I gawked at him. I couldn’t believe he had the gall to talk to me this way. Was hethreateningto nurse me back to health?
Energized by defiance, I ignored the pain and pushed myself to my feet. Sage refused to move. I took a step forward, intending to brush past him, but my body gave out. I collapsed on Sage, who caught me with an “oof!”
It was beyond embarrassing. I wished a meteor would hit me.
Good thing Sage was stronger than he looked. I was surprised he didn’t drop me, given that I was heavier and taller than him. But he held on with firm arms. I couldn’t help but take a deep whiff of his scent. I had to bite my tongue to stop from groaning—up close, he smelled fucking incredible.
I was immensely thankful to Morgan for stabbing me with his antlers, because if it weren’t for the pain, I would’ve had a massive hard-on right against Sage, and at that point I may as well have just died on the spot.
“Well, I think that settles it,” Hugo announced kindly. “Xander will be staying with us until his health improves. Any objections?”
No one refused, but Dax grumbled, “There’s still two more pack members who need to decide if they want an alpha mountain lion around.”
I winced. When he said it like that, it made me sound like a villain.
Gods, how are theremoreof these people? There’s already like fifty of them!
“Oh, right!” Sage said. “You already met Remmy, but you gotta meet Red, too. C’mon, Xander!”
Sage let out ahupas he inserted himself under my arm, letting me use him as a crutch. I was speechless.
Last night, I’d tried my damned hardest to scare him away, but now he was acting like it never happened. Was he forgetful? Naïve? Just stupid?
No, I had a feeling it wasn’t any single one of those. There was something else going on beneath Sage’s upbeat demeanor.
But the bigger problem was, how much longer could I control my attraction when I was forced to be close to him?
