Page 13 of The Beast's Betrayed Mate
“Rude?” she couldn’t keep herself from cutting in, crossing her arms over her chest. “Let’s talk rude, if you’d like. You woke me up likethat, then you ran away without so much as a word even though you canclearlycommunicate—”
Why are you here?
“Why areyouhere, Peter? If this is all because you were bitten, if you didn’t know that this was possible before, thenwhywouldn’tyouwant to…”
Want to what?
She couldn’t take her eyes off him. His large head, those golden eyes, and the patience that was his trademark at work. He never lost his temper, he never doled out harsh words or undue criticism. He was focused, precise and professional. Always. In all the ways he hadn’t been while they were in school together. When he made a show of telling her how little he or anyone else wanted to even look at her.
But he was clearly in trouble.
“Why wouldn’t you want to stick around? Find out more?” she elaborated.
Google it, you mean?
“Don’t sound so damn snarky,” she snapped. “Would you like to do this by yourself? Because you might be quite intimidating, but I’ll march out of here without a second thought if you give me that attitude. I don’t have to be here.”
And yet here you are.
“Yes,” she muttered. “I guess I am.”
There was a slow, drawn-out howl that suddenly filled the night. It was a distant, mournful noise, and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck prick up.
“What’s it saying?” she asked.
That it’s here, he replied.It’s not trying to get me to come say hello. If you were wondering.
The sound of that low murmur of his voice inside of her head was making her feel dizzy with the implications of it. With the supernatural aspect of it. With how the wolf calling into the night might very well be the wolf that bit him.
“How close is it?” she asked.
Not too close.
The brown wolf moved, walking slowly across the light cast by one of the lamps. It caught and gleamed in his thick fur. She could tell there were powerful muscles beneath it, rippling with every step.
“How do you feel?” she asked.
Amazing.
“Peter.”
I mean it, he growled, though it was still gentle, not a rebuke.I feel amazing. It doesn’t feel weird. It feels… right.
“What about…” She trailed off, the wolf’s burning gaze locked back onto her, a question in it. “What about the hunger?” she asked.
Ah, so you do have somerudeknowledge after all.
“Very funny,” she muttered. “I think we should get you back inside. I mean… How long are you going to be stuck like… that? You scared the shit out of your neighbor, by the way. She’s getting you a new door, hopefully.”
She could have sworn that, if a wolf could smile, that was what he was doing.
Myrtle will be fine, he said.She has a knack for only believing what she wants to believe.
“Yeah? Then she’ll think you’ve gotten an oversized dog named Riley.”
I’m not a dog.
The growl was immediate and a little harsher this time, as though the words had come from somewhere different. Somewhere deeper.
