Page 22 of The Wolf Guard's Mate

I clenched my jaw and hung up.

“Hello?” Olive waved a hand in my face. “What’s going on, and why does it involve me?”

I forced myself to take a few deep breaths.

My mate was safe.

She was healthy.

She was going to be fine.

I met her gaze. “Your human hospital notified their authorities when you disappeared. They knew where you came from. They snuck someone into our city to see if we were killing women who left our society and found out that we turned you to save your life. We’re in negotiations with them to come to an agreement about turning women, but we needed Clay to get back from his cabin to wrap them up. Without serious laws for both humans and werewolves, Crimson River will be flooded with dying humans.”

“That’s the real reason you spent every one of my shifts at the bar with me, isn’t it?” Olive demanded.

I didn’t answer.

She had clearly realized the truth.

“So you lied to me about that yesterday. Did Nova know? Was she keeping it from me too?”

“No. Clay needed time to work through his shit, so we left him out of it. He would’ve found out tonight, on his way to the border. He probably told Nova while he ran.”

“What about Sydney and Aspen?”

“I don’t know whether they’ve talked to Fletcher and Enzo about it, but it seems likely.”

Olive’s body was trembling with rage when she stood up. Her fists clenched, and her face reddened.

Mental alarm bells were ringing, telling me to fix things, but there was nothing to fix. I’d kept the truth from her so she could enjoy settling into Crimson River and adapting to having a wolf. I wasn’t going to apologize for that, even if she was clearly pissed about it.

“Fuck you,” Olive swore, gesturing toward me violently. “I’m not a damsel in distress. I deserved to know the truth. Fuck you for keeping it from me, lying to me, and screwing me while you did. Go to hell, Hunter.”

She strode out of the room without a backward glance.

My wolf snarled and snapped his teeth, but the gestures were deflated. She was right to be angry, even if keeping it from her had seemed like the best call at the time.

I’d try to figure out a way to fix things after I made sure my brothers were alright and my mate’s life wasn’t in danger.

six

OLIVE

Hunter wordlessly returnedmy phone a few hours later. It was the first time I’d seen him since we were in his bedroom that morning. I’d explored again after leaving him, and I’d been a lot more awake and aware, so it didn’t take long to figure out where everything was and how to get there.

I was the most interested in the pool, so I headed there after I had a mental map figured out. I didn’t have a swimsuit, so skinny dipping was the only option.

The pool was awesome. The whole thing was designed to look tropical, with bright tiles that made the water look insanely blue. Between the hot tub, the gigantic rock waterfall, and the live plants placed strategically around the room, it felt like paradise.

More importantly, swimming gave me time to think about my situation.

Given everything that was happening with the humans, Hunter’s mansion was the best place I could be at the moment.

Minus the part where he was also living there.

My wolf didn’t seem as obsessive or demanding as his was. Maybe because she and I were still adjusting to being a pair, or maybe it was just a personality thing. She liked being around him, and definitely loved the way he smelled, but she had no problem letting me go to sleep when he wasn’t nearby. She didn’t push me to find him when we were apart, either.

Which was good, because I was so pissed off about him lying to me that I wasn’t going to deal with any more of his shit.

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