Page 75 of The Wolf King's Mate

“It wasn’t at the same time. I wrote it on the other side of the card.”

I groaned.

Me

He’s not going to hurt you again. I’m sorry

Silas

It’s fine

Be careful with him

Me

Thanks

I exited the message and set my phone down. “Don’t give people gift baskets after attacking them. It’s weird.”

“How else was I going to apologize?”

“A text saying that you misunderstood our relationship and had no intention of hurting him again would’ve been plenty.”

“He’s still sitting in bed while he heals. Snacks are more useful than a texted apology.”

“He said he was already better.”

Enzo snorted. “When I went after him, all I knew was that he fucked you every month foryears, Princess. He wasn’t getting off with just a broken nose. I’m sure he told you he was fine so you’d back off.”

“I guess.” I grimaced, looking back out the window.

Tense silence stretched between us.

It was quite possibly the most uncomfortable moment we’d ever spent together.

Enzo finally blew out a breath. “I shouldn’t have attacked him. It wasn’t one of my best moments. I’m sorry.”

“Are you going to do it again?”

“No. You don’t want him.”

I scowled. “I’m being serious, Enzo. If someone brushes up against me at the Lodge, are they going to die? Do I need to walk on my tiptoes everywhere I go out of fear that you’re going to murder anyone who smiles at me or helps me find tortillas in the grocery store? Do I need to ask everyone I know to pretend I don’t exist if I ever bump into them? Do I need to spend my life afraid of who you’re going to kill for being nice to me?”

“No to all of those.” He said it easily, but there was a beat of hesitation.

I made a sound of exasperation. “This is messed up.”

“Theoretically, forming a mate bond will prevent more… overreactions.” His voice was grudging with that last word.

At least he’d admitted it was an overreaction.

He added, “You’ve got to understand, my wolf has been trained to kill first and ask questions later. There’s no way to know when a rogue will go rabid. We have to kill them even when we know they’re innocent, or we risk finding out that they’ve slaughtered an entire pack’s worth of women and children, creating more rogues in the process.”

I grimaced.

It was horrible, but I couldn’t tell him he was wrong for doing it. Killing werewolves who had become nothing more than ticking time bombs in animal form was gruesome, but what else could he do?

“Yeah, I guess,” I said, biting my lip. “Why do you think a mate bond will change your reactions?”

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