Page 74 of The Wolf Prince's Mate

“He said the same thing through the pack link, just to make sure I got it,” Fletcher said with a shrug.

I scowled. “He doesn’t get to decide when I can and can’t leave.”

“He probably wants to argue with you about the thing,” Syd said.

Neither of us needed clarification on whatthe thingwas.

It was definitely heat.

“Clay doesn’t argue,” Fletcher said. “He pretends to listen to you, then tells you what’s going to happen.”

“That doesn’t work on me.” I stood up again, but the dining hall quieted as I stepped away from the table.

There were only three people in the pack that an entire room quieted for. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to put together who they were.

It was rare for any of them to visit the dining hall, though. There were a dozen rumors about why the Savages almost never ate with the rest of the pack. Some people thought they spent a fortune on a private chef to cook for them. Others thought they were on strict diets to keep up their ridiculously chiseled physiques.

Aspen had refused to confirm or deny any of the rumors, though she’d rolled her eyes at a few of them.

I figured it was more along the lines of the latter option than the former, but honestly had no idea. I had seen Clay reheat frozen burritos though, so he couldn’t have been watching his abstooclosely.

The room obviously wasn’t quieting down for my sake, so I looked at the entrance, hoping it was Enzo or Hunter.

It wasn’t.

I sighed. Audibly.

Of course Clay was already there, striding through the double doors in a pair of dress pants and a white, linen button-down. The sleeves were rolled up his forearms, flashing just a few inches of the ink I’d put on his skin.

His feet were bare, which somehow only made him sexier.

His lips curved upward when he saw me, and I didn’t bother waiting for him to reach me. I met him in the middle of the room, and he casually draped an arm over my shoulders as he joined me on my way out.

“Hey, Gorgeous.”

“I told you I was going alone, Savage.”

He chuckled, but there was no humor in it. “I told you I wasn’t letting you go through it on your own anymore. It could kill you. Your options are to spend it with me, or pick someone else.”

The edge to his voice told me we were going to have issues if I picked someone else.

I would be pissed if he screwed another woman after washing me and letting me sleep in his bed too, so that didn’t surprise me.

“I called Silas,” I said, forgetting he’d smell the lie.

“Don’t bullshit me.”

“Fine, I’mgoingto call Silas.”

“Don’t lie, Nova. I just don’t want you in pain. You looked like you were about to keel over when I found you in that bathroom.”

My face warmed when I remembered exactly what he’d done after that.

And exactly how much I wanted him to do it again.

“If you would rather spend heat with Silas, I’ll call him myself,” Clay said. “If you want Hunter, fine. I’ll convince him to do it. But I’m not going to let you go through that again.”

We were still walking.

---