Page 6 of Tolerated By the Sigma (Mate Hunt 7)

Wolves were so damned dramatic.

Okay, fine, I did pat him on the head a bit in an apology.

“Theoretically?” Sam frowned.

Honestly, he was the calm, rational one of the two of them. Vi could be a wild card, but she loved fiercely and had acted like a mama bear, protecting me since our parents died when I was six.

“His eyes turned red and he called me ‘mate’ before shifting,” I explained quickly. “But how can I be his mate? And how am I supposed to know if this is real?” I gestured between us. “What if he just lost control of his wolf or something?” I shot the wolf an apologetic grimace. “No offense.”

The wolf snarled at me like saying he was very much offended, but honestly, that only supported my question.

“If you turn into a wolf when he bites you, then you’ll know,” Sam said, his gaze speculative as he studied Ryder.

“He’s way too old for you,” Violet snarled back, as if frustrated that we weren’t taking this seriously enough. “And he already had a mate.”

“Easy, Vi.” Sam’s voice was light and playful, the backs of his fingers skimming his mate’s arm. “Werewolfism is a curse, but it still has to play fate’s game. Most rejected male wolves lose their minds soon after being rejected; if Ryder hasn’t, maybe he’s been given a second mate like female wolves are after they turn down their males. It’s not entirely illogical. And a few years doesn’t really matter at this point.”

Violet shot him a death glare that only made both me and Sam fight back grins.

We’d both always gotten a hoot out of her overprotectiveness.

“What happened, exactly?” Vi demanded.

“My human date picked me up earlier, drunk and demanding. I made him pull over, and he attacked me in a gas station bathroom. I’d called Sabrina to come pick me up, but Ryder overheard the phone call and came to get me instead. He knocked the other guy’s lights out, saving me from potential rape in the process, before he wolfed out. I didn’t even recognize him, but he definitely didn’t seem insane. Just… big.” I glanced over at him, fighting back the words, “andsexy”.

“A drunk human man didwhat?” Violet practically shouted at me.

“He wasn’t supposed to be drunk,” I countered.

“I don’t think this is the right time for this conversation,” Sam threw out quickly, tucking Violet behind his back as Oscar snarled and threw himself onto my lap, snapping his teeth out the window.

“Easy, that’s my sister,” I growled back at the guy, pushing his head away from the window.

“Can you take him inside for the night, Char?” Sam asked, and I could see Violet pacing behind him, still fuming. “I’ll call a few friends in other towns to see if anyone else has heard of this kind of situation. Until then, there’s no reason to assume this isn’t a real mate hunt, and considering that Oscar’s a sigma, you’re probably in it for the long haul.”

I bit back a groan. “I’m going to try to talk him out of that. Considering he’s already been through this, I’m hoping his wolf will work with me.”

Sam gave me a small smile. “Good luck. We love you.”

My throat swelled.

My dad had died when I was so young that Sam had raised me as if he were my father. He had set me up with a few different wolf packs when I was in school, so there was always someone to protect me and prevent me from getting lonely. He had talked to me about shit that I’d done that would’ve pissed Violet off, he had… well, he had done everything he possibly could. We weren’t blood-related, but he had been the best damn father I could ever hope for.

“I love you guys too. See you soon?”

“Of course. You’ve got this.” He held out a fist, and I bumped it with mine. We’d done knuckles for good luck since I was like eight and had been worried about failing at the school science fair.

“Call me if you needanything,” Vi warned. “Even if you need me to kill that furry bastard; you know I will.”

I flashed her a small grin. “I know.”

She stepped up to the window and gave me a fierce hug through it before striding back to her car with her mate.

I watched them go, feeling much more capable than I had a few minutes earlier.

THREE

After Violetand Sam had driven away, I sighed and looked at the still-growling wolf with his front paws on my lap. His gaze was focused on the open window, his eyes scanning the world around the townhouses for threats or something.

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