Page 2 of Never Submit

Fuck me, he’s gnat-persistent. I shove a hand across my scalp, my claws dangerously close to the surface, the last place I want them to be. Grinding my teeth, I push them back.

I open the bottle and pour a healthy slug. I reach for ice but change my mind. I’ll just take it neat instead. To remind myself we’re home, we’re alive.

“You felt the change between me and Ren, our connection, on the mountain. I know you felt it, too,” he says. “Don’t try to bullshit me.”

“You need a reminder?” I point at myself. “Alpha.” I point at him. “Beta.”

And as the alpha, I’d made the decision to retreat. Without her. Ren. The bane of my fucking existence.

“We need her.”

“No, we don’t,” I say. “And if you’re going to try to convince me she has more uses than the Moonstone she stole, then I definitely need whiskey.”

I take a sip, savoring the complex flavors of charred oak and candied almonds with a hint of vanilla. It’s like pure liquid gold, and if I have enough, the nameRenwon’t mean a fucking thing.

For the first time since we were teenagers, Noble looks nervous. Not to mention pissed. Shifting from foot to foot,he clenches his hands at his sides, fingers flexing. “You felt it, too.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“The energy exchange. I know you felt it. I think it was our mating bond clicking into place. Between me and Ren.” His voice is quiet, sure, determined.

When I glance over my shoulder at him, Noble’s still staring me down, and there is nothing humorous about the harsh planes of his features.

DidI feel something on the mountain?

I tell myself no. The entire journey and ambush are an annoying, pestering memory, but still, something inside me falters. I don’t want to think about it, but now I am, and my throat tightens, my stomach churns acid, and my temples throb. A long fucking day, nothing more.

Shaking my head, I try to breathe. If this was just about fucking a human, I’m all for it. But he’s talking about mating. Soulmates. The things of fantasies and lore. I know him. He’s a hopeless romantic.

Or maybe he’s caught up in the web this Ren seems to weave. Maybe he wants something more, something that only she offers. It wouldn’t be the first time Noble has pined for a human, after all.

But I shouldn’t care either way.

I toss back the rest of my drink and pour another, then hold the bottle up to him.

Noble purses his lips, unamused with my drinking. “No, Torin. I want to talk, not drink.”

“Doing both has happened before.” I’m seconds from ordering him out of the room, but I stop myself. He’s determined. “Speak.”

Quickly, I’d prefer.

“Out of respect to you, we need to discuss this. She’s my mate, Torin.”

“Mate? Practicing your standup routine again?” I resist the urge to clap and smile; it will just grind salt into an already fresh and dysfunctional wound. “Good for you, Noble.”

“I want?—"

“Enough!”Goddamn Ren. She’s a pain in the ass, and he’s a fool to think this. “I never mistook you for stupid before.”

Noble stares me down. “Ren is mymate, Torin. No matter what kinds of feelings you have about it.”

“Come on.” Mate? It’s so damn stupid I can’t even comprehend it.

“It’s true. I feel her.” Noble thumps a hand against his heart. “Right here, Ifeelher. It’s real. She belongs to me.”

I don’t know where it comes from, but rage, black and tipped with fire, rips through me.

Hearing those last four words, I slam my glass down, and I have to force myself not to crush it in my hand. My fucking wolf inside me roars for freedom.

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