Page 29 of Fated to the Wolf Prince

“Come on, besties. Let’s find some lessassholishair. I think I spotted some hot wolves over there. Outside. Away from Alpha Asshat,” her tall blonde friend spat, glaring daggers through my forehead. Even in her anger, she was careful not to make eye contact.

“Brielle, please—”

Leigh was all hot temper when she spun on her heel, taking Brielle with her, but it was the last, sad look Brielle cast me over her shoulder that had my wolf howling with irrepressible rage.

Her quieter friend didn’t follow them immediately. She looked as if it cost her, but she whispered a lifeline to me before she ran after them, and I grasped the words like the last, fragile tether I had to my mate.

“She’s afraid you don’t want her, Alpha. If you do, you need to show it. She doesn’t give second chances.”

I would make damn sure she knew that she was more important than my next breath, no matter what it took.

TWENTY-ONE

Brielle

Iwas going to be sick. The awful pain in my stomach was back. Kane’s cold dismissal of the most important bonding rites mates could share was rattling around my head like a sick and twisted echo, and if I didn’t lose my coffee and half a piece of wheat toast before this next activity, it would be a miracle the size of my home state. Leigh was talking a mile a minute as she dragged me across the clearing toward a tree line of towering spruce trees, but the words were washing over me like a swift current at the moment.

The impressive scenery in front of me couldn’t dent the blurred, achy vision of Kane’s taut back as he brushed off our mating, followed swiftly by the look of gut-wrenching horror splashed over his handsome features. It was burned into my retinas, and even the tears accumulating at the corners of my eyes couldn’t blur it out of focus completely.

“What if he rejects me, Leigh?” The words tripped off my tongue, as I was unable to hold the fears back another second.

I’d never wanted a mate. And never finding your fated mate? It wasn’t ideal, but not uncommon either. There were only so many wolves, and some settled down with humans when they got tired of waiting. You could still find happiness, if not a soul-deep bond. I’d been okay with that.

But never, not in my wildest imaginings, had I envisioned him rejecting me.

“He’s not that stupid. Hey, look at me.” I nearly ran into her boobs when she stopped. They were right at eye level since she was a good head taller than I was. “He might not realize what a dickish thing he just said, and how callous it is to brush off the importance of the bonding ceremony. But there is no way in hell, Hades, or purgatory that his wolf is going to let him walk away from you. Don’t shake your head. I know you want to live in the worst-case scenario, but I’m right. And we’re going to show him what a dick he was by using the oldest trick in the book.”

I frowned up at the devilish glint in her eyes. “And what is that, exactly?”

“We’re going to make him so jealous he swallows his tongue.”

I groaned. “Leigh, this is a bad idea. He’s dominant. He already fought Shane over a hug—”

“Exactly. You’re irresistible, baby. You’re sending off all those good mate-me-and-impregnate-me pheromones right now, which means the dudes are gonna flock to you like turkeys to a pile of corn. All you have to do is be yourself and not hide. That’s it. Nothing wrong or sleezy. Show him what he’s risking by being an idiot, and he’ll come around quicker than you can sneeze.”

I bit my bottom lip, entirely unconvinced that what she had in mind was wise.

“Give him a chance to make it up to you, Bri.” Shay’s calm reassurance was accompanied by a hand on my shoulder, and I realized I’d been holding them tightly enough to crack a pecan between my shoulder blades. I let out a long, shaky breath and nodded.

“I’m not doing anything intentionally to rub it in his face.” The words felt right, like a good decision. Even if I were tempted. I wasn’t a tree he could just pee on and then ignore.

“Fine, fine. Dr. Responsible, as usual. But don’t let him back intooeasily. It’s good for a man to see you’re desirable, and not just to him. You’ve got options, baby. Now, let’s go strip for this run and show him the wonderland he’s not getting near tonight.”

I groaned at the idea of a run as she pulled me along by the hand, Shay keeping pace at our side. Could this day get any worse?

I hadmy answer as I looked around the group gathered around one of Gracelyn’s assistants. Shane Russo was in it, and he had three men clustered around him, who had to be pack. The whiff of their scents that reached me from our position at the edge of the crowd smelled like Russo. The rest were a wash of different packs, several of them nice males I’d shaken hands with during the activity yesterday. A few even nodded and smiled at me, which I returned politely, though my eyes were restlessly looking for one particularly stubborn he-wolf.

Mate. My wolf paced back and forth doggedly in my mind, and for once, I was hopeful that my shift would go well.

We’d found our mate. She’d been more present with me since we’d arrived in Alaska than ever before. Maybe I’d be able to shift here? Everything was bigger. The mountains, the weather, the sky—hoo boy,the men—maybe my wolf’s abilities would be amplified?

Couldn’t hurt to hope… unless I ended up face down in the dirt, passed out and mocked by all my proposed suitors, and that very same mate realized I reallywasunsuitable for him. We were fated, though, so he’d just have to deal.

Unless he really does reject you.

Dread pooled in my stomach, and I sucked in a fortifying breath through my nose. He hadn’t said he didn’t want to mate me, just that he wanted to get it over with. Insulting as hell? Check. Wholly unenthusiastic? Also check. But flat rejection? Not quite.

Not yet, my inner voice whispered, but I shut that bitch down. Kane might have made my knees go gooey—and all parts below the belt, who was I kidding. Heownedmy lady garden, and he hadn’t come within a mile of it yet. But I’d gotten along before him, and if he really did decide he didn’t want to mate with me, I’d make it again without him.

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