Page 35 of Primal

He held up his hand, cutting me off. “He won’t be back, Riley.”

“Yeah because you threatened his life and his work.”

“No, because he got what he wanted. Cody McIntire is a goddamn player, and you know it from gossip all over town. I gave him the perfect excuse. Now he won’t be stopping by to tell you it was fun and break your heart.”

Something sank into the pit of my stomach. Codywas a player. I’d seen the evidence of that last night at the bar. But he’d said I was his mate.

Of course, that might have been something Cody said to everyone.

Maybe I was only worthy of a—as my dad said—a fuck?

My brain spun. I squeezed my trembling fingers into fists to stem the wave of loss and confusion.

“Get some clothes on and get to work,” he snapped.

Without another word, he left, and for the first time ever, without placing a fatherly kiss on top of my head. In fact, he didn’t even look me in the eye.

16

CODY

She was at work.I couldn’t barge into a fucking preschool and tell her all the things I wanted. Her dad’s reaction to us was as I’d expected–nuclear.

I had a reputation in town as being a man whore, and Kyle Abbott had a reputation of being overprotective of his daughter.

The truth was, I didn’t screwthatmany women. I just flirted a lot because it brought in the tips and didn’t hurt anyone. But people in town didn’t know that.

I’d watched Riley’s face as her dad yelled at me, shock and hurt taking over her perfect features. Iwanted to wrap her in my arms and tell her everything was going to be okay. My wolf rumbled with the need to do so.

But if Tessa acted like a bitch to Riley the night before without any kind of confirmation we were together, and her father had acted like he had, the rest of the town was going to pull out the popcorn and enjoy the show once news of us spread. I could handle it. I didn’t give a fuck. Besides, once I’d marked her, the shifters in town would understand and support our union.

But Riley didn’t need anyone to look, or even think, anything bad about her. The town would be decimated–by me–if they did.

I needed to text her. Make sure she was okay.

Sugar, you okay? I’m sorry about this morning. Your dad will come around.

After a few minutes, she didn’t reply.

Fuck! She was working. Maybe her phone was off.

Or maybe she was pissed that I left. Or hurt.

Or ashamed of what she’d done with me.

Fuck, maybe after I left, her dad convinced her to stay away from me. That would be a very big problem for my wolf.

Misgivings twisted in my chest.

What if being my mate was too stressful for Riley? I didn’t want her to suffer as a result of this thing fate threw her way. Fuck, was any of this fair to her?

I usually slept half the day away, but not today. I got in my truck and drove to Wolf Ranch. I told myself I was going out there to report in to Rob, but he’d seen me the other night, and nothing had changed. Or for the good of the pack, at least.

He’d given me a week to claim her. Her father pretty much banished me from her presence. It was turning into more of a shitshow by the hour.

One more potential clusterfuck was that I needed to tell Tyler what was going on. The last he’d heard, I was going to tranquilize his date and take her to get her mind wiped. Between the other afternoon and this morning, everything had changed.

Not just my entire future, but his, too.