Page 20 of Love Bites Hard (Mated to the King #2)

twenty

IZZY

Porter took me to his office after breakfast, and sat me on his lap.

“What are we doing in here?” I asked him, looking over my shoulder curiously.

“Working. We’re mates, remember?”

“I don’t have a job.”

“Sure you do. The alpha female runs the pack just as much as the alpha male does. I’ll make a list of all the stuff my mom used to handle, and you can pick and choose what you want to do from it.”

“You really want me to help lead the pack?” I asked, nerves setting in a little. “I’m not a wolf.”

“The pack is a family, not just a group of wolves. We’ve got other kinds of shifters here too. Poodles. Cats. Squirrels. Bears. No one cares if you don’t howl at the moon. They care that you’re part of the family. Got it?”

“Got it,” I agreed, though I was still a little hesitant.

“I’ll have another desk put in here. Until then, there’s one easy thing you can do as my mate.”

“How easy?”

I looked over my shoulder again, and found him wearing a wicked smile. “Very.” He lifted me up, bending me over the desk as he pulled my pants down.

I laughed—then moaned when he filled me.

Maybe we weren’t going to get a lot done, but we’d have a damn good time.

When we finally separated, we really did focus on work. I sat on his lap for the required after-sex snuggling while Porter explained the basics of what my role required, and I took a ton of notes.

After a short lunch break, we went back to work.

And honestly?

It felt good to have a purpose again.

…other than my ridiculous war.

That night, we gathered with the pack for another bonfire.

It was just as big as the first one I’d attended, but the energy was completely different.

Porter held my hand as we walked around, chatting with people I vaguely remembered. He knew almost all of them by name, and I knew some.

When he asked about their families and brought up their pasts, they lit up in ways I never would’ve imagined. They all thanked me for bringing him back, but they loved him.

His family had clearly been good leaders.

When we had a brief break from the crowds, we ate s’mores with little kids who didn’t know him, chatting with some that were excited to meet him, and giving space to the ones who wanted space.

I loved watching him with the kids.

I hadn’t interacted with them much, but I had always liked little kids. Part of me had dreamed about having a big family some day, if I ever ended up safe and mated. I’d never told my sisters that, because I didn’t want to see the pity in their eyes.

But now that it was a possibility, it was something to think about.

Porter was pulled into a conversation with some of his closest wolves, and I noticed Evan among them, talking vibrantly.

My gaze caught on Kim, on the other side of the fire. I noticed her watching Evan and Porter, her jaw set tightly.

For hers and Evan’s sake, I hoped they could work it out and find a way to be happy together.

My thoughts were interrupted by another pack member who wanted to talk, and I greeted her with a smile.

It was Nora, my favorite (and only) chocolate supplier. She was practically beaming through the whole conversation as she told me about a new hobby she’d taken up now that Curtis was gone. Crocheting.

She promised to bring me a hat and scarf she was making soon. The woman was an absolute sweetheart, and I decided I should figure out a way to hang out with her or something. We needed to be friends.

Before she walked away, she winked and let me know that she had already put in another order for more siren chocolate.

The pack’s excitement built up throughout the bonfire until Porter and I stood near the edge of the forest after darkness had set in. He announced in a loud voice that the Mistwood Pack and its new alphas were finally going to run as one—and everyone howled so loudly in response that I couldn’t help but grin.

I wasn’t a wolf, but I could feel the pack’s excitement through the bond anyway.

Porter stepped into the trees and shifted forms. When he emerged a moment later, I slipped onto his back, and he took off into the forest.

He’d carried me in his wolf form so many times before, but never like this.

He ran hard and fast. Wind blew through my hair, whipping my braids around behind me as I held on tightly. I could feel the other wolves behind us—so many of them.

With them at our sides, we weren’t just a mated pair. We weren’t just Izzy and Porter. We were a pack . A group. A family.

My eyes stung as the realization set in.

I was a part of them.

I didn’t have fur, but that didn’t matter. I belonged there. And I always would.

The group split up as everyone headed off to do their own thing soon enough, but I could feel Porter’s joy as he carried me through the trees.

He had no desire to stop.

And I wouldn’t ask him to.

He belonged in the forest, just as much as I belonged in the water. Maybe even more.

So I held on as he ran until he’d had his fill of the forest. And when we got back to our room, I held on as he bent me over our bed and fucked me hard.

Maybe I did know how I felt about being mated.

Maybe mating with a wolf was the best decision I’d ever made.

The next day, Porter took me hiking in our human forms. I’d never gone before, but discovered pretty quickly that I enjoyed it.

Especially because I was faster than him in that form.

Though he always dragged me back into his arms when he caught me, we had fun together. A lot of fun.

The day after that, we got in his shitty old truck, and drove into the main part of Mistwood for dinner and a movie.

It was strange to feel like a real couple. Even more strange not to have to hide when I was out in public. But I liked it.

I really, really liked it.

We worked together every day, and every day, he planned something else for us to do after we were done.

A massive game of tag in the forest, with the pack. Everyone stayed in their human forms, until he cheated so he could take me down.

Swimming and ice cream with my sisters, in Vamp Manor. We saw one of the vampires whose underwear I hid in our room, and I had to distract him with my mouth before the guy was murdered.

Strip poker and dessert, in our room. I was the dessert.

Fishing, on my lake. We released the fish, but I still felt guilty for catching them.

Swimming with the fae, who kept coming back to our lake on the days their eclipses hit. More of them came every time, and the swims started to look more like parties. More wolves started joining in too, which made the magic fiercer. We screwed in the water once. Or twice. I was sworn to secrecy.

Every day, Porter’s eyes got brighter.

His grin lasted longer.

The tension in his shoulders eased a little more.

The man was clearly made for fun and adventure. He’d just forgotten it when he lost his family. Grief could do that to a person.

Weeks went by quickly.

All of my glitter finally came off, and we washed all of our bedding to be rid of it for good.

We spent Halloween passing out candy to the pack’s kids, laughing and smiling at their costumes.

They were so adorable, it made my chest hurt.

There had been no sign of the people who wanted me dead. Though we hoped they’d changed their minds, Porter and his top wolves were keeping a close eye on me and the rest of the pack. More cameras had gone up, everywhere.

It didn’t seem reasonable that everyone who still disliked me could realize they loved me, so none of us were hopeful for that. But there was nothing we could do to make those people come forward.

So, we just settled into life.

I knew he didn’t tell anyone but me about his daily plans for us until after they’d happened, though. It was a way to keep me safe.

We could never be truly comfortable with the threat hanging over our heads, but I hoped we would get there.

A few days before Thanksgiving, Porter had to leave our office halfway through the afternoon to meet up with a few of his guys, who thought they’d found a lead. I stayed in the office, determined to finish what I was doing.

Kim came by randomly with a delivery of siren chocolates from Nora. She’d been distant since her fight with Evan, so I asked her how things were going.

She didn’t seem like she wanted to talk, just giving me a few short answers about how they were still together before slipping away. It was weird, but not out of character for her at the moment.

I had my way with one of the chocolate bars as I returned to the work I’d been finishing up. I couldn’t focus very well, which was frustrating.

But, I chalked that up to nerves about what Porter would find.

Eventually, I gave up trying to finish and reached out to him mentally.

“I’m not feeling my best, so I’m heading back to our room,” I told him. “No rush. Don’t worry about me.”

He always worried. My words wouldn’t stop that, but I had to say it anyway.

“I’ll be there soon. The lead was a bust,” he said. “We can skip our plans tonight and watch a movie in bed.”

“Sounds nice. Will there be food?”

“Of course. I’ll bring you dinner, but I’m not hungry for anything but you.”

I snorted inwardly. “Smooth.”

He laughed. “Always. See you soon.”

His mind left mine, refocusing on whatever he was doing.

I felt a bit woozy as I slipped down the hallway.

I wasn’t sure why.

I’d eaten plenty of food, and fed on Porter recently enough that hunger couldn’t have been the cause.

My implant made me positive that pregnancy wasn’t an option.

Magical beings didn’t really get sick, so that was off the table. Maybe I’d eaten some old food or something?

I stumbled a little, and had to stop for a moment. Putting a hand on the wall, I took a few slow breaths as everything around me spun.

“Are you okay?” someone asked me. I recognized Kim’s voice immediately, and relief rolled through me.

“Mmhm,” I managed.

“We should tell the alpha. Did you talk to him?” Kim asked.

“Just to tell him I’m going to our room.” It was a struggle to get the words out.

I tried to reach Porter mentally again, but my mind was such a mess, I couldn’t seem to connect with the pack’s link.

What the hell was wrong with me?

“Here, I’ll help you back to your room,” she said, pulling one of my arms over her shoulders. She wrapped her arm around my waist, too. When she started down the hallway, all I could manage to do was try to keep myself on my feet.

“You’ll be fine,” the woman said, her voice upbeat.

How did she know I’d be fine?

How did she even know what was wrong with me?

I tried to pull away from her, but she was the one carrying my weight, and she tightened her grip when I tried to get away.

“It’s just a little wolfsbane, to suppress the mental link,” she added. “It doesn’t do any permanent damage. It’ll bleed out of your system easily enough. Be glad you’re not a wolf; you’d be vomiting like mad right now.”

I felt like I could’ve been vomiting like mad , so her words didn’t calm my fears in the slightest.

It seemed like I’d found the person responsible for the chlorinated towel. And now the wolfsbane, apparently.

But why would Kim do that to me?

She was fighting with Evan, but that didn’t have anything to do with me. He and I were friends, but we weren’t close. I was mated, so there wasn’t a chance in hell he had feelings for me.

She towed me down the hallway. I didn’t bother trying to tap into my speed. I couldn’t see the walls around me well enough not to collide with one, and a broken nose on top of whatever was already happening seemed like a bad call.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked, when I smelled tires and oil.

We had to be in the pack’s parking garage. I’d been there a few times—it was under Wolf Manor.

“Away.”

Shit.

That wasn’t good.

She opened the door of a white SUV, and eased me inside.

If she wanted me dead, I assumed she would’ve been more violent.

I leaned hard against the door after she shut it, closing my eyes as I waited for my head to stop spinning.

It didn’t.

When I tried to open my eyes again, everything was blurry.

She started the car, and I finally passed out when she backed out of the parking space.