Page 38 of Love Bites Hard

“I needed time to think,”he gritted out.

“And I needed to not feel used, but somehow, your needs superseded mine.”

“That’s not what we’re discussing. You let another man put his hands in your hair.”

“For all I knew, you could’ve been putting your cock in another woman while I tossed and turned in your bed.”

“You could’ve looked into my mind at any moment to know that wasn’t true.”

“I shouldn’t have to check on my mate to make sure he’s not cheating on me in the middle of the night,”I snapped back.

“I shouldn’t have to wonder what else my mate did with one of my wolves while he braided her hair.”

I glowered at a massive fish that swam lazily past me.“Sealing the mate bond was obviously a mistake.”

“Apparently,”he growled.“Get out of the water. I need to see you.”

“Kiss my ass, Furball. I’m not getting out. Good luck finding me.”

He snarled into my mind, and I tried to push him out, focusing on the rest of the pack bond again.

I wantedto get out and eat a snack a few hours later, but Porter was still growling and snapping at me. That made me pretty sure he was waiting for me outside the lake.

Leaving would mean letting him catch me.

The bastard could lock me in his room or something.

So, I stayed under the water.

I swam close to the surface to check the time every now and then. When the sun was up high in the sky, I knew it was around noon. When it was lower, I’d made it to the late afternoon. And when I finally looked into the sky and saw the moon shining, I knew I’d won our little fight.

Porter was even more pissed than he had been earlier, but I didn’t care. He could be as angry as he wanted. He’d treated me like shit, and I wasn’t letting that go.

There were dozens of wolves around when I emerged from the water. I ignored their gazes—and the snarl of my alpha—as I strode toward the tree where I’d left my things.

Of course, Porter was waiting there.

With his gigantic biceps bulging, his cut abdomen tensed, and his eyes flooded with fury.

He was already walking toward me with a bundle of fabric in his hand—and he was wearing shorts.

He reached me long before I got back to my clothes, and unceremoniously yanked the fabric he was holding over my head. It seemed to be one of his t-shirts. The one he wasn’t wearing, maybe.

When I didn’t stick my hands through the armholes right away, he fished them out and tugged them through.

Then, he leveled his furious gaze with mine.

I pushed past him as our minds collided so he could snarl at me again, but I ignored his anger.

Porter grabbed my towel and basket of snacks before I could. He draped the towel over my shoulders as he walked beside me, not seeming to care that I was ignoring him. When he inhaled against my hair again, he grunted in what actually sounded like relief.

Then, he dragged me to his chest.

And he hugged me.

I didn’t hug him back.

That bastard was going to have to grovel if he wanted to earn that from me.

---