Page 21 of The Wolf Prince's Mate

He nodded. “Sorry. Thought you were trying to sneak out.”

“I’d let Hunter kill me before running away from my problems. That never works.”

Clay growled, his eyes flashing a brighter shade of gold. I’d never seen him in tune with his wolf before. He usually wasn’t growly or beastly at all. It was normal for heat, so maybe it was just because of whatever pheromones still lingered or something. “He’s not going to kill you.”

“Okay.” I tried to step past him, but he moved with me, blocking my path. “Back off, Savage.”

“Look at me, Gorgeous.”

I glared at him.

His knuckle slipped beneath my chin, tipping my head back.

It took everything I had not to let my body react to his touch. I seriously,seriouslyneeded to kill the attraction between us.

“Hunter’s a smart guy. He knew there was a chance this would happen when he asked me to take you. He doesn’t want you. His wolf is the one who’ll be pissed with us, but he’s not going to hurt us. We’re going to be fine.”

I pushed his hand away from under my chin and stepped around him. A few of Clay’s words echoed in my mind.

He doesn’t want you.

Like I didn’t know that already.

Like it wasn’t a blow to my self-confidence every time. I had never wanted him, but to have a man’s beast be that set on me while the man himself was that against it?

It still hurt.

And my sudden attraction to Clay meant that it was time to do something about it. There wasn’t a chance in hell I was ever going to mate with Hunter. He didn’t want me. I didn’t want him.

But nothing was ever going to change unless I changed it myself.

So it was time to do something.

…I just had to figure out what.

I locked myself in Clay’s office while I got dressed, knowing he needed to grab clothes from his room. When I stepped out, he was dressed and had already gathered the few items we’d left around the house.

“Burritos are in the microwave,” he called over his shoulder as he carried our stuff outside. “I’ll wash your clothes back at the Lodge.”

I padded into the kitchen in a clean pair of leggings and a fresh, long-sleeve t-shirt, then leaned against the edge of the countertop. My eyes lingered on the microwave as I waited for the food to finish reheating. My arms were around my abdomen, and my feet were bare. I wished I’d brought some socks. Being a werewolf meant I was warmer than your average human, but I seemed to get cold a lot easier than Aspen or Sydney did.

I was also affected by a male wolf’s dominance, unlike Aspen. Sydney was, too. We were pretty sure Aspen was the female version of an alpha male. Whatever I was, it definitely wasn’t that.

“I can wash my own clothes,” I told Clay, when he came back into the kitchen.

“Friends let friends do their laundry for them sometimes. We are still friends, aren’t we?” He raised an eyebrow, as if daring me to say otherwise.

“That’s bullshit. I’ve never done Sydney’s or Aspen’s laundry.”

“What about Silas’s?”

I wrinkled my nose. “No, I’ve never washed his clothes either. And I bet you don’t even wash your brothers’ clothes.”

“I have on occasion.”

“When was the last occasion?”

Clay lifted a shoulder casually. “Hard to say.”

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