Page 39 of The Wolf Prince's Mate

We were friends, but he wanted me about as much as Hunter did.

“Nothing happened,” I bit out.

He waited.

I heaved a sigh. “Kody tried to kiss me.”

He kept waiting.

“I couldn’t do it. I’m dating all these guys, and I feel like I’m on the bachelorette, and I’m just—it feels wrong.”

“Is your wolf feeling connected to mine?” Hunter’s voice was lower.

More gravelly.

I knew what answer the beast inside him was looking for, but that wasn’t even almost the case.

“No. My wolf is as quiet as ever. She’s afraid of most of them, but that’s not a surprise. She’d come around if I picked someone. I’m just not attracted to any of them, and I don’t know why.”

A long moment passed.

“Maybe you just need to… get back in the saddle. Ignore the discomfort and do it. It’s been a long time.”

“It’s been three weeks,” I snapped, my body flushing with the memories.

I couldn’t get them out of my head.

I was still thinking about Clay. Dreaming about Clay. Wanting Clay.

It was ridiculous. We were friends, but I barely knew the guy. I’d only seen him a few times since heat, and things were completely normal when I did. I was supposed to be tattooing him in a few days, and I was dreading it so badly, I was already considering faking sick.

“It’s different during heat. You might not even be attracted to each other without the pheromones.”

That was true for Clay, even if it wasn’t the case for me.

But even if he was attracted to me, nothing could happen between us. He would probably never take a mate because of his beast, and I had to pick one to end Hunter’s wolf’s obsession with me.

“I’m aware,” I said. “I’ll try one more time with Kody, but if I can’t…”

“We’re nowhere near the end of my list of potential mates,” Hunter said calmly. “If you try and can’t get anywhere with the four promising ones right now, we’ll clear the slate and keep going with new men.”

“Alright. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. I’m the one with the obsessive wolf. If it takes longer, it takes longer, and we’ll figure something out.”

“Okay. I have to go.”

“Maybe try starting small. With hand holding or something.”

“Probably a good call. Thanks.”

“Yeah. Good luck.” Hunter hung up, and I stared down at the screen.

That conversation had been surprisingly pleasant. Maybe we were moving on from coworkers who avoided each other to just plain coworkers.

I let out a quick breath before sliding out of my car and making my way into the bar.

The date went fine.I held Ryan’s hand while we talked and had drinks.

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