Page 26 of Tolerated By the Sigma (Mate Hunt 7)

My packs had dropped me, but his had completely turned on him. And I hadn’t known mine since I was an infant; I had joined them when I was seven or eight. Plus, I’d never been a werewolf.

They had been his family. He’d known them for as long as he could remember, and they didn’t just give up on him—they tried to kill him.

I started to apologize. “I’m—”

“Don’t say you’re sorry.” He cut me off with a soft growl. “I’ve heard that so fucking many times since the rejection. I’m so damn tired of everyone’s pity.”

The words surprised me. I started to lift my head off his shoulder, but he held me securely against him, in place. “An apology isn’t pity, Ryder. It’s my way of saying that you deserved better, and I wish things had been better for you.”

He didn’t respond to that, though his body was still tense against mine.

“Just… fuck them, okay? There were good things that happened to you because of what they and Lisa did to you, right?”

He nodded, his chin brushing my hair slightly. “I got to meet my nephew, and spend time getting to know the little bastard.”

My lips curved upward a bit. “He’s adorable.”

“Too adorable,” Ryder agreed. His fingers resumed playing with my hair. “I learned how to cook, which I enjoyed. Grew closer to my wolf in some ways, even though he’s a pain in the ass.”

He was definitely more in-synch with his wolf than anyone else I’d ever met was.

“My parents are almost back to the way they were before the rejection, and I feel better knowing I haven’t wrecked their lives,” he continued.

Well, that was less positive, but still positive so I supported it.

His voice was lower when he added, “And by some insane miracle, I found you.”

The words made me feel all mushy.

We were far from having all our shit figured out, but we had found each other, and that sure as hell counted for something.

I lifted my head from his chest, and this time, he let me tilt it backward. Our eyes met, and his fingers dug deeper into my hair, tightening in the strands.

With the way he was looking at me, I waited for him to compliment me, or tell me I was stunning or something.

He finally murmured, “Does your shirt have a cow on it?”

“Yes.”

He leaned away a bit further, his eyes scanning the shirt. “Calm your teats?”

I snorted. “It’s even better when you say it with that sexy growl.”

He lifted an eyebrow at me. “I have a sexy growl?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know that already.”

His eyebrow lifted further. “I’m a twenty-seven-year-old virgin, Mouse. I don’t often feelsexy.”

Shit.

Right.

I’d forgotten that.

“Well, your voice is sexy. And your whole…” I gestured to all of him. “Yeah. Yep. All of you is sexy. The muscles, the tattoos, the hair… you are very nice to look at. And probably to fuck, too.”

His eyes heated. “Flattery is your newest seduction method? I already promised you could give me a handjob.”

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