Page 73 of Love Bites Hard

After setting a few things into motion for my mate the day before, I’d spent most of my time combing through the pack through the link the way my father had taught me. Doing so had given me a better idea of where I stood with the pack—and it was far from great.

It was time to do better with that, too.

So, after I carried my mate to the lake, I found Evan in my office.

“Ready?” I asked him.

His lips stretched in a twisted grin. “Always.”

And we headed out to deal with the first threat together.

seventeen

IZZY

The next twoweeks passed quickly.

And strangely.

The sex war technically continued, but Porter didn’t fight back. He let me tease him, but didn’t really tease me. Didn’t try to touch me, either. Without him fueling the fire, my efforts grew half-hearted. I still wore my most revealing clothing and grinded my ass against him now and then, but he didn’t comment on it unless he was complimenting me.

He was exhausted when he got to our room every night, but open and playful when he braided my hair every morning.

I would’ve been concerned about his tiredness, but every time I peeked into his mind, I found him working with Evan. Sometimes, they were talking to or questioning pack members.

Once, I saw him kill someone who had been secretively communicating with one of Curtis’s allies outside Mistwood and the pack.

But most of the time, they were working through paperwork and other stuff like that.

Thanks to Blair, I knew that the king’s mates were typically expected to help run their kingdom. There was a lot to do, and two people could handle it a lot better than one.

But Porter hadn’t asked me to. Or offered me the role. Obviously, I wasn’t going to try to take it. So, I wasn’t involved.

I spent all of my time in the lake—and honestly started to get bored of it, for the first time in my life.

It was relaxing, but apparently there was such a thing astoomuchrelaxation.

Maybe I needed to see if any of the women running businesses in Wolf Manor needed some help or something.

With my mind made up, I got out of the water and pulled my swimsuit on earlier than usual. Porter had picked me up from the lake every day, so I hadn’t done the walk back in a while. But I didn’tneedthat.

I walked over to my snack basket beneath the tree I always left it at, and grabbed my towel. I’d pulled it over my shoulders and wrapped it around my body before I realized it was slightly damp.

It must’ve rained while I was in the lake.

It wasn’t wet enough not to use it, so I dried my face as much as possible, and quickly did the same with the rest of my body too. I finally looked down at my skin when I pulled the towel off my legs, and horror struck me.

Glitter.

Streaky, uneven glitter.

I immediately lifted the towel to my nose and sniffed.

Chlorine.

Someone had dipped my towel in chlorinated water while I was swimming, and brought it back.

What the hell?

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