Page 98 of Love Bites

“What if he’s worse than you think?” I asked. “What if you’re not attracted to him? Or his past is more haunting than you expect? Or?—”

“I can handle whatever I need to,” she said firmly. “A little darkness is a small price to pay to save myself from a life of fear. Seeing Curtis dead will make it worth it.”

“It’s your decision. But I’m kind of with Zora about thinking it through a little more.”

“I’ll have time to back out if I want to after seeing what he looks like.”

She didn’t say it, but I knew she wouldn’t back out. When Izzy made her mind up about something, she didn’t change it.

“At least I won’t be the only woman at the kings’ meetings anymore,” I said.

She smiled. “They’ll regret forcing us to be their mates when we steal their thrones.”

I laughed.

Something told me Damian would sit me on his throne himself if I asked him to.

twenty

DAMIAN

“I’m happy for you,”Egan said, leaning back in his chair across from my desk. “You’ve obviously won the woman over, despite the shit that went down when you met.”

“I wouldn’t say that, but we’re getting there.”

And I fucking loved where we were.

Blair and Izzy slipped into my office before I could ask him about our newest guards, and he winked at me before he stood up.

“Good luck, Hale.”

He greeted them on his way out, and they mirrored the pleasantries.

There were two chairs in front of my desk, and the women each took one.

I looked at Blair, tipping my head toward her desk chair. I didn’t want my mate sitting across from me, as if she answered to me the same way everyone else did.

She shook her head, and I fought the urge to tighten my jaw.

The woman drove me mad.

Absolutely, utterly insane.

And I lived for it—but I thought we were past the point of her sitting across from me the way she was.

I leaned back in my chair. “Something tells me I should be concerned when you both come into my office like this.”

Izzy folded her arms. “I’m going to mate with Porter.”

My eyebrows lifted.

Blair grimaced. “We’re hoping you can talk her out of it, Damian.”

Her use of my first name eased my irritation at the distance she’d put between us.

“No one’s going to talk me out of it,” Izzy said bluntly. “I don’t want to be trapped inside any longer. I know the wolves have lots of land behind their portion of the Manor, so I’d have more space there. Getting rid of the threat to Clementine and the rest of my sisters is just a bonus. I’m doing it for me, not for them.”

I couldn’t deny that I liked her answer. She could ensure my mate’s safety. Porter had a damn good chance of beating Curtis. I wouldn’t lie to anyone by claiming I was absolutely confident he could win, but given the pack’s history, it was likely.

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