Page 35 of Wolf Mate

Because it was him, I slowed down but didn’t stop completely. I wanted to get back to the apartment and hide for the rest of the night.

By the time he reached my side, I was already halfway through the lot.

“I’m sorry about that.” He sighed. “Not sure what was going on with Dave, but I needed to stay back to make sure he didn’t follow us.”

“It’s notyourfault.” I huffed, hating that my emotions hadn’t leveled out. Right now, Dave was the least of my worries. “You didn’t do that.”

“Let me be clear—I don’t like Raffe. I think he’s an arrogant, entitled prick who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.”

Laughter bubbled out of me. “Don’t hold back or anything.”

“Eh, he’s a dick.” He shrugged. “And what I’m about to say goes against my very nature.”

I lifted a brow. “What’s that?”

“His dad is his king and alpha.” Slade wrinkled his nose, again making it clear how he felt about things. “And his dadordered him to do something to keep you away from humans. I heard what he said this morning when he was trying to explain himself to you.”

“Uh. Okay?” I didn’t understand his point.

“He felt he had to obey.”

I understood wolf pack hierarchy. “Maybe, but he’s wolfandhuman, and he should understand both sides of his being. What he did wasn’t very humane, and maybe he should’ve challenged his dad instead of blindly obeying.”

Slade faltered then quickened his pace to catch up with me. “You know, I never heard anyone put it that way.”

We were coming up to the apartment, and I couldn’t get inside fast enough. “Yeah, well, that’s what alienating humans does to someone’s perspective.”

After the day I’d had, I was tired, and it was already getting close to seven o’clock. I didn’t usually interact with people this much. At the building door, I forced a smile. “I’m tired. I’m going to take a shower and veg out.”

“You should.” He bumped his shoulder into mine and said, “I’m going to drop off my bag and head back to the library to do more research so I can help you.”

“I really appreciate that.” I wanted to understand how I could control this so Raffe and his dad couldn’t pull anything else like they had today. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything.”

I headed inside, and within minutes, I was walking through my front door.

As soon as I entered, I stopped in my tracks. Something—Fate or whatever—had to be fucking with me.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The one place that should’ve been safe had turned into anythingbut.

There on the couch across from me were Raffe, a breathtaking girl I didn’t know, and Lucy. On the other couch sat Adam and Keith.

Now Lucy’s comment about running in the woods made more sense, seeing as this group only hung out with their own kind.

To my dismay, my focus refused to stray from Raffe’s arm, casually draped on the back of the couch around the girl next to him.

She had to beJosie.

Raffe and I locked gazes, and jealousy flared through me so hard it stole my breath. My blood leaped into a fizz and teetered on a hum, and something cold and ugly clenched my heart. It felt as if it couldn’t beat anymore.

His irises darkened, and his guilt swirled toward me.

Keith groaned and leaned his head back. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. The human you got stuck with isher?” He emanated disgust, the kind I was used to feeling from people. He’d made his feelings about me very clear.

“Wait.” Lucy tilted her head, examining me. “You’re the human with magic?”

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