Page 90 of The Wolf Prince's Mate

I flashed him a smirk. “After I shower, maybe I will. But right now, I reek. And before you suggest it, friends with benefits don’t shower together in my book.”

He gave a long, drawn-out sigh. “Alright. Go take your shower.”

After we finished eatingand cleaned the kitchen together, Clay gave me a clean pair of his clothes, and reluctantly let me lock the spare room’s door between us. I left the clothes on his perfectly-organized desk, and slipped into the bathroom.

With the shower running, I finally stepped in front of the mirror and forced myself to take in my appearance.

My hair was a mess. The shirt I’d borrowed was unbelievably wrinkled. My arm was still wrapped in that damn brace.

But my eyes were bright. I looked healthy.

My gaze finally moved to my throat, and I let out a slow breath.

Seeing the scar there made my stomach tense.

My wolf whined, too.

I forced out another breath and lifted my hand to the skin. It felt smooth, despite the visible mark that remained.

Memories flickered through my mind, but I didn’t try to push them away this time. That hadn’t done any good. I let them come—even when my breathing picked up and my eyes stung.

“I’m still here, and he isn’t,” I whispered to myself, still staring in that damn mirror. “I’m fine, and he’s dead. I’m okay. I’m strong enough to survive this.”

It didn’t feel true, but I’d rather lie to myself that everything was going to work out than try to convince myself that I was even worse off than I felt.

After another minute, I finally forced myself to step away from the mirror and into the shower. Thankfully, the situation with Clay and his wolf were a pretty good distraction.

I grabbed some shampoo and started working on my hair.

Clay’s wolf was… something.

A lot of somethings.

He was obviously vicious, if he’d tried to kill Hunter and Enzo before. His head couldn’t be screwed on completely straight.

But Syd didn’t think he could be rabid or completely insane.

And honestly? I didn’t either.

Clay clearly didn’t want him to have any amount of control, which was fair. He feared the wolf, and kept him locked down as much as possible.

But wolves were meant to be wild.

They weren’t meant to be caged.

What would happen if Clay freed his?

I didn’t know… but I knew I couldn’t make that happen.

I needed to focus on the wolf’s claim, first.

As far as I could see it, I had two options.

I could either accept the wolf’s claim over me, or I could reject it like I had Hunter’s.

If I was going to reject Clay’s wolf, I was going to have to reject Clay. Which would mean finding a way to leave his cabin and spend heat alone. And ending the friends with benefits thing before it really got started.

I wasn’t entirely sure Clay or his wolf would let me go, which made that difficult. But truthfully, I didn’t want them to let me go.

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