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At those words, my heart nearly gives out, and I snuggle tighter against him. “I love you, too.”

A low satisfied growl reverberates up his chest. “My mate.”

I sigh. “My mate.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

JAKE

I awaketo the flutter of Elena’s breath on my arm. I spent the night curled around my mate, breathing in her glorious scent. The first rays of sunlight glimmer over the buildings in the distance, though the sky is still a muted blue.

Staring down at the woman in my arms, I can hardly believe the last few days.

Lena is all I’ve dreamed about for six years, and here she fucking is. Not only am I lying naked in bed with the woman I love, but I took her virginity and gave her my mark.

The bite is still red and swollen, but the healing powers of my saliva are already at work just as surely as my venom is. The wound will heal in just a few days, but she’ll carry my scent for the rest of her life.

My body thrums with a restless energy, my skin itching with the need to shift. I’m wired and starving, which is common after mating. The wolf in me needs to run and hunt, but I don’t want Lena to wake up alone.

Moving carefully so I don’t disturb her, I pull myself out of bed and locate a pair of my jeans. I pull them on and slip out of the room, determined to find us some breakfast.

The hotel lobby is deserted the morning after the wedding. Everyone is sleeping off hangovers after the reception, but I follow the scent of bacon toward a room off the lobby.

I’m so focused on the hunt that I miss the acrid stench of a horribly familiar cologne.

“Well, well . . . if it isn’t the prize fighter?”

I whip around in the direction of the voice and see Derek sprawled across one of the leather sofas, still in his wedding attire. His pants are ripped from his hasty shift, and all the buttons are missing from his shirt. It hangs open in the front, revealing a pale hairy chest. An empty glass rests on the table in front of him, and the guy reeks of alcohol.

“Drinking alone, I see.” I don’t even feel bad about being a dick to him. Derek is lucky I let him live after the things he said to my mate.

He scents the air, and his expression turns sour. He can smell Elena on me, and my wolf preens a little.

“So. You finally fucked her.” Derek raises his empty glass and flashes an equally empty smile. “Congratulations.Someoneshould.”

I bristle a little at his use of the word “someone.”No onefucks Elena but me.

“That was some Grade A pussy, I’m sure,” Derek drawls. “But what happens when she wakes up?”

“The fuck are you talking about?” I growl. My wolf raises his hackles. I’m two seconds away from putting this guy’s head through a wall. I should just walk away.

“What happens if Elenadoesregain her full faculties?” Derek slurs, looking at me slightly cockeyed. “What then?”

I turn to leave, fed up with his bullshit. He’s just bitter that Elena dumped him.

“She’s going to want to continue her training,” Derek calls after me. “She wants to be a professional ballerina. She wants to be thebest.”

“I know,” I grind out, stopping in my tracks. I have no idea why I’m still having a conversation with this asshole.

“She’s enrolled in one of the most competitive dance programs in the nation, and she still has trouble with her balance.”

“Iknow.”

Why is this guy trying to mansplain Elena to me? Part of me thinks he just likes the sound of his own voice, but there’s another part of me that’s worried he knows something I don’t.

“I’m just saying . . . Someday, she may not be limited by her brain injury anymore, and she might wake up and realize she’s tied herself to a piece of trash fighter who can’t give her the life she wants.”

His words hit me like a punch to the gut, but I force myself to stand tall. I just took his ex’s virginity and gave her six back-to-back orgasms. Why am I even still listening?