Free Clay's Hope by Melissa Haag Page B

Gabby.
    As if she didn’t know. I growled and barked
nonsense just because I was so pissed at the way things were
turning out.
    “Nothing,” Gabby said, yelling over me.
“Just give me a few minutes to calm him down, okay?”
    Calm me down? I stopped barking and glared
at the three of them. Gabby walked toward me with the clothes still
under one arm. I growled at them, and she faltered. A hint of fear
drifted to me, and I immediately felt guilty.
    “Uh, I’m not so sure you should do that
right now,” Peter said.
    I will jump off this bed and mark you if you
don’t leave now.
    “Enough,” Gabby said forcefully, her voice
echoing in the small room.
    I snapped my mouth closed but bared my teeth
at the man.
    Gabby gave me a hard look, then turned
toward the pair.
    “I’m fine. Thank you. Just give me a few
minutes to change.”
    Once they left, shutting the door behind
them, Gabby closed her eyes and took a slow breath as if she were
the angry one. I couldn’t believe it.
    When she turned to look at me, I glared at
her. Sure, I’d known she hadn’t wanted me here, but I thought she
understood our connection. I hadn’t been searching for a Mate. I
hadn’t wanted her any more than she’d wanted me. No, that wasn’t
quite true. I’d never hoped for a Mate because I thought it
impossible for someone like me. I had no pack, no family, no way to
offer protection and safety other than with my teeth and claws.
Just because I hadn’t hoped for a Mate didn’t mean I didn’t want
one. I wanted her. Badly. Why couldn’t she see that?
    “Will you bite me if I sit next to you,
Clay?”
    I snorted and the rest of my anger left me.
She was just as lost as I was. I needed to remember that. I sat
back down and waited.
    “You know I don’t understand dog,
right?”
    Which was a good thing.
    “It’d be so much easier if you just told me
what was wrong.”
    She finally turned to face me. When her gaze
met mine, I saw the turmoil there. I’d done that. Regret pounded at
me, and I wanted to shift so I could use my hand to cup her face
and try to erase the mess of emotions sparking in her gaze. I
wanted to kiss away any thought of meeting another man. How could
she not know what was wrong? I sighed and nudged the clothes she
still held.
    “You don’t like the clothes or that I’m
going out?”
    All of it, I thought with a nod.
    “You don’t like both?”
    I lay down on the mattress, glad we finally
understood each other.
    “You’re really frustrating me, Clay.”
    What?
    She moved to get up, and I growled, nowhere
near ready to stop trying to communicate.
    “Now, hold on...” She stood, turned, and put
her hands on her hips as she eyed me with annoyance.
    “I’m trying here, Clay, and you’re not. So
stop growling at me. Got it? And so what if I go out? Do you trust
me so little? Have you not been paying attention? I’m not
comfortable around guys. It’s not as if I’m going to go out tonight
and come back with a boyfriend or something. So, just chill out
about your Claim, all right?”
    So she did understand and meant to go
anyway? I growled in frustration.
    “We’re not talking unMated males,” she said
softly. “They’re just men.”
    I laughed in disbelief. Just men? All men,
whether werewolf or human, were a threat to the tenuous hold I had
on her.
    I hopped off the bed and moved toward her.
She stepped back, worry in her gaze, and I felt ashamed again. I’d
done that. With my anger and impatience, I’d scared her.
    “Sorry.”
    I could hear she meant it. I should be the
one apologizing to her.
    “Let me think, Clay.”
    She sat on the bed, and I watched her think
for a moment.
    “Can we compromise? I don’t want to spend
the entire year sitting at home with a possessive dog who won’t
talk to me.”
    I resented that she’d called me a dog, but I
understood her point. If only she were ready to deal with me as a
man and potential Mate.
    “What if we went somewhere dog friendly?
There’s a