Page 108 of The Wolf Prince's Mate

If the wolf had genuinely claimed her, it was going to be the end of my life as I knew it, because I was going to have to move to Stray.

Permanently.

nineteen

NOVA

As I suspected,Clay’s wolf was a total sweetheart. To me, at least. I did believe him and his brothers that he tried to kill them every time they were together, but he clearly saw me as an exception to his wrath.

I itched to know the full story behind hisinsanity, but that would require asking, because I couldn’t see Clay volunteering the information.

I didn’t want to screw anything up by asking, so I wasn’t going to do that.

Instead, I was waiting.

Patience wasn’t generally one of my best qualities, but I was trying.

And for the moment, there was a much bigger problem to deal with.

Olive’s sickness.

I sat down on the stone path with Clay’s wolf. He sprawled out next to me, rolling to his back and showing me his belly.

Total sweetheart.

I scratched and rubbed his fur.

Though I needed to get inside to Olive, her death didn’t seem so imminent that I couldn’t spend ten minutes talking to Clay to prevent his wolf from killing everyone who let me suffer when I went inside.

“So,” I said, and he eyed me.

Lolling his tongue out, he played dead.

I snorted.

His wolf was just as much of a goofball as he was. He just hadn’t found anyone he was comfortable with before.

Considering my wolf was as far from a threat as possible, it would be hard for him to consider me dangerous.

“You can pretend you’re not listening all you want, but I’m going to talk anyway. My sister is up there, dying.” I pointed to the middle of the Lodge, around where the hospital room was. “We’re not friends. We’re barely family. But she’s still my sister, and I’m going to be the one who turns her. It won’t fix the problems in our past, and it won’t guarantee us a relationship. It will suck for me for at least a week while I recover, too. But I still have to do it. I doubt it will make a difference, having me turn her, but it feels like the right thing to do.”

His wolf snarled at me, but he didn’t roll over. His belly was still up, which was a massive sign. He was letting me call the shots and make the decision. He was letting me play Alpha, for the moment. With his belly exposed, I had access to his most vulnerable parts.

He snapped his teeth, then shuddered. I knew Clay was probably fighting, trying to retake control. He wasn’t going to suddenly believe that the wolf wouldn’t hurt me. It was going to take time—and he could still reject me.

But we were progressing.

Even if it wasn’t technically part of my plan. My friends had made it clear that my plan was terrible anyway.

I continued petting his head until he finally jerked his head in a nod. He snapped his teeth again—then licked my hand. And my arm. And my face.

The monster was totally in love with me.

Now, the question was whether or not the man would ever be willing to give it a real shot.

“I need to go in there, and they’re going to drug you if you try to follow me in this form. You’re kind of a loose cannon, bud.”

He grumbled, but I was pretty sure he knew it was true.

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