Page 60 of Captive Mate
Was I a placeholder for some future mate, a nice werewolf girl who’d know how to deal with her brother-in-law shoving mugs at her angrily? Someone Matthew’s council would fully support, someone who might bring a pack alliance with her, or even, gods forbid, some money?
I wasn’t a girl. I wasn’t even a werewolf.
…And Matthew didn’tknowI wasn’t a werewolf. I would’ve liked to have said it hadn’t come up, but why would it have? I was a shaman. My scent was odd anyway, and disguised to boot. He’d never asked. And like a cowardly idiot, I’d never brought it up.
I was still brooding when I gave Colin a short, cranky farewell and got in the car, still brooding when I pulled up by the Armitage garage and yanked too hard on the parking brake, and still brooding when I went straight upstairs and got immediately into the shower, locking the bathroom door behind me.
Forty-five minutes of hot water and a really irresponsible amount of fancy shampoo later, I still had no idea what to do. What I was doing. What Matthew was doing. Fuck. Ugh. He was in lust. He didn’t actually love me.
Did I love him?
By the time I got there, I really hated myself for caring.
I stomped out of the bathroom with a force worthy of Nate on a rampage, and stopped dead.
Matthew was lying on the bed, shirtless and with his jeans unbuttoned, his bare ankles crossed. He was texting on his phone, but the second I came out he stopped and tossed the phone onto his nightstand.
Becausehehadhisnightstand, andIhadmynightstand, because…somehow, I lived here.
And I had no idea why I was living here.
On my nightstand, I realized, was Nate’s fucking awful mug. And it had steam coming out of it.
“I found this great mug and made you some tea,” Matthew said with a mischievous grin. Gods. Either he was completely oblivious, or he vastly overestimated how well teasing me when I was in this mood would work out for him.
“Fucking great,” I snarled, and stomped back into the bathroom to hang up my towel.
When I came back out he was standing by the bed shucking his jeans, his eyes glowing a little despite my grouchiness.
Right. Because I’d taken a long shower and was naked. Frustration welled up so strongly and so suddenly that it burst right out of me.
“How the fuck do we have old-married-couple routines and people giving me mugs that say you’re my mate on them when all we are is two people who like to fuck?” I wasn’t shouting, but it was close. “We’re not mated! We’re never going to be mated! I’m not even a fucking werewolf!”
And by the end, yeah. I was shouting. I stopped, fists on my hips and chest heaving, probably all red from the shower and looking ridiculous.
Matthew finally, finally had the good sense to look wary.
Wary, and also shocked. His eyes widened, and he carefully set his jeans aside on a chair, as if afraid they’d start shouting at him too.
“Okaaay,” he said slowly. “So, I’m not sure which part of that to try to argue with first.”
“I didn’t say it because I want you to argue with me!”
“Well, you can’t expect me to just nod and agree, can you?” And now he was angry too, or getting there. His jaw clenched, and his eyes were full-on blazing now.
“Yes, actually,” I ground out. “Yes, I can expect you to nod and agree with me, because nothing I said is arguable.”
Matthew’s eyes narrowed. Oh, shit. I’d activated pack-leader Matthew, who spent all day arguing with his council and with Ian and with various people who were understandably reluctant to loan the pack money.
“One,” he said, and I groaned and turned away. “One!” he repeated, now sounding really fucking pissed. “We have couple routines because we live together. And you’re welcome for the tea, by the way.” I winced. I did feel a little bad about that. A lot of nights Matthew made me something to drink before bed, and I loved it. “Two, I’m not responsible for Nate expressing his feelings via drinking vessel.” He paused, and I felt my face flaming even redder. “Sorry, was that tactless?”
And now he waslaughingat me? I whirled on him, ready to give him a huge fucking piece of my mind and possibly claw his face off, and I found him right behind me, having snuck up on me silently in the two seconds since he’d spoken.
Fucking alphas, godsdammit.
I opened my mouth, and he seized me around the waist and grappled us both down onto the bed, landing so hard on top of me that the bed creaked and bounced. He’d managed to get between my legs, and his boxer-clad hips pressed into my naked inner thighs. I wriggled. He moved his hips, and his boxer-clad cock nudged behind my balls.
I gasped up at him, so indignant I couldn’t even fight back.
