Page 14 of The Wolf Prince's Mate

I always did.

There was no other choice.

three

CLAY

I pacedthe dirt road for the thousandth time, staring down at the camera feed splitting my phone’s screen. One faced the front door. The other faced the back.

I was waiting for Nova to come outside. Hell, I washopingshe would. It was screwed up, but true.

Hunter told me I’d need to lock her inside, but I wasn’t doing that. If she was in enough pain to try to get out of the house to find someone to relieve it, I was going to take care of her.

I wasn’t a fucking gentleman, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to watch a woman beg or writhe in pain just because my brother hadn’t figured out a way to shut down his wolf’s claim on her. Particularly notthatwoman.

Nova was beautiful, but she was smart, too. Funny. Creative. Easygoing. I wasn’t going to let her hurt—I liked her too much for that.

If that meant I had to screw her, I’d do it. And I’d really fucking enjoy it.

Which was why I was still pacing, a full twenty-four hours after I ditched her on that countertop. The alternative was screwing her, and she didn’t want that.

I swiped my screen away from the cameras long enough to reread the texts we’d traded that morning for the dozenth time.

Me

Did you have breakfast?

She hadn’t answered for a few hours, so I assumed she slept in. When she did answer, she gave a thumbs-up.

I texted her again an hour after that.

Me

What did you have for lunch?

She sent back one word.

Nova

Food

I managed three hours before the next check-in.

Me

How are you feeling?

Her second thumbs up made me want to kill something.

Then again, my aching balls and rock-hard cock did the same. At least my wolf still seemed subdued by whatever part of the rut’s magic surrounded me.

I’d spent hours reading about knotting between wild wolves. There really wasn’t that much material to read, but I couldn’t stop, and ended up rereading everything too many times.

When I did, I inevitably ended up imagining going back to that kitchen with Nova. Sitting her on the countertop again, and fucking her until my cock was trapped inside her, holding my cum in that sweet little cunt.

I wanted it so badly my entire body hurt.

After the sun set, I texted her again.

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