Page 19 of The Wolf King's Mate

“I know. I love you.”

“I love you too. Tell them I’ll be visiting or sending my Beta, every day, to make sure you’re still alive.”

Shit.

I bit the inside of my cheek. “I don’t think Lucas is a great idea.”

“Why not?”

I nearly groaned.

Guess I should’ve told him earlier that his closest friend was interested in me.

I turned away from Clay and lowered my voice. “Just ask him how he feels about me. Enzo might want to kill him if he finds out. If the king is possessive.”

“He’s a wolf, and he’s the fucking king. He’s going to be possessive. I don’t see what that has to do with Lucas, though.”

Clay cleared his throat.

My time was over.

“Just ask him. I have to go, okay? I love you,” I repeated. “Don’t come by every day. Don’t send anyone. I’ll text you and let you know when it’s safe.”

“Fine. Be careful.”

I hung up the phone and handed it back to Clay, fighting to control my emotions again.

“If there’s another male involved, Enzo will need to know. The other man will die if he finds out when the guy is here,” Clay warned.

“Can we avoid it even if I tell him first?” I countered.

Clay lifted a shoulder. “Depends how serious it was.”

“We aren’t together. He has a harmless crush on me.”

“Then he might survive.”

I groaned, collapsing in the chair on the other side of his desk. “This is insane. Enzo wants me to, what, breed thenext generation of Savages for him? Then what? Mating is permanent. Is he going to lock me up like your mother? Am I?—”

“Don’t even fucking suggest that,” Clay said, his blue eyes flashing and his voice straining. I watched closely, waiting for his wolf to show through, but he kept his beast suppressed carefully. “We are not our father. No one will ever be locked up.”

“You literally told me he might kill me earlier.” I tossed a hand in the general direction of his room, where we’d been when the conversation happened. “And he said I have to stay in his room.”

“Do you want the truth, Princess?”

“I amnota princess,” I growled back, my wolf rising on her haunches.

She didn’t like this Gamma—or Beta—talking down to her. Whatever he was, he wasn’t her mate.

“Well, the truth is that I don’t know why my brother announced that he wanted to mate with you. I can’t read his mind. No one can. His wolf seems to have decided he wants you, and in this city, his wolf is judge, jury, and executioner. Without Enzo, this place would’ve been overrun with rogue and rabid wolves decades ago. It nearly was when our dad was in charge.”

He leaned forward, his eyes brightening. I forced myself not to lean away. “The things he’s had to do—the thingsallof us have had to do—would give you nightmares. So yes, compared to us, you are a princess. Your brother kept you safe in a tower while we fought, bled, and killed for this city. Enzo even more than the rest of us, while he fights to maintain and grow the biggest pack this world has ever seen.”

“So if my brother’s wolf wants you as his mate, I’m going to make it happen. If he wants your head on a platter, roasted to medium-rare for dinner, I’ll throw you in the pan myself. Because yeah, you’re a special, born-female wolf, but this city can’t survive without him. None of us can. If you want to try to make him hate you, go ahead. The only person it hurts is you.” He leaned back in his seat, apparently done with the lecture.

My wolf was officially intrigued.

And I was officially in deep, deep shit.

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