Page 32 of Love Bites Hard

Evan snorted. “If he was himself, he’d be fucking obsessed with you.”

“Considering I slept alone last night, that clearly isn’t the case.”

Evan nodded. “You want to know what I think?”

“Enlighten me,” I drawled.

He flashed me another, smaller grin. “I think he needs a distraction. And you’re the perfect solution.”

“I’m hismate, not hisdistraction.”

“Right. And there’s one easy way to distract a mated man.”

We continued walking.

I wasn’t sure I liked Evan. He definitely seemed to be on Porter’s side, not mine.

“I amnotgoing to try to seduce him. He ditched me right after he screwed me in front of his pack,” I reminded him.

“Not his best move, but hear me out. I’m not talking about seduction—I’m talking about jealousy.”

My forehead creased. “How am I going to make him jealous? He’s nowhere near me, and he knows I’m his.”

“The pack link. I’ll mention Arthur doing your hair. It’ll piss him off, and he’ll come running back. When he gets here, he’ll smell Arthur in your hair, and he won’t let you out of his sight for a while. As soon as he tries to leave, we’ll figure out another way to make him jealous, to drag him back.”

“That sounds like a good way to get Arthur murdered.”

Evan grinned. “I’ll tell him what’s going on and hide him away until Porter’s anger has died down. He’ll be on board with it. This is going to be perfect.”

“I’m headed out for a swim. If Porter doesn’t find me before I get in the water, it’s going to be too late. I’m not waiting around for that asshole.”

“He’ll beat you to the lake,” Evan said without hesitation. “You’ve got a thirty-minute walk, and he’ll be racing back here like hell is on his heels.”

“We’ll see,” I said, continuing forward as Evan stayed back.

“Just follow the map, and you’ll find it easily. I have work to do, so I’ll send someone I trust to follow you for your protection. Tell me what happens when he catches you.”

“I don’t have your phone number,” I called over my shoulder, when he started jogging away.

“Use the pack link!”

Right.

The pack link.

I reached out to Evan mentally, and found him with ease. “If this blows up in my face, I’m blaming you.”

He chuckled.“Go ahead. Porter’s lost too many people to kill me.”

The words made my throat swell, but I forced myself to keep walking.

Losing people hurt like hell, but it wasn’t an excuse for the way my mate had treated me. So, I wasn’t going to excuse him for it. No matter how jealous Evan made him.

seven

PORTER

I was fucking drowningin my thoughts.

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