Page 97 of His True Mate

“Because we talked to Winnie, and she’s really upset about everything.”

I sighed, hating hearing she was upset, and yet it also gave me just a glimmer of hope that I could still turn this around.

“We know what happened. So why didn’t you take her as your mate last night?”

I growled. “She is my mate. And I didn’t mark her last night because she was drunk.”

“So? If she’s your mate, did that really matter?”

“That’s rich coming from you, Thomas. Would you have taken Lily as a mate while she was heavily intoxicated?”

“Damn right I would have. I would have taken her any way possible. She was mine,” he insisted.

“Oh damn. Definitely smelling bullshit from the big guy,” James said.

“Bullshit,” Austin said, as he pretended to cough.

“Dude, you do remember we’re your best friends, right?” Wyatt said. “As I remember it, pretty little Lily freaked out the night you two discovered you were mates and she climbed in bed with you practically begging for it, but did you claim her?”

“No,” Emmett said. “No, he did not.”

“No, you didn’t,” Wyatt confirmed.

“That’s different. She hated me. I wasn’t going to take advantage of her like that.”

“So I should have?”

“Winnie loves you, Clay. If Lily had felt that way about me at that point, then damn right I would have.”

“Seriously? If she was drunk, so drunk she needed assistance just to walk into the house, but you were already getting along well enough, and she pinned you against the wall and rubbed her body all over you begging you to bite her and make you hers, you would have done it?”

“Holy shit, I gotta find me a mate. Are you serious? That happened?” Emmett asked.

Thomas and I both glared at him.

“That would have been hard for me to walk away from, if I’m being honest,” Wyatt said.

“She really couldn’t even walk straight?” Thomas asked.

“Brady was practically carrying her into the house she was so drunk. You can ask him. I almost ripped his throat out for it.”

Austin laughed. “I can’t believe how tied up this girl has you.”

“Wait, she tied you up too?” Emmett asked.

“Would you focus?” James admonished him.

“I see your point. You did the right thing,” Thomas conceded.

“Damn right I did. I didn’t want her having any regrets in the morning.”

“Oh, she has plenty of regrets,” Emmett blurted out as Wyatt elbowed him hard in the side.

“Winnie thinks you don’t want her and believes she’s just trespassing here and needs to leave,” Thomas explained.

“Shit! I gotta go stop her.”

“Relax, Ruby’s with her.”