Everyone's Mate (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 31

I glared at our footprints in the snow. Pine needles peaked out from areas that the snow had melted over, as it had stopped snowing somewhere in the afternoon. The sunlight glittered across the treetops tipped white with frost. It was beautiful. But I was irritated.

"You're kidding me. You're not serious, right?"

His dark, glowing eyes narrowed at me. Like I was being childish. It only made me grit my teeth.

It had taken actually blowing up on the guy to get him to see me. Now he was being even more impossible.

I pushed on, "This doesn't make sense. She's in an ER with limited time left and you're making me – what? Fight these guys?"

"I've never seen you fight," His irritated baritone made shivers go down my spine. "I need to know you can hold up without my help in a pinch."

It was his paranoid side making me do this. His warzone mentality wouldn't let any one of his people be put at risk by me, despite the whole agenda being a risky thing to begin with.

We were going to trek out into rogue territory. Go to a human hospital. Meet up with Gabriel and Alex. And then I'd get to see my best friend dying in a hospital bed.

The whole thing sounded more grim than I would like. I knew Rio had done a lot for me and even this was past his threshold to allow but to me, this was a waste of time.

"If you've forgotten it, I'm practically a human right now," I ground out, trying not to shrink under the eyes of his highest-ranking officers lined up for my training. "There's no way I could beat them."

For a second I watched the Alpha hesitate. I knew he wasn't stupid. He knew that. He combed a hand through his dark hair and sighed deeply, his bare chest still glistening with sweat from his previous exertion. With the sun at his back, he looked all the more imposing, like a statue carved by a war god. The scars that littered his torso were almost highlighted, one jagged one that cut through his left brow made him look lethal. I swallowed thickly and tried to keep my mind on task.

A side of me straight up wanted to go burry my nose in his neck. I pushed that thought aside with all the ruthlessness I could muster. Just because we slept together, and he held me in bed – just because I couldn't forget his expression when he touched me – didn't mean that he had any feelings for me. Maybe he did.

He and I still both knew it could never work out. No matter how much I wanted it to.

"Alright. I'll have you fight Danika then." He came up with quickly, motioning for the blonde girl to walk into the circle of people.

I balked at the thought. "Danika? Why her? She's not even a fighter!"

She shot me a look then, and if a look could kill, I'd be six feet under. I swallowed, remembering what I'd done to her.

She had extended a hand to help me through a hard time and not only did I slap the hand away but I treated a good friend like shit and now I had a feeling I would be in for it.

There wouldn't be any talking about it here. Not now, in front of these people. Danika knew that.

"Please, be gentle," I amended, walking into the circle. Immediately she shifted, her clothes falling around her wolf form that was surprisingly small. Perhaps the smallest wolf form I'd ever seen. Barely bigger than an actual wolf, with curly blonde hair and wickedly sharp claws. She shook the clothes off of her and licked her maw, her tongue hanging out good naturedly.