Page 47 of Lycans & Lattes

“I’m fine,” I hedged. “The only thing wrong is that you won’t let me be with you.”

“Show me your neck.”

“What?” My hands pulled at the knitted fabric to tighten it.

He tensed his jaw. “Show me where I bit you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine. If you’re going to get all aggro male about it, here.” I pulled my scarf away to show the purpling bruise, the wound far tamer than it would’ve been without the aid of the tea Jordyn had made for me.

Wyatt sucked a surprised breath through his teeth. “Fuck.” He tilted his head to the side to get a better look but didn’t come closer. “I’m so sorry, Willow. I lost control and⁠—”

“Wyatt!” I snapped, deciding it was time to take control of the conversation. I took a definitive step into the room. I was a grown-ass woman, a successful business owner, and a human holding her own in a supernatural town. I wasn’t some waif. “I am fine.”

“But—”

“Please.” It was far past time to throw a match on all this kindling. “I’ve had way rougher sex than that, if that’s where the night would’ve taken us. A little love bite like that was just a bit of foreplay, as far as I’m concerned.” He choked on his own breath, clearly shocked, but I pressed on. “You caught me by surprise, yes. And I didn’t appreciate you punching a hole in my cabinet without my consent. But if I had been prepared for the way the night was going, I would’ve been really into it. Believe me.”

He groaned. “You’re killing me.” He scrubbed a frustrated hand down his face. “You can’t say stuff like that to me right now. I could lose control again.”

I arched a brow. “And what if I wanted that?”

A little rumble escaped his lips as he balled his hands into fists. “You don’t know what you’re agreeing to.”

“You were the one who hit pause on things last night, not me, remember?” As I took another step toward him, his eyes dropped to track the movement. “I want to be with you, Wyatt,” I pushed. “Stop making decisions for me. When are you going to believe that I can handle everything you are?”

“I know how strong you are,” he countered. “But you are the most important person in the world to me, and I want you to get the sweet, kind, gentle version of me. The kind that is clearheaded enough to figure out what is going on with these threatening letters.”

“I do get that version,” I countered, exasperated. “I have him all the time. That’s who you are, Wyatt.”

“But I have a possessive, aggressive, feral side too, Willow. It’s new and dangerous.”

“And I think that’s so fucking hot,” I shot back. He guffawed. “Why can’t you be both? Why can’t I love both?”

He let out a whine, kicking his head back and staring up at the ceiling. “As badly as I want to show you how that word coming from you is affecting me, things are more dangerous than you understand. Protecting you needs to be my first priority.”

“I don’t care that things are dangerous.” I took a step toward him, and he sidestepped me, retreating.

“Someone from my pack is gunning for you,” he said sharply, and I halted. “I need to root them out. Right now, they think we aren’t together. If everyone in town is saying we broke up, that will keep you safe.”

His eyes met mine again, and the fury in them sent a shiver down my spine. He was ready to tear his own pack apart to find whoever was threatening me.

“But . . .”

“Don’t try to downplay this,” he urged. “Someone broke into your café and threatened you, and I will find them. Until then, it’s safer that people think we broke up.”

My shoulders drooped. “I don’t even like pretending.”

“Neither do I,” he admitted, his lips curving up.

“How long do I have to pretend?” I pouted, and Wyatt seemed to cheer up at my obstinance.

“Give me a week,” he begged. “One week and I’ll end them. Then I promise we can be together for as long as you’ll have me.”

“That might be a very long time,” I warned him.

He flashed a toothy grin that made my insides melt. God, he was so pretty. “I hope to every star in the sky that you mean that.”

“I’ll agree to a week under one condition.”