Page 95 of The Wolf King's Mate

“Yeah. Lunchtime or late afternoon is more likely.”

Right.

Great.

The kid in me wanted to ask my brother if I could sleep in his room to avoid the dark emotions I’d have to deal with in Enzo’s. Mine.

But Fletcher was already worried about me.

And I was going to have to get used to those emotions, because they weren’t going anywhere.

I was going to be mated to the king. That meant sleeping alone a lot, and doing my own thing. I needed to make peace with that.

“Want to go for a midnight run with me?” I asked.

Fletcher grimaced. “I would, but the Savages gave me a list of rules when I joined the pack. Not taking you into the forest after dark was one of them.”

I scowled. “Seriously?”

“Yup.”

“You’reallassholes if you’re going to enforce that.”

“It’s for your safety. They hunt rogues. There’s a rabid wolf on the loose, and you don’t want to be anywhere near it.”

“It’s a fewhoursaway, Fletch. Break the rules for me.”

His lips curved upward, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. He wasn’t going to do it. “Not this time. The city knows what you are now, so you will always be in danger.”

Wow.

I was officially on my own. At least, when it came to my supposed freedom.

“The rules are supposed to ease up after you seal the mate bond,” he said, as I slipped off the couch and padded toward the door. My ankle wasn’t sensitive at all anymore. The pain was gone entirely.

“We’re still two weeks away from that.”

“It’ll go by fast.”

I hoped so.

But at the same time, I hoped he was wrong. Because that meant I only had two weeks to find a way out of mating with Enzo.

There wasn’t a way out. I was confident of that, even if I wanted to convince myself otherwise.

We walked back to my room, and Fletcher gave me a quick hug before I left him outside. So he could guard me.

It was kind of fucked up, but what part of my life wasn’t?

Going to bed alone after spending the last week sleeping in Enzo’s arms felt kind of wrong, but I pretended I didn’t notice as I curled up in bed with one of his pillows.

My wolf was quiet, and a little sad.

Honestly, I kind of was too.

I hadn’t forgotten about the nightly oral sex he’d promised me. It obviously wasn’t going to happen, but I remembered his words clearly.

They had mattered to me.

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