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eleven

ENZO

Aspen was curled up in bed with her iPad when I got back that evening. Those gorgeous blue eyes were heavy with exhaustion, and there were two boots on the floor instead of one.

Had she hurt herself again?

Why hadn’t anyone fucking told me?

My wolf snarled, and I strode to the bed, ripping the blankets off her legs to glower down at her injuries. When I saw just the one foot wrapped, and the other one perfectly fine, I paused.

“What’s your problem?” she grumbled, taking the blanket from my hand and resettling it back over her legs. All she had on was a sports bra and a pair of the tiny shorts she’d had on in my shower that first day.

She looked so fucking good.

“There are two boots on the floor.”

“Oh.” She closed the cover of the case I’d put on the new device. It was a light gray color, almost the same as the last one she had. “I might’ve walked to the doctor’s office without one.”

My nostrils flared. “Clay told me you need to wear it for another twenty-four hours.”

“Which is why the doctor gave me another one. I should probably offer to pay to refill his stash, because I think it’s the last one he had. I can’t imagine he kept more than two on hand.” She sat up. “He asked me again if he can use my blood for his research.

“No.” I scooped her up off the bed, and she made a noise of surprise as she clutched her iPad and phone to her chest. Maybe after we’d sealed the bond, my wolf would be willing to share her in that way. But if they found something in her blood that showed them how to make female werewolves?

I’d likely have to kill my own scientists to keep her safe. Which I’d rather avoid, considering I needed them to find a way to save our people. One that didn’t involve hurting or using my mate.

“Pack funds pay for all of the medical supplies. Don’t worry about the cost.” I grabbed the duffel bag she’d packed and threw it over my shoulder before striding out of the room with her cradled safely in my arms.

My wolf finally relaxed. The only time the bastard was ever calm anymore was when her body was pressed against mine. He was itching to go for a run with her wolf, but didn’t want her to shift until she was healed. Shifting could make the healing process messier.

“If they could figure out how to make more female wolves, it might?—”

“ No , Princess. When my scent is combined with yours after our mating ceremony, I’ll consider it. Until then, my answer isn’t changing. Your blood belongs to me as much as the rest of you does.”

She sighed. “Alright.”

I carried her out to the parking lot. Fancy vehicles were a waste of money, so I didn’t bother. I buckled her into the passenger seat of my truck, then took the driver’s seat. Some of my wolves had a fire burning between the Lodge and the newer apartment building, and a few of them waved at me.

I lifted a hand back, as I pulled out of the lot.

“They like you,” Aspen said.

I made a noncommittal noise.

“Your pack,” she clarified. “They like you, even though the rest of the city is terrified of you. Why?”

“I don’t know.”

It was a lie.

I knew.

My pack understood what I gave to protect them and everyone else in the city. No one else did.

I glanced at her in the rearview mirror. She didn’t look like she believed me.

At least she didn’t question me about it any further.

“How far out is your cabin? At least an hour into the forest, I hope?”

“It’s on the far side of Greenview. Far enough into the forest that no humans or wolves would ever find it on accident.”

“Oh, damn. Isn’t that like a five-hour drive?”

“Six.”

Six-and-a-half, actually. But she didn’t need to know that. Not when she seemed unhappy with the answer.

“If your ankle starts to hurt, just turn in your seat and rest it on my leg. I can lift the console.”

“It’ll be fine.”

My wolf growled, and I didn’t bother trying to suppress the sound. All it would do was piss him off, and I didn’t need him fighting me when I was trying to get her out of Crimson River for her safety.

Her past experiences with heat had obviously left her scarred. She was dreading spending it with me, even if she hadn’t said as much.

I couldn’t erase the pain she’d lived through, but I could give her good memories. I didn’t know how her heat or the rut would affect me, but she would be damn sure that I wasn’t fucking her out of obligation, fear, or guilt. According to Fletcher, Silas was the only man she had ever been with, and he was shit-poor competition.

She looked over her shoulder, and did a double-take when she saw reusable grocery bags on the backseat. “You went shopping?”

“We’ll need to eat.”

“Yeah, but I could’ve gone with you. It feels like forever since I went grocery shopping.”

“I ordered them online and picked them up on my way home. You didn’t miss anything.”

“Still, I should’ve paid for them at the very least. You keep cooking for me, and now you’re going to deal with my heat, so?—”

“Get this through that thick little skull, Princess.” My voice was low, my anger rising swiftly with the way she referred to herself, and her heat. “I’m not going to deal with anything. I’m taking you to my cabin for a few days because I want to. I’m feeding you because I want to. I’m spending your heat with you because I want to. And when I get to fuck that sweet little cunt, it'll be because I want to. I don’t owe you anything. I don’t have any guilt or pity over your past. I want to feel you wrapped around my cock, and this is a damn good excuse to get that.”

She was silent, but the scent of her desire teased my nose.

My words had turned her on.

My cock was hard as a fucking rock, and she’d see it sticking straight up if she looked over the console. My sweats didn’t do a damn thing to conceal it.

I was going to have to start wearing jeans if I couldn’t get my desire for her under control. Given the erection I had nearly every minute I spent with her, getting it under control seemed unlikely.

“You really need to stop calling me little. I’m always the tallest woman in the pack. I usually tower over the groupies. Even Fletcher only has four inches on me. I’m not small just because you’re a freaking giant.”

She was rambling.

The scent of her desire was thickening, though. She was trying to distract herself from wanting me, too.

“I’m going to read a book,” she finally said. “If there’s a next time, I get to buy the groceries.”

“When there’s a next time, you can use my card to buy our groceries, as my mate.”

She scowled. “I still haven’t agreed to that.”

“I still have yet to meet anyone who could take you from me.”

She made a noise of complaint, and opened her iPad.

She could read as many books as she wanted. I wouldn’t complain. I’d seen the covers of the books she read when I made Hunter help me transfer her settings to her new devices, and our room always smelled like her desire when she was reading. If she wanted to get turned on by her romance books in my truck, I sure as hell wouldn’t stop her.

Maybe it could make up for my lack of romance. I wouldn’t even know where to begin when it came to wooing a female. I rarely visited the bars with my brothers, and when I did, there was no talking or flirting involved. Just a quick, dirty fuck in the bar’s bathroom. I’d done it in my truck once, and after spending hours cleaning the bitch’s scent out, vowed to never do that again. My wolf couldn’t stand it.

Now, I wanted my female’s scent in my vehicle.

I turned music on as her mind slipped into the book she was reading.

When the desire in her scent thickened, it took everything I had to keep a grin off my face.

That woman was mine. Even if she hadn’t accepted it yet.