thing.

“I don’t think my whole life should be decided by some magic trick that says I’m his.”

“You don’t believe in mating bonds, considering all the mated pairs around you?”

I twist slightly so I can look at him, trying to gauge whether he’s mocking me, but he’s being sincere. “I didn’t say I don’t believe. Obviously, mating bonds work for most of our kind.”

“I sense a but.”

I shake my head. “There’s no but.” I blow out a sigh.

I don’t know why I tell him this. Maybe it’s the fact that Wyatt isn’t mated and therefore isn’t biased. Maybe it’s because he andI aren’t close enough for his judgment to upset me. Maybe it’s because he’s here.

“I’m scared to trust him.”

“I can see that, but why?”

I consider this question and reach an answer pretty quickly. “He’s a vargr wolf, and he could hurt me without breaking a sweat.”

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