Page 56 of The Alpha's Forced Rejected Mate

I laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look so concerned.”

Faye chuckled. “I mean, it was kind of funny.”

I held my stomach as I tried to control my incoming laughter. “It washilarious. Come on, look at his face. He’s still scared!”

Robyn playfully pushed my arm. “Stop making fun of your one and only friend here.”

“Hey, you’re my friend.” I wrapped my arm around her waist, relieved when she leaned into me. “What do you say?”

“About what?”

I squeezed her gently. “About the mating ritual? I can bite you, or you can bite me if you want.”

She idly touched her lower lip. “Is it true mate bites can protect people?”

Faye nodded as she slid her arm around her mate’s waist. “I’ve definitely noticed a feeling of security ever since I got my bite.”

“That could be useful to us,” Robyn said while taking my hand. “You know, because of Sydney and all.”

“Right, because of Sydney,” I agreed flatly. “I would also like to bite you because I care about you.”

She smiled weakly up at me. “That’s nice to hear.”

“I can say it more often.”

“Maybe. Yes.”

I chuckled as I pulled her into an embrace. “When was the last time we just hugged each other like this?”

“Didn’t we hug yesterday?”

“Not while we were racing to the mechanic shop.”

She chuckled. “Yeah, you lost. I get it. I wouldn’t want to be hugged either.”

Faye and Hector laughed.

I stepped back and held her shoulders loosely. “Hey, I thought we agreed thatyoulost.”

“Nope. We didn’t.” She grinned so wide that I thought she would explode into chuckles. She just looked too tickled with herself. “Then, you fell into that mud puddle and got stuck.”

“I didn’t fall,” I murmured. “I slipped because it was slippery.”

Robyn reached for my hands and held them loosely. “Right. It was slippery. Whatever you say.”

“Thatiswhat I say.”

“And whatIsay is…” She glanced at Faye and Hector, then focused on me again. “I say I want to do the mating ritual with you.”

I bent my knees like I was preparing to jump. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Amazing.” I scooped her up and spun her around, feeling lighter than air. “Fantastic.Spectacular.”

She patted my shoulder while giggling. “Down.Down, boy.”

“Can’t. Won’t.”

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