Page 8 of Love Bites Hard

I could tell when we finally made it into the wolves’ wing of the Manor, because the colors of the flooring and walls changed.

The Manor was basically a small city, with a giant building in the center that was considered neutral territory. None of the kings owned that—or all of them did. There were five more wings of the building connected to it, each of them just as large, if not larger, than the center part.

The neutral territory was done in beige colors that were meant to feel luxurious. In contrast, the vampire wing was striking, and everything looked expensive but felt much colder.

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the flooring change as we entered the wolf wing. It was still tile, but it was dark brown tile that was designed to look like wood. The walls were a warm shade of off-white, and I saw massive landscape photos on the walls we passed.

If my room looked like the hallways, I’d be much more comfortable there than I was in Vamp Manor.

The crowd behind us made me less comfortable, though. It seemed to go on forever, and the noise was insanely loud.

Considering how dizzy I was already feeling, their noise wasn’t helping anything.

I expected Porter to take me to his bedroom or something. Instead, he wove through half a dozen massive hallways, then stepped out into the forest. There was a huge clearing just outside the doors, and then there were trees. So many trees.

Some tension in my chest eased as I breathed fresh air.

I had always loved being outside. Even when there wasn’t any amount of nature to get lost in, being stuck inside made me feel trapped. The outdoors felt like freedom.

And despite the wolf shifters pouring out of the Manor behind us, I did feel freer without walls around me.

Porter carried me further from the monstrous building, up to the edge of the forest, before he turned around and faced the growing crowd.

I was still hanging off his shoulder, my face pointed to the trees. My dizziness had gotten worse, and I wasn’t sure I could stand even if I wanted to. I was starting to think it had something to do with him biting me.

The noise grew louder as we stood where we were for the next handful of minutes.

My vision was so unfocused that I had to concentrate on staying upright on Porter’s back rather than trying to figure out why we were waiting.

I had no idea how much time had passed when Porter finally spoke. He didn’t yell, shout, or otherwise raise his voice—but somehow, I heard him more clearly than I had ever heard anything.

“I am the new alpha,” he said, authority ringing in his voice. “And I will not tolerate any of the behaviors the pack has adopted since Curtis unlawfully took my place. Our pack protects the Manor, our territory, and most importantly, each other. Anyone who feels otherwise can leave now. Acting against the pack will be seen as a threat, and will be dealt with accordingly. By me.”

A moment of silence passed as he waited for an argument or protest to break out, but no one said a word.

He finally said, “When the moon rises, we’ll have a bonfire with Curtis’s things. After they’ve burned to ash, we’ll run together. As one.”

Cheers and roars erupted again.

My dizziness had grown into intense nausea.

Porter strode back through the deafening crowd, and they parted for him.

I wrestled with my sickness all the way back to the Manor. Through the hallways, too.

When Porter finally stepped into a dim room and set me down on my feet, my gaze locked on a bathroom door, and I ran.

My knees kissed the tile as the contents of my stomach came back up. My hands and arms were on the toilet seat, which may or may not have been clean, but I was too sick to care.

Rough fingers gathered my hair away from my face and off my neck as I vomited again, and again. His hand landed on my shoulder, anchoring me.

“What did you do to me?” I panted, after a particularly violent wave of nausea.

“Brought you into the pack.”

“What?”

“An alpha can bring any kind of magical being into his pack’s mental bond with a bite,” he said. “Most magical beings could refuse to allow it to develop, but because you’re my mate, you can’t stop it. You just have to ride it out.”

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