Page 11 of The Artsy Girl’s Guide to Mating with a Werewolf (Mate Hunted #2)

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STELLA

“It’s Wyatt,” Graham said, sounding just as shocked as I felt.

“Do you think he’s hunting her?” I asked.

It was a stupid question.

Of course he was hunting her.

Why else would he be in his wolf form?

Something had definitely happened. Something big, apparently.

“Yeah.” Graham and I started toward the house a little faster.

“Hey,” I called out, figuring Jade was the biggest wildcard in the situation.

She hadn’t known about werewolves. Now she was in the process of getting paired up with one. I’d been there and done that, and it was a mind-fuck. Even when your friend hadn’t been missing for months.

Jade whipped around so fast, her long, dark hair smacked Finn in the face. He stepped back with a glare in her direction that she absolutely didn’t see.

Wyatt’s wolf growled and snapped his teeth at Finn, as if the man had tried to get himself hit in the face with Jade’s hair.

“I’m out,” Finn said flatly, flashing a look at Graham that said, “THIS IS YOUR PROBLEM.”

He wasn’t wrong.

It was my fault that it was happening at all. Somehow. I still wasn’t sure how Jade had ended up meeting two of the feral pack guys, but it seemed safe to assume it had something to do with me.

“The climax just started. Can you find Abby and Nico?” Graham asked Finn.

“They’re on their way,” he said flatly, already walking in the other direction from Jade, Wyatt’s wolf, and the rest of us.

Jade’s eyes were narrow as she looked me up and down. “You were supposed to be sick, not a fucking werewolf.”

“Not fucking a werewolf would be more accurate,” I tossed back.

She scoffed. “Don’t make jokes right now.”

But she was already walking toward me.

“You love my jokes.”

“You’re ridiculous.” She threw her arms around me, and I hugged her back tightly. Graham mostly let go of me to make the embrace possible, but his hand stayed on my lower back. I didn’t think the climax was going to let him let go of me completely. It was still pushing me to move closer to him.

“I know. I missed you, though.”

“I missed you too. I was scared out of my mind for you. Maya was being weird about everything for months. Is she a werewolf too?” Jade checked.

“You’d have to ask her.”

Jade released me, wiping at her eyes a little violently. “She totally is.”

“Looks like you will be too.” I nodded at Wyatt’s wolf. “How did that happen?”

A sheepish look flashed across her face. “You don’t want to know.”

“I think I do.”

A wave of need crashed into me so hard, I nearly bent over. Graham’s arm wrapped around me, holding me upright but not soothing the intense pain.

“Abby said the climax involves a lot of sex.” Jade’s eyes flicked between us. “She was explaining on the phone on the way over here. Finn didn’t want to.”

“You don’t really want another guy talking to you about sex during a mate hunt anyway. Male wolves are possessive,” I said.

So were female wolves.

I didn’t want to freak her out by announcing that so soon after she learned about us, though.

“I noticed.” Jade turned her head slightly, looking over her shoulder. “I can’t go missing for multiple months,” she warned Wyatt.

His wolf stepped closer, rubbing against her side. Her gaze softened immediately, though I could tell she was trying not to let it. When her hand lowered to his fur and scratched his head lightly, my eyebrows lifted high.

I hadn’t seen that coming.

“I can’t believe Abby actually found werewolves in Moon Ridge,” she grumbled. “And neither of you told me they were real.”

“Sorry.” I grimaced. “It seemed like the best call in the situation.”

“I get it. Wrapping my head around it is just going to take some time.” She dragged a hand through her hair before she looked at Graham.

Her eyes moved down his chest, and my wolf growled softly.

“Are you going to introduce me to the sexy giant who’s holding you like he can’t wait for me to leave, Stella? ”

Wyatt’s wolf snarled, putting himself between Graham and Jade.

My mate—fuck, that was insane to think—tucked me behind his back. “I’m Graham. And I think you might want to get Wyatt back to his house before his possessiveness pushes him to bite you earlier than either of you want.”

Jade rolled her eyes at the wolf. “I wasn’t hitting on him. I was stating a fact. Look at him.” She tossed a hand toward Graham.

That wasn’t a great call. It might’ve even been a terrible one.

Because Wyatt’s wolf wasn’t playing around.

I didn’t know his story, but I knew he had been rejected. And I didn’t find it difficult at all to imagine that a rejected wolf could be extra sensitive to a woman’s attraction to another man.

The wolf lowered his head to her ankle—and bit her.

“Fuck.” Graham’s voice was low in my ear as Jade’s scream of pain tore through the air.

Her body contorted, and her shift began as Wyatt went back to his human form. He was naked, so I didn’t let my gaze wander from his face.

He stared at Jade like she was an alien for a solid minute before he looked at me. “Can you…”

He stopped.

And looked at Graham.

The heat of our climax’s need was still blazing, but I wasn’t just going to let my friend suffer alone. She didn’t know anything about being a werewolf, and Wyatt clearly wasn’t about to talk her through it.

That made it my job.

I stepped out of Graham’s grip, ignoring the way every part of me ached for him as I kneeled down next to Jade and grabbed her hand.

I’d seen the feral pack guys talk people through their shifts enough times to know what to say.

“Don’t fight the wolf,” I started.

Her eyes were red and full of pain as they met mine, but she didn’t say anything. Another cry of pain had her head tipping back as fur broke out on her knees.

I did my best to coach her through it until her pain finally ended, and a panting wolf sat in my friend’s place.

The wolf looked at me for a long moment.

Then looked at Wyatt.

He stared at her, wearing a deep grimace.

Finally, he stood up and awkwardly patted Jade’s wolf’s head. “Might be better to go to my place,” he said.

Her wolf stared at him.

After a beat of hesitation, he waved her after him. She silently stuck close to his side, following him down the dirt road until they were both too far for us to see them.

“Shit,” Graham murmured.

“What’s his story?”

“His mate was his best friend his whole life. They never had chemistry, but tried to make it work. When her wolf rejected him, she mated with his best friend. He left town that night.”

My eyes widened. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. He doesn’t share details, but it sounded pretty brutal. He hasn’t talked to women much since.”

“No kidding.”

Graham’s arm went around my waist again, pulling me to him and kissing me lightly. “We can worry about them after we deal with this.” He dragged a knuckle lightly over my cheek.

I felt so hot, I knew without a doubt that I was still flushed from the climax.

“I guess.”

“You guess?” Graham’s voice grew lower and more playful.

“Yes, I—” I cut myself off when more tires on dirt had us both turning our heads.

“Everyone needs to fuck off,” Graham grumbled.

I laughed.

He wasn’t wrong.

Abby rolled down her window as she and Nico pulled up behind the truck parked in front of mine and Graham’s place.

Her eyes were bright, and she waved. “Sorry we missed the drama! Where did they go?”

“To Wyatt’s place. He already bit her.” I gestured in the direction they’d gone.

“Holy shit, that was fast.”

“Finn took off,” I added. “We’re officially in the climax, so if you guys can handle that…” I gestured toward the house again, a little more vaguely.

Abby winked. “We’ve got it. Have fun.”

Nico said something to her, and she hopped out of the truck long enough to take the driver’s seat in the other vehicle. They both pulled away, leaving us alone.

“Do you think that’s our last distraction?” I asked Graham.

“I don’t know, and I don’t particularly care.” He swept me off my feet and tossed me over his shoulder. The laugh that bubbled free from me was lighter and more genuinely happy than I could ever remember myself.

I loved that.

Maybe I loved Graham a little bit too. I’d have to wait to tell him until he had more time to fall for me, but honestly?

Getting to know him through my wolf’s eyes was pretty amazing.

He locked the front door behind us and carried me directly to the couch—where he set me down on my back, tugged my pants down my thighs, and ate me out until I dragged him on top of me and stripped him down myself.

When he fucked me, it didn’t just feel like sex.

It felt like love.