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Chapter 20
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The Hybrid Mate Chapter 21
She was expecting some sarcastic remark, but he just smiled. “If I had it my way, you’d be laughing all the time.” She swung the café door open so hard she was worried a hinge might break. The place was dead on Sunday nights, so they had their pick of tables. She pointed out a booth in the back and Darian shook his head. “A table is better,” he said, walking over to one. After he pulled out her chair and took the seat across from her, she could see why he didn’t want a booth. As it was, he would already have to hunch over the low table. “Everything I’ve had here is good, the wraps especially,” she told him. She doubted he was a picky eater, though. He scanned the menu earnestly. “They don’t list calories.” She blinked. “You count calories?” “Yeah, it’s hard to eat enough with all this low-fat granola bullshit going around,” he said. “I need to stay fueled for, uh, security.” “Wow. Is the job really that intense?” “The
The Hybrid Mate Chapter 22
Bella’s back straightened, and she felt a strange twinge of some unfathomable emotion at the thought of Darian with one of Victor’s submissives. It couldn’t be jealousy. That was just absurd. The back of her hand burned, almost like something had stung it, and the pain wouldn’t go away no matter how hard she massaged it. Despite her best efforts to hide her strange reaction, Darian picked up on it quickly. “Are you jealous?” he asked, sounding far too pleased. “Of course not,” Bella mumbled. “We’re not together, that would be ridiculous. Anyway, I know you’re a Dom. I’m sure that implies… things.” “Things?” he laughed. “Sometimes it involves sex, but not always. Why don’t you come down to the Lodge, and you can see for yourself?” “You know how I feel about that, Darian,” Bella sighed. “Don’t get me wrong, this was nice, but—” “But you wish this was all there was,” he said knowingly. He thought about it for a moment. “Is that the on
The Hybrid Mate Chapter 23
The next few days came and went like a hurricane. Prentice was right about the difficulty of Monday’s lecture, and about half the class stayed after the period was over for the special two-hour study session he had arranged. A few of them scheduled tutoring appointments for the next week, which was good news for Bella’s bank account. By the end of it all, she was exhausted, but she agreed to go out for coffee with Sandra once she managed to get ahold of her. While Bella had been avoiding her for a day or so, Sandra had made herself an even scarcer commodity lately. She was hardly ever in the room, and when she was, it seemed to only be for ten-minute intervals that “mysteriously” occurred during times when she knew Bella would be away. To her relief, she was the same old Sandra when they finally got together. They talked briefly about the competition, and Bella apologized in person for blaming her, but so much had happened since then. What had seemed li
The Hybrid Mate Chapter 24
“Never said it was your fault. When a man leaves home on a business trip and comes back not even a week later to find everything turned upside down, he gets curious.” He looked up and removed a thick pair of reading glasses, motioning for her to come forward. “Let’s have a look at you.” His eyes were shrewd and green, and it felt like they were looking through Bella. They widened sharply as he looked her over, and he rose suddenly from his chair. Bella took an instinctive step back and hit the wall that was Darian. He put his strong hands on her shoulders and kept her steady. The longer the Alpha watched her with those piercing eyes, the more she felt like returning to the Lodge had been a mistake. Just when she was sure she was about to find out whether Darian’s protectiveness over her extended even to the man he revered so deeply, the Alpha composed himself and straightened his back to reach his full height. He had to be at least six feet tall.
The Hybrid Mate Chapter 25
Bella glanced at Darian, hoping to unravel the enigmatic comment, but he appeared just as bewildered as she was. “Well, the damage is done, and it seems you won fair and square,” Ulric stated. “There’s no reason for you not to keep the prize money.” “That’s the thing, Sir. I don’t believe I won fairly. There was another contestant named Maverick, and he would be much better suited for the title and the other… prizes.” “Other prizes?” Ulric frowned. “You mean the membership?” “Uh, no,” Darian interjected, clearing his throat. “The guys voted and decided to put the winner on the cover of that magazine Brendan runs, plus a session with you. I think it was their attempt at matchmaking since you’re retired.” “Did they now?” Ulric narrowed his eyes. “That brilliant idea was Brendan’s brainchild, no doubt. I’ll have a talk with him later.” He shook his head, appearing utterly exhausted. “I have no time for that sort of thing anymore. Bella, keep the money, a
The Hybrid Mate Chapter 26
Bella kept him in her sight as Darian took her arm and pulled her to her feet. “Come on,” he said gruffly, leading her toward the door.She looked back at Ulric with great wariness. “But I have more questions.” The Alpha smiled sadly. “I’m afraid that from this point on, none of the answers will come the easy way.” Darian pulled her out of the room, and the door fell shut, along with any belief she had in a world that made sense. To her dismay, Darian offered to take her home almost as soon as they left Ulric’s study. She wanted to protest and demand answers, but something about the look in his eyes kept her from it. Maybe it was for the best that she let him take her home and never looked back. He all but dragged her to the parking lot, and on the way to the car, they ran into the smaller wolf she remembered from her meltdown. “Hey, guys,” he called pleasantly. Darian stormed past him without a word. She looked back and waved apologe
The Hybrid Mate Chapter 27
“Seriously, he hasn’t called in five days?” Sandra sounded incredulous as she reached for the toes of her running shoes. They were both seated on the grassy area of the courtyard trying to stretch out their hamstrings before the run Bella talked her into. “No, he hasn’t,” Bella said, leaving out the fact that Darian had at least texted her every night since he had stolen her phone number up until the night she met Ulric. Sandra didn’t need to know how hard and fast she had fallen for the Wolf. “But it’s not a big deal. Like I said, we’re just friends.” She had made so damn sure of that. “You are so not friends. This is friends,” she said, gesturing between them. “You can’t be friends with someone who looks like Darian.” “As gorgeous as he is, I still don’t know how I feel,” she sighed, switching sides to grab her left heel. “I just wish I knew if he was okay. He won’t answer any of my calls.” Sandra gave her a pointed look. “Right. ‘Just
The Hybrid Mate Chapter 28
She gave me a perplexed look. “Why?” “Can’t put my finger on it,” Bella lied. “He just seems weird.” “Yeah, okay.” Bella could tell she wasn’t convinced, but she decided not to push it. She seemed too preoccupied with Jason to be in much danger. The woods were just up ahead. Bella’s pace quickened naturally as she felt herself strangely drawn to them. Bella noticed Sandra’s footfalls drop off and turned around to find her a decent distance behind her, doubled over with her hands on her knees and panting to catch her breath. “You okay?” Bella jogged over to her side and grabbed the water bottle clipped to her belt loop and offered it to her. She took a few long gulps and water poured down the sides of her mouth as she gasped. “I’m fine, this trail is just kicking my ass. Is it normal for everything to burn?” Bella smiled sympathetically. “Yeah, but you should probably head back. We’ve already gone a mile and a quarter. That’s a lot for your first
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