Page 8 of Love Bites Hard (Mated to the King #2)

eight

IZZY

Evan’s map was actually really easy to follow, so I texted my sisters back to give them a summary of the screwing, knotting, and being ditched that had happened the night before while I walked.

Their responses had me fighting a grin.

Clem

I WANT TO FUCK A WOLF

AVERY DOES TOO, SHE’S JUST TOO EMBARRASSED TO ADMIT IT

Zora

You would have to mate him to get the perks you’re looking for, and it doesn’t sound like Izzy recommends it

Me

I don’t

Clem

I guess I’ll just have to keep screwing gorgeous, delicious vampires

Sigh

Zora

Woe is you

Clem

Woe is us

I have slept with unmated wolves, though, and that’s still amazing

Blair

Personally, I don’t think it gets better than vampires ;)

Me

You have no choice but to say that

If you agreed that mated wolf sex was better, Hale would probably kill someone

Zora

Or many someones

Blair

He’s not THAT volatile

He’d probably just screw me until I took it back

And I would take it back, because I’m right about the vamp stuff :P

Clem

Your bias is showing

But it’s adorable, so I’m here for it

Zora

You share the same bias, too

Clem

This is true

“Who the fuck are you texting?” a gorgeous, gravelly voice demanded just before my phone was plucked out of my arms.

The scent of him alone told me who it was before I looked over and saw him. Yeah, he was naked. Like usual. It was annoying, in a way that made me want to sit on his cock. “It’s my sisters, Porter.”

He scrolled through the last handful of texts, and though my face warmed, his shoulders relaxed. He handed the device back, and I tucked it in my snack basket.

Stepping closer, he stopped me with an arm in front of my chest.

Then, he leaned over and sniffed my hair.

A savage growl tore through him, and I nearly shivered. He dropped his arm and started to turn, and my gut told me he was going to hunt Arthur down and kill the bastard.

I stepped between him and the Manor, deciding to go with playing dumb. “What are you freaking out about?”

“Arthur had his hands in your hair,” Porter snarled. “He needs to die.”

“He braided my hair for me. I don’t know how to do it myself,” I said. “If you kill him for that, I’m going back to the vampires.”

“Go ahead and try. My wolves have orders not to let you leave.”

“You’re trapping me here?” I raised my voice, anger rising with it.

“Of course I am. You’re my mate, and my alpha female. You’re safe here.”

“How can I be safe surrounded by wolves who want me dead, Porter?” I stepped away. “Go ahead and kill Arthur. I don’t care. I’ll find someone else to braid my hair tomorrow. Maybe someone who’ll actually spend the night with me instead of leaving me to sleep alone after screwing me in front of his pack.”

Porter roared, and I resumed my walk to the lake without looking back at him.

Part of me expected him to catch me, or stop me, but he didn’t. I heard his paws on the dirt a moment later, and knew he was leaving me.

Again.

I reached out mentally to Evan. “He was just here. He’s pissed. The plan failed, so I hope you hid Arthur really well.”

“We’re good, Porter won’t find him. And when he can’t get to Arthur, his instincts will drive him back to you.”

“Sure they will.”

“They will. Trust me.”

“I’ve known you for less than an hour.”

“Trust the process, then.”

“Alright.” I grabbed a candy bar out of my snack basket. Sugar therapy was definitely needed after this conversation. “I’ll be under the water when you need me. Cross your fingers that the lake is too deep for Porter to reach me.”

“It’s not, but the water is too murky. He won’t find you.”

“That works too. Thanks.”

“Good luck.”

The conversation ended, and I kept walking.

Less than five minutes later, I finally reached the lake.

Somehow, it was even better than I’d hoped.

It stretched further than I could see, with a boat dock a few yards to my left and a single, small boat tied to it. It was a boating-sized lake, so I couldn’t believe there weren’t any wakeboarding or surfing boats out there. It was September, so the water was a little cold for anyone who wasn’t a siren, but not that cold.

And with the forest tucked around it and gorgeous rocks surrounding it, it looked like a natural sanctuary.

Yeah, the water was pretty filthy, but my magic would make it clear and blue over time. If I could get a few of my sisters out to swim with me, we could take care of that even faster.

I snapped a picture and sent it to them, along with a message.

Me

So there are two perks to being mated to a wolf

But I might need some help cleaning the water

Clem

I’M ON MY WAY

Avery

Same

Zora

I’ll text security to get us protection

Let’s do this

Blair

Ooooh, I want in too

I can arrange a particularly strong vampire bodyguard ;)

Avery

Wait

Isn’t the wolf pack trying to kill you?

Me

Some of them. Theoretically. I don’t have concrete evidence.

Just nearly concrete evidence.

Zora

We probably shouldn’t risk it

Clem

What point is there to living if we can’t swim in gorgeous lakes?

Zora

Now you’re just being dramatic

Blair

I’ll figure out if there’s a way we can do it safely

Give me a few hours to talk to Damian

Me

No rush

The longer you wait, the more stable the pack will be

In theory

Zora

Well that’s convincing

Me

Believe me, I know

Gotta go!

I dropped my phone back in the snack basket and set it up under a tree. My towels joined it. After a moment of hesitation, I let a wicked grin stretch across my face and stripped out of my bikini too.

Porter was going to be pissed, but I didn’t care. If he was allowed to walk around naked after shifting all the time, I was allowed to swim in the nude.

It was good to be free, even if it came with a few shitty consequences.

I was going to miss my sisters fiercely if they couldn’t leave Vamp Manor. Especially if my asshole of a mate wouldn’t let me leave the wolf wing. Sirens need each other.

Wading into the water, I sighed at the feel of it. Where I touched it, I could already see the water growing clearer.

Yeah, the wolves’ lake was mine .

I couldn’t have been underwater for more than an hour when I heard from Porter again. I spent all of my time down there lost in the pack bond, trying to figure out exactly how many people wanted me dead.

I didn’t have a solid number, but there were at least a few. I wasn’t good enough at navigating it to figure out who they were, exactly, but I hoped I’d get there.

It was an imperfect process. And an imprecise one.

But hey, at least I knew there were people who wanted me dead. And I was getting a little better and working the pack’s link, which seemed like a success.

“Where are you, and why is your bikini by a tree?” Somehow, Porter sounded even angrier than he’d been before.

I would make sure to thank Evan for that.

I sent him a mental image of the dark, murky lake, with fish swimming around me.

“You’re alone?” he demanded.

“Do you have anyone else in your pack who can breathe underwater?”

His responding scoff made me snort. “You should be wearing your swimsuit.”

“You should be wearing your clothes every time you shift out of your wolf form, but you don’t see me commanding you to get dressed.”

“Your body is mine,” he snapped.

“And yours isn’t mine?”

I felt more than heard his huff of anger . “Did you warn Arthur that I was coming for him?”

“No. I don’t even remember what he looks like. I don’t think I could find him in the pack link if I tried.”

“Try.”

I focused on the vague memory I had of Arthur, but I genuinely didn’t remember anything about him except his dark hair. And even that had only reminded me of Avery’s, so it made me think of her, not him. “It didn’t work,” I said.

“So he knew I’d smell him on your hair, and hid from me,” Porter growled.

“I don’t know why you’re so mad about this. You’re keeping me away from my sisters, who usually braid my hair. He offered, and I took him up on it. It’s no different than accepting gifts from the rest of your pack.”

“Do you want any of my she-wolves running their hands through my hair?” he demanded.

My stomach clenched, even with the water easing my stress. “That’s beside the point. I’m not the one who abandoned you after fucking you while the whole pack listened in. Or left you to sleep alone, without knowing where I was or who I was with.”

“I needed time to think,” he gritted out.

“And I needed to not feel used, but somehow, your needs superseded mine.”

“That’s not what we’re discussing. You let another man put his hands in your hair.”

“For all I knew, you could’ve been putting your cock in another woman while I tossed and turned in your bed.”

“You could’ve looked into my mind at any moment to know that wasn’t true.”

“I shouldn’t have to check on my mate to make sure he’s not cheating on me in the middle of the night,” I snapped back.

“I shouldn’t have to wonder what else my mate did with one of my wolves while he braided her hair.”

I glowered at a massive fish that swam lazily past me. “Sealing the mate bond was obviously a mistake.”

“Apparently,” he growled. “Get out of the water. I need to see you.”

“Kiss my ass, Furball. I’m not getting out. Good luck finding me.”

He snarled into my mind, and I tried to push him out, focusing on the rest of the pack bond again.

I wanted to get out and eat a snack a few hours later, but Porter was still growling and snapping at me. That made me pretty sure he was waiting for me outside the lake.

Leaving would mean letting him catch me.

The bastard could lock me in his room or something.

So, I stayed under the water.

I swam close to the surface to check the time every now and then. When the sun was up high in the sky, I knew it was around noon. When it was lower, I’d made it to the late afternoon. And when I finally looked into the sky and saw the moon shining, I knew I’d won our little fight.

Porter was even more pissed than he had been earlier, but I didn’t care. He could be as angry as he wanted. He’d treated me like shit, and I wasn’t letting that go.

There were dozens of wolves around when I emerged from the water. I ignored their gazes—and the snarl of my alpha—as I strode toward the tree where I’d left my things.

Of course, Porter was waiting there.

With his gigantic biceps bulging, his cut abdomen tensed, and his eyes flooded with fury.

He was already walking toward me with a bundle of fabric in his hand—and he was wearing shorts.

He reached me long before I got back to my clothes, and unceremoniously yanked the fabric he was holding over my head. It seemed to be one of his t-shirts. The one he wasn’t wearing, maybe.

When I didn’t stick my hands through the armholes right away, he fished them out and tugged them through.

Then, he leveled his furious gaze with mine.

I pushed past him as our minds collided so he could snarl at me again, but I ignored his anger.

Porter grabbed my towel and basket of snacks before I could. He draped the towel over my shoulders as he walked beside me, not seeming to care that I was ignoring him. When he inhaled against my hair again, he grunted in what actually sounded like relief.

Then, he dragged me to his chest.

And he hugged me.

I didn’t hug him back.

That bastard was going to have to grovel if he wanted to earn that from me.

“I’ll wear pants. No more swimming naked,” he said into my mind, the words clearly a command.

“You are not my alpha,” I said aloud.

Someone nearby gasped, and I immediately regretted the comment.

If that got me killed, there would be no one to blame but me.

Porter’s arms tightened around me just before he lifted me off the dirt and carried me into the trees, away from the lake and the wolves around it. When we were out of sight, he set me down long enough to strip out of his shorts. He tossed them into the basket before shifting forms, then gestured for me to get on his back.

I scowled, and didn’t move.

“We obviously have things to talk about. I’ll carry you to our room, and we’ll figure it out,” he said into my mind.

“You’re assuming I want to figure things out with you. I don’t.”

“We’re mated. You can talk to me now, or you can deal with me following you like a storm cloud until you finally give in.”

“Bastard,” I bit out.

“Just get on my back.”

As much as I didn’t want to let him have his way, it would be a nightmare to walk all the way back to the Manor with a wolf tailing me. And growling at me.

So, with a sound of annoyance, I threw a leg over his back and climbed on. I gripped his fur tighter than I needed to, but he didn’t complain.

Porter grabbed the basket in his mouth—which made me bite back a snort—and took off.

We made it back to the Manor much faster than I would’ve on foot, which I couldn’t deny was nice. He stayed in his wolf form as we approached the automatic doors, and carried me down a different hallway than the one I’d usually gone through.

“Where are you going? Our room is the other way.”

“The pack finished cleaning out the alpha’s quarters a few hours ago. Our things have been moved in already.”

Oh, geez.

I was going to have to adjust to yet another room.

Would I ever feel at home outside the water again?

I wondered if Porter’s family had lived in the alpha’s quarters, but didn’t ask. Considering how much he was already struggling with his past, I didn’t want to remind him. I didn’t particularly like the guy, but I did have a heart.

I reached out to open the door from Porter’s back, and when he stepped into the room, I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

The room was cozy, with sage green walls, and the same rustic-looking flooring as the rest of Wolf Manor. The walls were full of framed family photos.

My heart squeezed for the man who’d lost the people he obviously loved so fiercely.

I didn’t want to hurt him, but I would be extremely uncomfortable living in a place that was basically a shrine to his loved ones. A few pictures would be great, but on every single wall, in every single photo?

That wasn’t going to work for me.

“My moving truck arrived today,” Porter said into my mind . “Everything is mine. Nothing in here should smell like Curtis.”

That was more important to him than me, I thought, but didn’t say aloud.

He set me on my feet and shifted back before making his way around the room to check everything out.

“I’m going to shower,” I said, needing some breathing room to figure out how to approach the décor conversation. “My new lake is filthy.”

“As opposed to most lakes?”

“Siren magic purifies water. I’ll eventually make my lake cleaner than any bathtub. It’s going to take a while without my sisters, but it’ll get there.”

“Why can’t your sisters come?”

“There are too many people here who want me dead, and even more people who would want an unmated siren for themselves. We’re not in the habit of risking our lives unnecessarily, so they’re staying where they’re safe.” I stepped through the doorway into the bathroom. There was no door to close, just a curtain that had been pulled to the side, so there was no privacy at the moment.

“I could keep your sisters safe for as long as they wanted to stay,” Porter growled into my mind, because of the physical distance between us. “I wouldn’t let anything happen to them.”

My gaze collided with a picture of Porter carrying one of his younger sisters on his back, and another one in his arms.

It occurred to me that this might be a touchy subject for him. Being able to protect sisters.

My sisters weren’t his, but… well, we were mates. If I told him I didn’t think he could protect them, that would hurt him. More than I could possibly understand, probably.

“I believe you,” I said simply. It wasn’t a lie. I’d seen Porter fight, and I believed that if he decided to, he could keep them safe. “But you’d have to arrange it with Hale. Vampires would have to come too. My sisters don’t trust easily, and Hale has basically become a brother to them. Not to mention, he wouldn’t let Blair come here without him.”

“Do you trust easily?”

I smiled a bit sadly, and didn’t answer him.

I trusted people less than any of them, except Zora.

The bathroom was gorgeous, with a large soaking tub and a walk-in shower with glass walls. I stripped my clothes off and slipped into the shower, turning it on and letting out a sigh as the water fell over me.

I felt eyes on me, but didn’t turn around. If Porter wanted to stare, he could. We were mates. I didn’t know if I’d let him touch me after he’d growled at me so much, but there was no point in asking him not to look.

“I can’t stop thinking about the way you took my knot,” he said.

Apparently he hadn’t noticed the pictures of his sisters staring at us.

“If you want to screw again, you can just say that,” I said, still not turning around. “No need to beat around the bush.”

“Alright, fine. I want to fuck you again.”

“I’m not doing it unless you agree to let me feed from you whenever I want.”

There was a moment of silence.

A long moment.

“I can’t do that,” Porter finally said, his voice rough.

“Why not?”

“Your magic is… too much.”

I scowled. “You’re the one who wanted to mate with a siren. You don’t get to hate my magic.”

“Not too much in a bad way.”

“ Too much is an insult, Porter.

“It’s not an insult. If something is too much for me, I can’t handle it. That implies that there’s something wrong with me, not you.”

“That’s bullshit. Me being too much implies that I’m the one who was built wrong, and it’s not true. Any other wolf in this pack would be thrilled to feel my magic while I feed on them. I?—”

“You’re perfect.” His hands landed on my bare hips, and my eyes closed.

Why did his skin always feel so good against mine?

He added, “I’m the problem. I’m aware. I hoped mating with a siren would help me escape from my past, but I’ve been in the dark for so long that your light fucking hurts.”

My chest tightened, and I opened my eyes. “I’m not trying to hurt you.”

“I know.” His lips brushed my bare shoulder, where he’d bitten me, and I shuddered. “No more nudity in front of my pack. You’re mine.”

“Just because you repeat that doesn’t make it true. It doesn’t mean I have to play along, either.”

His teeth scraped my shoulder, and his erection slid between my thighs when I arched my back. One of his hands lifted to my throat, cupping the black band around my neck lightly. “This mark makes it true. The bite, too. And do I need to remind you about the way I claimed you in front of my pack, Isabella? You are mine.”

“I go by Izzy. If you want to bring that up, you’re technically mine too. And if you’re mine, I get to feed from you whenever I want. You can’t claim me without being claimed by me too.”

He nipped at my shoulder again lightly. “You haven’t bitten me.”

“I’m a siren. I don’t bite.”

“The way you dug your nails into that chair tells me that I’ll wear your mark another way.”

My face flushed. “Screw off, bastard.”

“The only thing I want to screw is you.” He stepped forward, and I bit back a groan when the motion pushed his erection deeper against my ass.

“You’re insane.”

“I never claimed not to be.”

He stepped us forward again, and again.

My breasts met the tile wall, and I sucked in a breath. “You like taking me from behind, don’t you?”

“I am a wolf.”

“I’m not. If we screw, I’m going to feed on you. While you knot me, so you can’t pull away.”

He growled. “Isabella…”

“It’s Izzy.”

He pulled my abdomen away from the wall just long enough to slip his hand between my thighs, and I bit my lip hard as he dragged a finger over my clit. “I don’t have to knot you.”

“You could finish on my ass,” I agreed. “But I don’t think you have the restraint to pull out. How many times did you get off when you knotted me? Six? Seven?”

“So fucking many.” He teased my clit slowly, and my entire body seemed to clench.

Shit, I wanted him.

“Is that a yes?” he asked.

“No. You still abandoned me right after we had sex, and I know for a fact that wolves like to snuggle just as much as sirens.”

“I shouldn’t have done that. It was a mistake.” He dragged his finger over my clit, and I fought hard not to let myself buck my hips.

“Mistake or not, you don’t get to screw me without agreeing to let me feed from you whenever I want. Give me permission, and an apology for last night on top of it, or get out of my shower,” I gritted out.

Porter pressed harder against my clit.

He knew exactly how to make me crazy, and he’d learned way too fast.

“You want an apology?”

“Yes. You’re not taking me again without an apology.”

“Even if I don’t apologize, you’ll eventually give in. I remember you telling me there would be sex, or you would be finding someone else to sate yourself with.”

I leaned away from the wall long enough to pull his hand out from between my thighs and push it away. He set it back on my hip, but his grip was tighter.

“I’m stubborn enough that I won’t give in. And considering your utter lack of self-control, I’ve now learned that I can’t find someone else to sate me. My vibrator will have to do,” I shot back. “I’m not kidding, Porter. I’m not someone you can use or a fuck buddy you can ditch after screwing when you want to take a stroll in the forest. I’m your mate. If you want to have sex with me, you have to respect me.”

“Of course I respect you.” There was a growl in his voice.

“How can you possibly think I believe that? You’ve been trying to push me around and use me since the day we met.”

“That’s not true.”

“It is. And until you’re ready to admit it and apologize, there will not be more sex.” I turned around in his arms, and gestured toward the shower’s entrance. “Now, get out.”

I wasn’t sure I’d gone from being the one who insisted there would be sex to the one refusing to give it to him, but there I was.

He slowly released my hips. His jaw was clenched, and his eyes were darker than ever. But when I gestured again, he finally turned and strode out of the shower. I couldn’t help but shiver when I watched the water trail down his back and over his ass.

He had to be the most gorgeous man in the world. It was a shame his personality was so insanely difficult.

He stopped before leaving the bathroom, and turned to face me. “If I catch you getting yourself off, whether in person or through our mental bond, I will fuck you. The only thing that gets to fill you is me.”

“That’s insane,” I shot back.

“I don’t care. You’re mine.”

He finally left the room.

The door slammed behind him, and I let out a furious huff.

I turned back to the wall, pressing my forehead to it and ignoring the throbbing between my thighs.

I was going to get him back for that.

Oh, the bastard was going to regret teasing me.