“Dammit,” I growl when I realize the bakery closed half an hour ago.
Find her!my wolf demands.
Her scent is stronger here, and I start sniffing, following her sweet scent through the woods and down a path behind the bakery. Ezra and Wade are right behind me, and it’s getting harder to ignore the fact that they seem to be following me.
“Back off,” I snap. Neither of them makes a move to leave or even slow down. “What the hell are you two doing?” I snarl as I turn to face them.
“Finding my mate,” they say at the same time.
“Excuse me?Yourmate?” I ask, and a pit starts to form in my stomach.
No. It can’t be possible. Fate wouldn’t do this to me. It wouldn’t make me share a mate.
My wolf is just as pissed off as I am. He’s a snapping, snarling beast pacing restlessly inside of me. It’s getting harder and harder to keep him under control, and truth be told; I don’t want to. The pure possessive alpha animal in me wants to bite these fuckers’ heads off for even thinking about my mate.
But then I get another hit of her scent, and every sense is overwhelmed by her.
I try to ignore Wade and Ezra as I follow her sweet essence down the path until it ends outside a cute little house nestled in the woods. A pretty brunette is walking inside the front door, and my heart nearly bursts out of my chest when I realize she’s our fated mate.
“Wait!” we all yell at once, but she’s already inside.
That does it. I can’t ignore this anymore.
“She’smine,” I say, turning to face them.
“No, she’smine,” Ezra snaps at me.
“Y’all are crazy. She’smymate,” Wade says, his teeth flashing in warning.
I frown. We all seem to realize what’s happening at the same time, our shoulders deflating as we sigh.
“Well, shit,” I grunt, wiping a hand down my face.
“Fuck me,” Ezra grunts.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Wade chimes in.
The three of us exchange a wary glance as if seeing each other for the first time.
CHAPTERTHREE
WADE
She’s mine, and I’m not sharing her.
I glare at Ezra and Patrick, trying to decide what to do now. This is not how I thought finding my fated mate would go. It was supposed to be the happiest moment of my life. Instead, I’m tired, stressed out, and angry.
Am I going to have to fight them for her?
My wolf is already on his feet, ready to go if it comes to that. It’s a bit of a whiplash since I just spent the last month being good friends with them. Part of me still respects Patrick and his stoic nature, even if he’s a stickler for the rules. And sure, I can’t help but remember what a good listener Ezra has been these last few weeks, only speaking when he has something poignant to say.
Those fond feelings are shoved further and further away, replaced by the need to pluck their eyeballs out for ogling my sweet mate.
“She’s my mate,” Patrick says. “I smelled her first.”
“You can’t know that. Besides, you can’t call dibs onmymate,” Ezra argues.
“She’s not your mate. Or yours. She’smine,” I tell them.