Mate (Bride, #2)

by Ali Hazelwood

“I don’t want to be unfair. Your life has been hard. But I hope you will leave soon, Serena. I appreciate that you’re trying to protect Lowe’s sister, but I hope you’ll know better than to stick around once this is over.” It would be so easy to snap back, if she was being deliberately rude. But she’s obviously in pain. And too distracted to notice her slackening grip and the opening she’s giving me. I rip my arm free, shift our positions, and swing my legs over her body. Putting pressure on the joint of her elbow, I watch her thrash for a few seconds. It’s there in her eyes, the moment she realizes that there’s no way out. “I’m not going to stick around,” I puff out, winded. “I’ll be out of your hair before you can swat me away. And you don’t have to worry about Koen and me. We’re not together. The mate thing has no bearing on our relationship. We’re not secretly in love with each other. We’re not even fucking.” “Oh, I know.” Her smile is strained. “Believe me, we all know.” “Good. He explained the situation to you.” I glance up and find him staring at us. At me. If he’s angry that I won, he hides it well. There is a shadow of a smile around his eyes, at the edge of him, that resembles…pride. I hope what he reads in my wide, smug grin is Guess I’ll be living on my own. And maybe he does. Because he nods, once, as if conceding that I’m right. I open my mouth to say something obnoxiously victorious—and that’s when I realize that my celebration was premature. With an explosiv...