Page 10 of The Wolf Prince’s Mate (Marked Beneath the Moon #2)

ten

CLAY

I slammed my car’s door and strode toward the back of the Lodge. Hunter fell into step with me as I passed the front edge of the main building, just like I knew he would.

It had been two days since Nova’s wolf went into that bush. She barely ate. Barely slept. And growled at anyone who came close.

“You can’t force her to come out,” he said.

“Watch me.”

“She’s been through enough without you making it worse.”

“Do you know her, Hunter?” I bit out.

The question caught him off guard, but we both knew the answer. I’d talked to Aspen and Sydney about it, too. They had both agreed with me, though they were both too reluctant to push her.

I wasn’t.

“I know her,” I said. “We’re friends. Not close friends—but friends. And I know her well enough to be damn sure that the longer she stays in that bush, the harder it’s going to be to pull her out again.”

“Your wolf,” Hunter began, but I cut him off.

“My wolf still hasn’t claimed her, and he’s not a risk. He’s lounging in his cage like usual. The blood triggered him at the crash site, but she’s not bleeding, so he’s not interested.”

Hunter grunted. “That doesn’t mean you should try to drag her out.”

“Are you going to act on your wolf’s claim?”

“Of course not.” I could hear his scowl. I didn’t need to look over to confirm it.

“Then as her friend, I have a hell of a lot more say than you do right now. You know that.”

He made a noise of frustration, but didn’t disagree.

I was right, and he knew it.

He turned down the path she had taken, and I followed behind him. Someone had dragged some outdoor furniture over to the edge of the path, and I saw Sydney sprawled out over one of the couches, asleep. Fletcher wasn’t next to her, but I knew he was on a shift in the forest at the moment.

Eventually, he was going to ask for help with the rogue wolves so he wasn’t gone all the time. His scent was always so thick on Syd’s skin that there was no question they’d end up mated sooner rather than later.

The guy who had been talking with her when I was on the phone earlier—Kody—was sitting on another chair, his legs sprawled and his head tilted back while he dozed. I knew he worked closely with Hunter, but other than that, I knew nothing about the guy.

“Why is he still here?” I asked Hunter mentally, gesturing to the guy.

Hunter grimaced. “He’s kind of dating her.”

“He’s what?” I nearly snarled the last word.

“Technically, a few guys are. He’s just her favorite.”

I jerked my head backward.

“That’s the plan,” Hunter admitted. “We’re trying to find her a mate. To break my wolf’s obsession.”

“Tell me you’re joking.”

“It was her idea.”

“And you just went along with it?”

“No. I found men strong enough to protect her, who we trust, and set up meetings for her. I put security on her. I ? —”

“Your security nearly got her killed,” I snapped. “Was she at one of these meetings when that fucker got in her car?”

“Yes.”

“Then it’s time to come up with a new plan. You can’t force a woman to take a mate just because you can’t control your wolf.”

“That’s rich,” he snarled back. “Considering I just had to sedate your wolf, to ? —”

“We both know why my beast is the way he is. What’s your excuse?” I growled back.

Hunter’s nostrils flare. “Fine. You know her—you deal with her. I’m done.”

He turned and left.

I didn’t feel great about arguing with Hunter. We usually didn’t fight. But on this topic, we’d been itching closer and closer to an argument for months. If he’d told me what their plan was sooner, that argument would’ve happened weeks ago.

I pushed it from my mind. I’d deal with it later.

First, I needed to take care of Nova.

I stepped past the furniture.

The fucker in the chair jerked his head upward, wiping drool from his chin as he looked around wildly. “Clay? What are you doing?”

“Fixing her. Feel free to leave.” My words were shorter than they probably should’ve been. I didn’t have it in me to play diplomat while my favorite woman’s wolf was hiding in a bush.

“Don’t touch her. She was just calming down,” he protested. “We can’t…”

“Fuck off, Kody. I know her better than you do.”

“It’s going to be fine,” Sydney murmured to Kody, sleep heavy in her voice. “Nova trusts Clay.”

The words made my chest burn.

She did trust me.

I hoped so, at least.

Her wolf roused from sleep as I approached. Her bright green eyes were only cracked, but she growled softly at me anyway. She sounded weak.

“Growl all you want, Gorgeous.” I crossed the dirt between us. She snapped her teeth at me halfheartedly when I bent down, but they glanced off my skin. She didn’t really want to draw blood. She was just scared.

The thorn bush she was in had to be stabbing her, and would do the same to me, but I didn’t give a damn.

“You’re filthy.” I tucked my arms beneath her and scooped her up off the ground, careful not to bump her injured leg. It was still wrapped in the human arm brace the doctor had given her. “And you smell like Hunter.”

The way her nose wrinkled made me chuckle. She didn’t care about the dirt or dried blood, but smelling like Hunter was crossing a line for her.

She growled again as I carried her out of the forest, but it was even more half-hearted than before.

I walked smoothly to avoid jostling her broken arm, and having me there seemed to relax her. She closed her eyes almost immediately.

“Where are you taking her?” Kody asked me, falling into step with me the same way my brother had.

He could fuck off, as far as I was concerned.

But if she was dating him, I couldn’t exactly say that.

I heard Sydney rushing to catch us, and slowed down a little. Everyone liked Syd. She could keep the peace if I accidentally pissed my girl’s boyfriend off.

Considering I wanted to kill him for dating Nova, it seemed like a good call to have Sydney there. Just in case.

“To my cabin,” I said.

“What? Why?”

“She’s not comfortable in the Lodge, and she’s never been in my cabin. I can convince her to shift back there.”

“She’s never been in my room,” Kody argued. “I?—”

“Let Clay handle it,” Sydney urged. “They’ve been friends for more than a year. She knows him.”

“They spent heat together,” Kody growled back.

“Because she trusts him,” Sydney said.

“She shouldn’t. His wolf?—”

I stopped abruptly, and Kody nearly ran into me. When I turned around, my eyes were narrowed. Nova’s wolf’s face was resting against my chest, her eyes closed.

“Go ahead and finish that sentence,” I said flatly.

Wisely, he kept his mouth shut.

“Seeing as no one else got through to her in the past two days , I am going to drag her back to the land of the living however the fuck I want. Yes, my wolf is insane. And yes, I have successfully kept him from hurting an innocent for longer than you’ve been alive. So, go ahead and finish what you were saying. Something about my wolf?”

I waited.

“Thank you for coming back to help her,” Sydney said, stepping between me and Kody with a small smile. “We appreciate it.”

I dipped my head toward her, and strode away.

The bastard finally stopped following.

The walk to my cabin wasn’t interrupted again, despite the many sets of eyes I felt on us. Ten minutes later, I was typing in my code to unlock the door, then carrying Nova’s wolf through it.

She was snoring lightly.

I wanted to let her sleep, but I needed to get her to shift first.

So, I carried her through the living room, into my bedroom, and to the bathroom. When I started the water in the shower, she opened her eyes blearily.

“I need you clean,” I said bluntly. “You can stay in this form while I wash you, or you can shift back and wash yourself.”

The wolf eyed me, like she thought I was bluffing.

I wasn’t.

I set her down just inside the shower, careful with her leg. Then, I pulled my shirt over my head.

I thought stripping would make her shift, but she just stared at me.

My pants followed my shirt to the floor, and I kicked them away from the shower. She still watched me, but her fur didn’t disappear.

Guess I was going to have to follow through on my threat.

My boxer-briefs stayed on as I stepped into the shower with her, grabbing her carefully around her middle and carrying her under the stream of water. She yelped as it hit her—and shifted quickly.

Skin replaced fur as Nova’s sexy little body replaced the wolf’s. She was on her hands and knees, immediately dragging my mind back to the way I’d taken her in the bathroom during heat.

My cock hardened instantly.

“What the fuck, Clay?” she snapped, shoving my hands off her waist and dropping her ass to her heels as she sat up.

I couldn’t have taken my eyes off her if I tried.

She pushed hair out of her eyes with her good hand, and went still when she noticed the dried blood on her skin.

Her hand trembled.

“Don’t think about it,” I said. “Let me help you wash up. We’ll get some food in you afterward.”

“I can clean myself.”

“Of course you can. I just want an excuse to touch you again.”

She huffed. “Fine. Don’t lie to me, though.”

“What have I ever lied to you about?” I stepped closer and eased her to her feet. Her bare body brushed mine, and I didn’t care about the blood and dirt. I just wanted her against me.

“Wanting to touch me.”

My forehead creased. “What?”

“I know you only call me Gorgeous as a joke. I’m just not in the mood to deal with it right now, so… don’t.”

The crease deepened. “What are you talking about?”

“You said you were only doing it to tease me. In the car. When we were leaving Stray. And It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

“I would never have said that.”

She scoffed. “I told you that you couldn’t use the nickname anymore after we screwed. You told me that you weren’t hitting on me. That you were just joking around.”

Okay, maybe I would’ve said that. But she had obviously taken it the wrong way.

“Not flirting with you isn’t the same as not being attracted to you. And I have always been attracted to you. The first time I called you Gorgeous, I did it as a joke to distract you from my hard-on, when you were inking me. Remember?”

“What? No.”

“Yes. You took off your flannel and were working on my skin in nothing but a pair of leggings and a flimsy white tank top. You weren’t wearing a bra under it. I could see your nipples through the fabric. Your feet were bare. Your hand was on my arm. It was the hardest I’d been in years.”

Her cheeks reddened. “Don’t mess with me.”

I dragged her good hand down to my boxer-briefs, pressing it to my erection. “Does this feel like messing with you?”

She swallowed roughly. Her gaze was on my shoulder. The one with ink on it. “I remember that day. You took a break in your car to make a call.”

I lowered my lips to her ear. “There was no call. I had to look at pictures of my brothers to try to relax my cock. It was that or jerking off, and I didn’t think you or Hunter would approve.”

She shivered, tilting her head a little until it rested against my chest. Her hand was still on my cock, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to remove it. “You were seriously attracted to me?”

“Any man with eyes would be attracted to you, Gorgeous. Between your ass, your eyes, and your ink, they’d be hard-pressed to look away.”

“Hunter never wanted me,” she said. “It sort of made me… insecure. When I thought you didn’t want me too…” she trailed off, tightening her hand around my erection.

I forced myself to breathe evenly and think unsexy thoughts.

Cows.

Sheep.

Goats.

Llamas.

I didn’t know why animals were the route I went, but they were.

“Physically, Hunter wanted you as badly as his wolf did. He just forced himself not to act on it.”

“He definitely wasn’t attracted to me.”

I snorted. “I’ve had a dozen conversations about it with him. He wanted you. It was the mate bond he didn’t, and still doesn’t, want.”

“I don’t think I believe you.”

“You could ask him. I’m sure he’d tell you.”

“We don’t talk unless it’s about—” She cut herself off before she could finish.

“Your dates?” I drawled.

She grimaced. “He told you?”

“Yes. I met one of your boyfriends .” The last word came out with a growl

Slowly, she released my cock. “They’re not my boyfriends. And it’s not ideal, but it would mean freedom. I’ve met a few decent guys so far. I like them enough.”

“You can’t mate with someone you like enough , Nova. That’s bullshit, and you know it.”

“What do you think I should do, then?” She lifted her gaze to mine, defiance in her eyes. “I’m in danger as long as I’m unmated. Even if my stalker is gone, Hunter’s wolf is going to keep being obsessive and insane until I’m paired off. I’m going to lose my mind if I keep spending heat alone. I have to pick someone, whether I like it or not.”

“I would protect you,” I countered. “I would spend heat with you. I would help you get Hunter’s wolf to see that there won’t ever be anything between you.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“I could never offer a mate bond, because of my wolf, but I can do friends with benefits.”

She stared at me for a long moment. Finally, she let out a long breath. “I’ll think about it. Now’s not a good time for me to make decisions.”

She was right.

I shouldn’t have brought it up at all while she was recovering from the trauma of that night, but I wanted her too badly to let the conversation go by without making sure she knew it was an option.

A good one, even if I couldn’t give her everything.

“We’ll table it until you’re feeling better.”

She nodded. “Can you help me get the blood and dirt off? My hand is kind of toast right now.”

“Of course. How bad is the pain?”

“It’s not that bad.”

“Liar.” I started washing her back with the bar of soap in my shower.

“It doesn’t do any good to complain about it.”

“I’m the one who asked. Answering and complaining are hardly the same.”

“Fine, it hurts. I’m already regretting letting my wolf soak this thing.” She waved her braced arm.

“I’ll get someone to bring you a dry one.”

She rolled her eyes. “I don’t need someone to deliver it. I can go get it.”

“From the sound of it, there are quite a few men who would be willing to deliver things for you.”

Her cheeks reddened slightly. “Shut up, Savage. None of them actually want to mate with me because of who I am. They just want to be mated to a born female werewolf, so their kids can be as gigantic and vicious as you and your brothers.”

I chuckled. “We are fairly well-known for our size and blood-thirst.”

“Exactly.”

“Most people don’t know that our mother was like you, though.”

“It’s common gossip at this point. It’s not a stretch when you think about how fast Enzo claimed Aspen.”

“That’s not why he did it.”

“I know. The general population doesn’t.” She took the soap from me so she could wash her front, and closed her eyes when I started working shampoo into her scalp. “Fuck, Savage.”

“Is that an invitation?”

She laughed. “No.”

“Damn.”

She swatted my arm, and I stepped closer so my covered erection was against her backside. Lowering my lips to her soapy shoulder, I dropped a kiss to her skin before I stepped away again, giving her space.

“Thanks for getting me out of the bush,” she murmured, as I rinsed shampoo from her hair. Water fell over her skin, too, erasing the soap completely.

“Any time. If you ever want to talk about it, I’ll listen.”

“Thanks.”

As soon as we were done cleaning her skin, I helped her dry off and swap her wet brace for the fresh one Sydney had left by the door at my request.

We eased one of my T-shirts over her head and tied her hair up in a bun before I helped her get to my bed. The woman was so exhausted, she didn’t even protest.

Something within me settled as I watched her burrow under the blankets.

“No snuggling,” she mumbled.

“I was going to sleep on the couch.”

She made a nonsensical noise, and my lips curved upward.

She was safe and comfortable.

We could figure everything else out later.