Page 24 of The Wolf Prince's Mate

“You said you were going to find a way to end your wolf’s obsession with me,” I countered.

Clay cleared his throat. “Let’s not play the blame game, shall we? Nova and I screwed. It happened. Now, we figure out where to go from here. Nova obviously can’t spend heat alone anymore, and?—”

“Get out,” Hunter growled.

Clay blinked.

I stood abruptly.

“Not you,” he gritted out, looking at me. “Clay. Out. Before I do something I’ll regret.”

Clay looked at me. I felt his eyes on the side of my face, but didn’t look at him. My emotions were too wild. Too messy. If I looked at him, he was going to see through me. Or maybe Hunter would.

Finally, Clay stood. “I’ll come back in twenty minutes. If you’re arguing, I’ll intervene.”

Arguing had never been a problem for us.

Talking at all was the difficult part.

Clay strode out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Neither of us said anything for a long moment. When we did, we spoke together.

I said, “I have an idea,” at the same time Hunter gritted out, “I’m so fucking sorry.”

We blinked at each other.

And both waited.

“I didn’t know it was that bad,” he finally said, his voice low. “And if it was that bad on day one…”

“We both decided that was the best solution. I dealt with it.” My arms tightened around my middle. I wanted to loosen my grip, to change my position so I didn’t look weak, but I couldn’t.

My wolf was hiding and shaking in fear again, so it wasn’t like she was a pillar of strength or anything.

“What’s your idea?” he asked.

“We can’t keep doing this.”

Hunter’s jaw clenched, and he nodded.

He knew that as much as I did.

“Whatever you’ve tried hasn’t worked, has it?” I checked.

“No.”

“Then I think there’s only one realistic answer left.”

He leaned toward me, tense.

I adjusted my feet, so I was ready in case I needed to get out of the room quickly. “I have to mate with someone else.”

Hunter’s wolf snarled viciously, but the man gripped the chair’s armrests until his fingers went white.

“Just think about it,” I added. “Aspen and Enzo’s mating bond was crazy strong from the beginning, even when they weren’t totally in love yet. If I mate with someone, it’s permanent, and that bond would have to break whatever thrall your wolf seems trapped under.”

Hunter shuddered, and his eyes shifted.

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