Page 15 of Bearly in Love

Despite what had just happened—the insanely intimate teeth-in-my-throat thing—my fiancé was still a far bigger problem.

Bo would never be the worst of my issues.

“Okay.” I jerked my head in a nod. “Sorry I freaked out. I knew the biting thing was a possibility from the beginning, it just caught me off guard.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry too.”

“It felt good, though.” I went back to the couch and sat down next to him. My shorts were sticky with our pleasure, but the blankets still covered the cushions to protect them.

They definitely needed to be washed, but that was a tomorrow problem.

Bo’s tomorrow problem.

My throat tightened at the realization that he would be dealing with that problem without me.

That I’d be leaving.

Heading to the Supernatural Resort to pick a mate and sign my life away over to someone I could only hope would treat me better than my fiancé.

“Really fucking good.” Bo’s voice was gravelly. “You don’t feel different, right?”

I considered it, silently taking stock of my body. “Nah, I’m the same.”

“It couldn’t have started any kind of a bond, then.”

“No. I’m sure we’re fine.”

He nodded.

I reached for my controller, but a loud knock on the door stilled my hand.

Bo froze.

“Did you?—”

“Shh.” His hand was on my mouth in the blink of an eye. It smelled like me.

The blood drained from his face as he listened for something.

The video game’s music was so loud, I couldn’t hear anything over it.

Another knock sounded.

“Bo!” My dad’s voice called out. Though it was muffled by the door, it was unmistakable.

The panic that crashed into me was so intense, I couldn’t move.

Bo’s eyes met mine over his hand. “I can’t clear a path faster than they can run.”

And they probably had winter fur.

I didn’t.

“I can try to fight, but you were right. There are a lot of them.” His voice was barely above a whisper.

“It’ll be safer for both of us if I go willingly,” I said.

Bo’s eyes closed.

His jaw clenched, and he dipped his head. “I’m better at lying than you are. Just stay quiet and play along.”

I nodded.

His forehead met mine for one brief moment, and he took in a deep breath. Like he needed to fill his lungs with my scent.

My dad knocked again. Harder and louder. He would absolutely break in if he had to, and very soon. If I didn’t go through with the wedding, he wasn’t getting any money.

He yelled, “We can smell Madison from out here! Just?—”

Dad cut himself off when Bo opened the door.

“What do you want?” Ambrose sounded bored. And annoyed.

My dad’s inhale was so loud, I could hear it. “You’ve been fucking her?”

“Sure. The alpha wants an experienced mate, doesn’t he?” Bo drawled.

My throat swelled.

I adjusted my hair, hoping like hell that it would cover the bite mark on my neck.

“She was supposed to mate with him a week ago,” my dad finally said, seeming to buy what Bo was selling. “She didn’t tell you that?”

I hoped his attitude was just for show, or I was going to be furious with myself for screwing him.

“No. We didn’t talk.”

“Well, the alpha is waiting in the truck. We’re here to collect her.”

I watched from the couch as Bo stepped to the side.

My dad and a large group of men from the skulk all grimaced as they stepped inside the cabin. They could undoubtedly smell me, Bo, and an intense dose of sex on everything.

We’d pretty much screwed on every surface in the cabin.

I counted the guys silently.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

Eight.

Nine.

Ten.

Eleven.

Twelve.

Thirteen.

Fourteen.

Fifteen.

Sixteen.

It was too many.

Way too many.

Bo would have to risk his life to take them down, and I knew he wasn’t interested in doing that. Not that I wanted him to.

The men barely fit as they piled inside.

I glared at my dad, not getting up from the couch.

He glared back. “Are you going to walk, or am I going to have to carry you?”

“I don’t know. Did you bring anything to knock me out with?” I asked.

His glare heated. “Ben. Richard. Grab her.”

He stepped back, and two of the bigger kitsunes moved forward.

A growl tore through the room, and everyone looked at the man at the door.

Including me.

Bo still looked uninterested, leaning casually against the wall. “Don’t touch her. She goes willingly or not at all.”

Ben and Richard moved back.

I let out a loud sigh and stood up. “Fuck you, Ambrose.”

“Fuck you too, Madi.”

His voice was gravelly.

The tension in his shoulders told me he was going to have to fight like hell to keep himself from intervening.

All bets would be off the moment anyone touched me. He wouldn’t be able to stop considering me his immediately.

So, I strode out the door. My arm nearly brushed his chest, but I didn’t let it.

I was too worried that if I did, I wasn’t going to be able to walk away.

In front of the cabin, I found a tiny, half-shoveled path that led down a dirt road. A few shovels were sticking out of the wildly high snowbanks.

“The truck is down there.” My dad gestured toward the path. It seemed safe to assume it was a long way to the road, because I couldn’t hear the truck’s engine. And because neither of us had heard the plow that must’ve smoothed it.

I didn’t let myself look back at Ambrose as I walked barefoot through the calf-deep snowy path that led back to the bastard I’d run away from.

And I definitely didn’t look at my fiancé as I sat down in the passenger seat of his truck, reeking of sex with Ambrose Stevenson.

The alpha didn’t comment on the smell as the cab and bed of the truck filled with the rest of the men from the skulk.

Or as he pulled away.

Or as he parked in his mansion’s garage.

Or as three of his goons followed me all the way to the bathroom, making sure I couldn’t leave as I scrubbed myself clean.

My dad only let me know that the wedding would happen first thing in the morning when I stepped out of the bathroom in a plush, white robe.

Life as I knew it was about to end, but all I could think about was Bo.

And the already-scarred bite mark he’d left on my shoulder, accidentally claiming me even though we both knew there was nothing between us but sex.

Sex… and maybe a little bit of friendship.