Page 103 of The Wolf Prince's Mate

I sighed, but did.

A few hours of explanations, questions, and side-stories later, Olive was drifting off again. I could tell she needed more sleep than she wanted to admit.

“Sounds like you just need to bite that bastard under the full moon so he has no choice but to accept that he’s yours,” she mumbled.

I lifted my eyebrows, but she was already asleep when I looked back.

I rubbed my eyes, too uncertain to even formulate an answer.

“She has a point,” Syd remarked. “What’s he going to do if you claim him? Walk away?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted.

And that was what scared me.

Syd took the wheel when I stopped at a gas station an hour or two later, and I managed a few hours of sleep before Olive woke up coughing violently. It took forever to help her take all of her meds, and when she had, she fell back asleep.

I tried to rest too, but all I could think about was Sydney’s question.

Whatwouldhe do if I claimed him?

eighteen

CLAY

I pacedthe parking lot while I watched my female’s phone move closer to me. She was only a few minutes away, but it felt like a fucking lifetime.

My wolf was snarling and snapping his teeth at me, like he had been since I found out she was gone. I didn’t know why he was so furious about her absence, but the fucker was even more feral than usual.

“Is she back yet?”Hunter asked, his mind brushing mine.

My wolf snarled at him, but he ignored the beast.

He was aware that I didn’t know why the bastard was such a mess.

“Five minutes,”I gritted out.

It was 3 AM, and the only other person outside was Fletcher. He sat in the back of his pickup truck, his arms folded and his hair freshly washed. Though he wasn’t thrilled about his girlfriend’s absence, he wasn’t losing his shit the way I was.

“Your wolf is clearly claiming her,”Hunter said flatly.

“I won’t let him.”

“You can’t stop him.”

I hated that he was right.

And I wanted Nova back by my side, where she was safe.

“If he claims her, he can’t hurt her,”Hunter finally said.

It wasn’t the first time he and Enzo had brought that up since Nova took off with Sydney.

“We have no idea if that’s true or not.”

“Your wolf isn’t actually rogue, and even a rogue wolf wouldn’t hurt a woman he claimed. Sydney’s father protected her all the way up until he went rabid.”

“He wasn’t as fucked-up as my wolf is. You know I can’t mate with her.”

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