Page 98 of Love Bites Hard

“Evan can handle it,” Kim snapped.

“No, I can’t.” Evan stepped into the house behind Porter.

Guess he hadn’t left after all.

Panic flooded Kim’s face, but she regained composure and made her expression neutral.

“If I take over the pack, people will die. I won’t be able to hold on to it. Porter’s the best guy for the job,” Evan added, his gaze fixed on Kim.

“Hands up,” one of the guys growled, and Evan raised his hands to match Porter’s. “When he mated with a siren his strength became meaningless.”

“That siren saved all of us by offering him her freedom,” Evan countered. “You don’t need fur to be a part of the pack.”

“Just give the pack to Evan so we can get this fucking show on the road,” Corbin growled again. “Hand over the pack, or watch your mate lose her head.”

“I have no reason to believe that you don’t intend to remove her head no matter what I do,” Porter said. “I’m not going to be the first one to yield. Let her go, and we can talk about an outcome all of us will agree on.”

“If we let her go, you’re just going to kill us,” the laptop girl argued, finally looking away from the screen.

“If we give in, you could kill her. We can all see the blood on her throat.” Evan gestured toward me.

Porter’s chest rumbled in anger, the first visible sign of the fury I knew was bubbling beneath his skin.

Silently, I turned up the flow of my magic a little more.

It would make everyone feel warm and a little turned on—but with the intensity of the moment, they would chalk it up to their physical response to what was happening.

I couldn’treallyhit my magic hard until Corbin moved the knife away from my throat.

“Just give Evan the pack,” Kim commanded, desperation seeping into her voice. “I’m done watching him spend all of his time with you. He should be with me. We should be in charge. Everything was fine between us before you came back.”

The anger—and pain—in her eyes was clear.

She poisoned me and either organized or joined a rebellion because she wasjealous.

Not jealous that I was mated to Porter.

Jealous that the guy she wanted as her mate had chosen Porter over her since he returned to the pack.

She just wanted time with her fiancé.

It was understandable, until you got to the part where she thought she should betray her alpha rather than working things out with the guy she’d claimed as her mate.

“Kim,” Evan said, and he had her complete attention. “If Porter gives me the pack, someone else will challenge me, and I’ll lose. Becoming the alpha would kill me. I’m sorry if I’ve been spending too much time working for the pack, but getting me killed isn’t the answer. We can talk. Work things through.”

I didn’t know if he was serious or not, and I didn’t know if Porter would let her leave alive, but he really sold the words.

Tears welled up in Kim’s eyes.

“Put the knife down, Corbin,” she ordered.

He laughed darkly and pressed it harder to my throat.

“Hit him hard with your magic,”Porter commanded, with panic in his voice that didn’t show on his face.“He won’t be able to hurt you when it floods him.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. Hold the magic until we’ve dealt with the threat entirely.”

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