Page 2 of The Wolf Guard's Mate

“Any sign of heat yet?” he checked.

“Nope.”

“Damn, I’m getting antsy.”

“That makes two of us.” I leaned over the bar, scanning the small crowd. It was fairly empty, as weekday nights after 12 AM usually were. We were open until two, so I still had an hour and a half until last call. That was fine, though. I’d always been a night owl.

“What time are you off?” Jake asked me, and I watched Hunter through the corner of my eye.

Jake’s question was planned.

He had agreed to help me figure out for sure if Hunter was threatening people not to ask me out, or if the guys were just keeping their distance because he was there. The bar I worked at was one of the most popular in Crimson River, so most of the patrons weren’t part of our pack.

“A little after two,” I said, still eyeing Hunter.

He didn’t react physically, but Jake’s slow grin told me he’d done something.

“That’s pretty late,” he said, and I slid him a receipt someone had discarded.

Jake scribbled over the back of it before sliding it to me.

Hunter says you’re off limits. And not to call you Oli Pop

I mouthed, “Thank you.”

“Thanks for the drink, Olive. Let me know when heat’s starting?”

“Yep. See ya.”

He tipped the drink back and set the glass down before striding away.

Everyone else in the building was doing their own thing, so I went into the kitchen for a minute to let the guys back there know I was going on break.

Afterward, I stepped out from behind the bar and crossed the room.

Hunter’s eyes didn’t leave the screen of the laptop he was focused on as I slid into the booth across from him. But he tensed a little, which was interesting.

I closed his laptop halfway, though that was kind of risky. I could definitely piss him off. I was pissed at him, though, so that seemed fair.

I said in my most cheery voice, “Hey, brother-in-law.”

His gaze finally lifted to me, his jaw clenched. “We’re not siblings.”

“You adopted Fletcher when Aspen mated with Enzo, and he’s her brother,” I countered.

“That was different.”

“Because he doesn’t have tits?”

Hunter couldn’t stop his gaze from lowering to my breasts, just for a heartbeat. His eyes flicked back to mine immediately, and I almost thought I saw his cheeks redden.

That couldn’t have been right, though.

“No,” Hunter said, far too late.

“Whatever. I have no desire to be a Savage.” I leaned over the table. “But I need you to stop scaring guys away from me. It’s been years since I had sex, and I have to get back on the horse before heat strikes. I don’t want my first experience in ages to include knotting.”

His cheeks reddened further, and holy shit, I was right about the blushing.

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