Page 56 of Wolf Bitten

“Oh no.” Lucy lifted a finger and stormed into her room. “Donotapologize.That’s not how this is going to go.”

I mashed my lips together, unsure what to say. Lucy had no problem being assertive, but she didn’t usually get this worked up. “But he’s hurt that—”

“Sky, I know exactly why he’s hurt, but that’s his own damn fault.” She stood beside me, glaring at her cousin.

Tilting his head back, he scowled. “How do you figure?”

“Oh, okay.” Lucy nodded. “We can do this. First, you were an asshole when she came here. You publicly humiliated her while she was struggling with her magic so that people would keep their distance. It wasn’t until after Slade tried to kiss her that you showed her consistent interest, but then you made her keep it a secret because you didn’t want anyone to find out about you two.”

Raffe lifted his hands. “I was there. I am aware of all this.”

“I’m not sure you are since you’re over there acting all butthurt about her mom not knowing about you and knowing about Slade.” She spun her hands. “So, I’m going to continue.”

If I didn’t have a fated-mate bond with Raffe and wasn’t completely in love with him, I could have fallen for this amazing woman.

“While you two were secretly dating, you had one of your closest friendsstillpretend to be your girlfriend in front of everyone, including Sky. And when Keith caught you two in her bedroom, you didn’t make it clear that you wanted to be with her. You were torn. So why would she want to tell her mom about you when your entire relationship was ambiguous?”

I hadn’t thought about it that way, but she was right. That was exactly why I hadn’t told my mom. I’d considered Slade a true friend, so it had been easy to talk about him and Lucy.

“But we’re together, so forgive me if it hurts that mymatehad to tell her mother who I was.” His jaw clenched. “You don’t know the other shit she’s thought about me, so don’t come at me with this lecture.”

My heart panged with hurt, and Lucy glanced at me. She asked, “Like what?”

“It’s none of your business. I’m just saying you don’t know—” Raffe started.

I cut him off and told her about the pictures and what I’d asked him. He’d brought it up, and I wanted her to get off his case. If I wanted to heal things between Raffe and me, I needed to own up to my mistakes.

The more Lucy heard, the pinker her cheeks became.

When I was done, I prepared for her to rip into me. Instead, she marched over to Raffe and smacked him on the back of the head … hard.

“What the fuck?” he snarled.

“You’re more of a jackass than I realized.” Lucy pointed her finger in his face. “And that’s really saying something.”

I blinked, trying to understand what the hell was going on. “Shouldn’t you be mad at me?”

“No,” Lucy answered, turning to me. “Did you not list all the reasons why? You two got your shit together right after you almost died and Raffe told us you were it for him. Then you got kidnapped and went missing for over three days!”

She had a point. Though our relationship felt like we’d been together a lot longer, it hadn’t even been a week. We’d gone through so much in so little time that it felt like months.

“You were continuously drugged, manipulated, and shown actual pictures. Who in their right mind wouldn’t have a seed of doubt after that, especially after how poorly Raffe and Keith treated you?” She placed her hands on her hips and glared at her cousin. “After being back for less than a day, she got into a confrontation with your dad and came back only to be forced into yet another confrontation! I thought fated mates were supposed to be considerate and kind to one another.”

The back of my neck tingled, informing me that Raffe was staring at me. I wanted to meet his gaze but kept my attention on Lucy.

“Sky, do you mind if I have a moment alone with Lucy?” Raffe’s voice was deep, and his emotions in my chest were a strange combination I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

I dropped my hand from Cat-Keith and nodded. Having a moment alone to process everything Lucy had said would be wise. She had a lot of valid points, but I didn’t think she was being completely fair to Raffe. “Yeah, but what about Keith?”

As if she knew I was worried, she jumped on Lucy’s bed and curled into a ball in the center, then began licking her paws as if she hadn’t attacked Raffe moments ago.

Lucy smiled. “She seems okay to me.”

“Okay. I’m going to my room to change into pajamas.” I forced a smile. As I left, my arm brushed Raffe’s, and the buzz sprang to life.

I didn’t pause as I went into my room and shut the door, giving both them and myself privacy. I grabbed a pair of lilac pajama bottoms and slipped them on, then threw on a dark-purple shirt. When the door to my room opened quickly, I jerked back, caught off guard that their conversation had gone so fast.

I pulled my hair from under the shirt and turned to Raffe.

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