“Oh.” She pursed her lips. “So that’s not a symptom of your sickness?”
“I’m not sick,” Murphy reiterated with an irritated huff, though he didn’t pull away from her hand, relishing the feel of her skin on his.
I’ll step away from her in just a second,he silently vowed.
Instead, he said, “I’m a bear shifter, and an Alpha. I don’tgetsick.”
“Well excuse me, Mr. Fancy Pants. I didn’t realize having a superiority complex came with a superior immune system, too.”
“I don’t have a superiority complex.”
Nessa quirked a brow. “Are you sure? Sounds like you do to me.” Then she deepened her voice to a mocking cadence of his own. “‘I’m a big, bad bear man. I don’t get sick.’”
Well, when she said it like that, he couldn’t help but notice how arrogant he’d sounded. And ‘bear man?’ What was next? Would she call him a wereman? He-bear?
“You’re aggravating,” Murphy grumbled, though he still didn’t move away from her. He should, though. Needed to. It was for the best that he did so immediately, in fact, and that he sent her on her way and forgot about this entire exchange.
Then why did that seem like the wrong choice?
It’s just your counterpart planting doubt in your mind. Ignore it. Ignore him and let the female go.
Murphy’s fingers tightened around the teal lock of Nessa’s hair still in his hand.
“I get that a lot,” Nessa commented lightly, a faraway look crossing her features before she shook her head.
“You need to leave,” Murphy stated slowly, the words difficult to spit out.
Nessa dropped her hand before stuffing both of them into the pockets of her jacket. “Listen, I … I know we’re mates, okay? That’s part of why Hunny and Tank came to see me. They think I made you sick. O-Or you made yourself sick over it all. Something. I don’t know, it’s all kind of a blur, and honestly I found it confusing,” she rambled, her nostrils flaring as she sucked in a trembling breath.
Murphy stared down at her in shock. “You know we’re mates?” The pieces clicked into place almost immediately. His family thought he was suffering from mating sickness?
He wanted to deny it. Mating sickness happened when a mating bond began and then was halted abruptly, which usually only took place after physical touch. He knew he hadn’t touched Nessa until tonight. How could they have imprinted on each other? Unless his bear had some involvement.
Had his need for Nessa been so great, his bear had forced an imprinting despite any physical interaction? He had heard of rare cases like that before.
It would explain his erratic behavior. He had all the classic signs. Lack of sleep, lack of proper nutrition, bouts of rage, his inability to fully control his bear … Hell, he’d felt exhausted for weeks. Now, all of a sudden, he felt wired. Alert.
“Mating sickness,” he repeated in shock.
“Yeah.” Nessa frowned, her gaze shifting to the hand still holding onto her hair, as if she’d only just realized he’d been caressing the thick strands. “What the—” Faster than he’d expected, she pulled her hand from her pocket, swatting his fingers away from her hair. “No touching.”
“You touched me first,” he argued, though there was a distinct lack of animosity in his words, mostly because he’d just lied through his teeth. He dropped his hands to his side, his fingers twitching from the sudden lack of contact.
“Very mature.” Nessa sighed, her eyes trained on his chest instead of meeting his gaze. “I-I know you don’t want me. As a mate, I mean.”
Murphy stilled. “Who told you that?” he asked darkly.
“Tank mentioned you hate humans, or something.” She frowned.
“He did?” Murphy bit out the question, his vision growing hazy with unkempt rage. “Just what else has my brother told you, Nessa? Did he say why?”
Betrayal threatened to burn him alive, and a shiver swept over his skin, his bear more than ready to rise to the surface.
“Just that you don’t want to mate with me. A-And I don’t want a mate either, believe me.” She wrinkled her nose adorably. “Besides, we don’t even like each other. This whole mating thing has disaster written all over it.”
Murphy sighed, squeezing his eyes shut and inhaling deeply. He needed to calm down, to rejoice in the fact that this human wanted nothing to do with him, either. It made everything easier. But as he dragged her sweet scent into his lungs, he felt anything but relaxed. “Why are you here?”
There was a brief pause, and then she murmured, “I came here to reject you.”
