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“I meant what I said. I want to go all the way with you. I want us to be together in every way. I want us to have babies, and I want to work by your side.”
“It makes me so fucking happy, Liv.”
I pull back to look at him, and I’m shocked to see that a small cut on the corner of his lip is completely gone, and many of the bruises on his face have faded dramatically. “Your face…it already looks better.”
“Most of this should be gone by tomorrow. Speaking of healing, let me look at your arms.” He sits up and holds up one of my arms. He shakes his head, his face red in anger. The guilt creeps up from my stomach into my throat, knowing I’m the only one to blame for ending up in that situation. “I want to kill that fucking asshole.”
“Ethan.” I take his face in my hands, tilting it so we’re eye to eye. “It’s over now. It’s okay.”
“Baby,” he pauses, shaking his head with a dry laugh, “it’s not over. Not with Ian. Not by a long shot.”
“I’m sorry. It’s my fault,” I say as tears threaten to surface again.
Ethan sits up in bed, running his hands through his hair. “No. You just…you can’t ever leave me again, Olivia.” He turns his face to look at me. “You can’t be going out unprotected around unmated males, especially fucked up assholes like Ian. You’re mine, not his. You will never fucking be his.” He’s full-on Alpha right now.
My mouth drops open as I try to find the words. “Ethan, I…I never intentionally ended up with Ian. He found me in the woods. You know this.”
“Do you understand what could have happened there tonight? He could have bitten you, bridging a connection between the two of you and destroying your connection to me, potentially killing you in the process. It wouldn’t matter to him,though, because his one main goal would be to completely fuck me over, which he would have achieved successfully.”
I shake my head as the tears fall and I begin to sob. “Trust me, I know what could have happened. I was there, remember. I was the one he attacked tonight,” I say as anger builds in my chest.
He stands, pulls on his briefs and paces the room with his face in his hands as a low growl erupts from his chest. I can’t take back what I did. I ran, and I landed myself in a life threatening situation. I’ve apologized. I’ve already agreed to give myself and my humanity over to him. I don’t know what else to do to make this better. I stand and grab my clothes, pulling on my panties. I touch his arm as I attempt to walk past him to leave the room.
“Where are you going?” He reaches for my wrist, his expression, one of anger and hurt. He’s beginning to give me emotional whiplash with his moods.
“It seems like you could use some space. It’s been a long night. I’m going to clean up and go to bed.”
He blocks the door with his wall of a body so I can’t get through. “No.”
I raise my eyebrows. “No?”
“You’re with me. You’re my mate, and you sleep in my fucking bed. End of story.” He crosses his arms and his chest heaves, daring me to challenge him.
“What the hell, Ethan? What’s going on here?”
“I need you to understand where your place is. It’s here with me, as my mate.”
Okay, now I’m pissed.
“I fucking get it, Ethan! I apologized for running, though I think it should be understandable why I’d freak out a little. I mean, come on! I’m not the only guilty one in all this. Then I tell you I love you. I tell you I’m giving myself to you completely. I’m trying to give you every fucking thing you want, but apparently,it’s not good enough! Not to mention we just had the hottest, most intense sex, of my life at least, and then you start pulling this Alpha bullshit on me!”
“I am the fucking Alpha here!” He doesn’t budge from the doorway.
“You may be, but you will not treat me this way! I don’t want Ian. I never wanted Ian. I ended up with him by mistake, a complete accident. He scared the shit out of me tonight,” I say as my voice quivers. “I’m yours, Ethan. I know my place is here with you, and it’s where I want to be.”
He leaves the doorway, moving past me to sit on the bed. He rubs his face, and runs his hands through his hair. I turn to him, and he holds his hand out to me. I take it as he pulls me between his legs, hugging me to his body. The warm comfort of being skin to skin calms his breathing. “Fuck, Olivia…do you have any idea what you put me through when you ran today?”
“It was never my intent to hurt you, but I know I did. You hurt me today too, you know.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I should have told you everything before I took things as far as I did. I don’t want to be this way with you, Liv. My instincts kick in and the wolf in me wants to protect you and claim you as mine. I think the sooner we complete the mating process, the sooner these feelings will settle.”
“Okay. What do we need to do?”
“There’s some paperwork we’ll need to file with the Combined Pack Council regarding your human status and transition. After that’s all in order, I can make the arrangements with the medical team for your care during your transition.”
I nod as the reality of what I’m agreeing to sinks to the bottom of my stomach.
“First things first, though. I need to introduce you to my family. My dad said he’d hold my mom and sister back until tomorrow, but that’s probably as long as we can avoid them.”
