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I looked at Relic over her head.“Get your female in hand.”

Fern flushed with rage, her fingers curling into fists.“You arrogant piece of fucking?—”

Relic lifted her off her feet and shoved her face against his throat, effectively gagging her.“—shit,” Relic finished for her.“That’s what you were going to say, right, Tink?”Her muffled yes came out loud and clear.“I don’t know what the fuck you were trying to prove in there,” Relic said.“And only you and Sutton know if you’re mates or not, but what you just did, the way you treated her?If youaremates, then you have seriously fucked up, brother, you might have fucked any chance of ever claiming her.And if you’re not?Then you just hurt a really good female, one who trusted you so much, having you guard her place was the only way she could sleep after that fucker carved her up.That, my brother, was fucking uncool.”

His words were like a brutal jab to the sternum.

He eased up on Fern, and she spun to me, her bloodred hair flying everywhere.“You don’t deserve her!”

I already knew that, but it was irrelevant, because she wasn’t mine.

“You done?”I said to both of them.

Fern squirmed.Relic put her down, and she stormed toward her car, got in, slammed the door shut and sped out of the parking lot, obviously going after Sutton.Good.Better she not be alone given how messed up she still was.

Relic planted his hands on his hips, watching his mate go.“I fucking hope you know what you’re doing,” he said, then strode to his bike and went after her.

I got another whiff of Sutton’s scent still lingering in the air, and I found myself breathing it deep into my lungs—blood.Not a lot, but she’d been hurt.I noticed her lip was cut, it had to be that.

I shoved my fingers through my hair and looked back at the gate she’d sped through.The female was sensitive, fragile.

Maybe I should have taken her aside when she spouted that mate bullshit in the clubhouse, maybe setting her straight in front of everyone had been the wrong play, but it was too fucking late now.Following her out here and stopping her from leaving, probably hadn’t been a good idea either.I’d just wanted to try and make her see the truth, for her own good, but I got the feeling I only made it worse.I breathed deeply again, taking in what remained of her scent.Had her lip been split before she came here?I hadn’t noticed it or smelled the blood when she first came to the table.

“Fuck.”I curled my fingers into tight fists as the uncontrollable urge to go to her and find out why she was injured slammed into me again.

Instead of getting on my bike, though, I got in my truck, ignoring the urge that wouldn’t fucking go away and the weird sense of responsibility I’d felt for her since I lifted her off that gurney, unconscious and cut up, and I stomped on the gas, heading for Oldwood Forest.

I’d been gone a long time, and I needed to hunt.Stalking deer would be productive—and would distract me from thinking about the way Sutton had stood there in her pretty yellow dress covered in flowers, her cheeks pink and eyes bright, looking up at me in expectation.It would stop me from thinking about all that wild honey-blond wavy hair, with its little braids or how soft it looked.

Yeah, the female was beautiful, sweet, had a scent that drove me fucking wild, but I wasn’t her mate.That didn’t mean I didn’t want to fuck her, because I did, which was why, for the last three months, every time I relived that soft kiss, I’d had to curl my fingers into a fist or shake them out when a visceral memory of the way her hair felt against my palm forced its way into my mind.

It was a hound thing, no big deal.My beast loved the texture of her hair.It was the same reason I’d visited her in her room at night when she was still recovering all those months ago, when no one else was around, and why I couldn’t stop myself from running my fingers through it, why I’d pressed my nose to it and breathed her in.

I craved touch, like all hounds, and I liked the way Sutton felt.That’s all.

The crackling of the fire reminded me of Hell and eased some of the tension in my gut.My hunt had been successful.I’d taken down two stags, field dressed and hung them.I should take them back to the clubhouse chiller now, but they’d be fine overnight, with how cool it was.

I’d been looking forward to sleeping in my own bed for the last three months, and here I was sleeping on the forest floor instead.

Maybe because every time you’d thought about sleeping in your bed, you’d envisioned Sutton in it with you.

Snarling under my breath, I shoved my jacket beneath my head and tried to get comfortable.No wonder she was confused.With the way I wanted to fuck that female, I had to be throwing out mixed signals.

I rolled to my back, and tried to shove Sutton from my mind.I should at least try and stay alert.There were demons all over this forest, even if they wouldn’t dare come near me.Maybe if they snuck up and tried to take my head in the middle of the night, they might be able to kill me, but then the entire pack would descend on the forest, and that wasn’t something they’d ever risk.

My hand automatically reached for my phone, and before I could stop myself, I did what had become my nightly ritual, scrolling through the photos Sutton had sent me while I was away.I’d tried to keep contact to a minimum, but I’d done it for her.She’d admitted she associated me with safety.I thought getting her to send me a pic every now and then, just that small amount of contact, would make her feel safer.I felt responsible for her.I hadn’t meant to lead her on or make her think we were more than we were.

She’d cried when I told her I was leaving, what the fuck was I supposed to do?

Bullshit.You were feeding your perverted little addiction.

“Fuck.”I rubbed my hands over my face.Yeah, I’d studied every inch of her in those photos over and over again, and when I was in bed at night and couldn’t stop thinking about her, thinking about how she’d feel under me, I’d stroked my cock to them, imagining that’s exactly where she was.

Fucking her wasn’t a possibility now, though, and I could admit, after that kiss, I’d been hoping to spend some time with her, that maybe she’d want to have some fun, but that couldn’t happen now, not after tonight.

But maybe we could go back to her sending me the odd pic, to her sending me those long messages about what she’d been up to during her day?I’d liked reading those.I’d looked forward to them.

I had smelled blood on her.Not much, but she had been hurt.Would she reply if I asked her to show me a picture, if I told her I needed proof she was all right?Would she send me a photo even now?She’d been upset.The scent of her distress still hadn’t left me.