Page 43 of Rejected Mate Bride
“And to point out how stupid it was for you to get mixed up in this mess,” Aidan added. “What the hell were you thinking, bringing that human back here?”
Camden was taken aback by their harshness. They may have grown apart, but he could hardly believe the venom he was hearing from his friends’ mouths.
“I was thinking about helping my mate,” he replied. “It isn’t my fault—or hers—that Alpha Sier is a demented monster.”
“That’s not the mess we’re talking about,” Scott said.
“Well, that’s a problem, too. But the real problem is this whole ‘training women’ thing you have going on,” Thatcher said. “When did you become a bona fide feminist?”
“You’ve gone soft, man,” Aiden said.
“The way Alpha Hughes has been doing things has always worked fine,” Scott said. “You’re trying to fix something that isn’t broken, and it’s just making things worse.”
Camden was about to fire back a retort when he saw that Flora had appeared in the yard. He didn’t know how long shehad been standing there because he’d been so distracted by what his old friends were saying, but from the look on her face, it had been long enough to get the gist of the conversation. Her eyes were narrowed at them, and she looked as if she was about to spit fire. If she had been a wolf, he would have been worried she would attack them outright.
“Camden is a better man than any of you ever will be,” she spat at them.
They whirled around, none of them having noticed she was there, either. The shock on their faces was priceless. “It takes arealman to do what he has done for the pack. If you weren’t such spineless nitwits, you might understand that.”
All three men began to back away from Camden, not turning their backs on Flora. The conviction in her voice and the fierceness in her demeanor seemed to terrify them. Camden wondered if any woman had ever stood up to them like this, let alone a human one.
“Hey, we didn’t mean to—”
“Yes, you did,” Flora said, interrupting Scott’s backpedaling. “I’m sure you can think of something better to do for your pack than harassing the one person who is doing everything he can to help. You should leave. Now.”
The last word was a growl—an order they dared not refuse. They were obviously unused to seeing this side of her. Up until recently, Camden knew she had been placid and downtrodden when faced with abuse and teasing. She had rarely stood up for herself, but clearly she had changed. With the help of her training and the knowledge that she had a purpose and place in the pack and by Camden’s side, Flora was willing to stand up for herself. Camden had never been so proud.
With one last glance at Camden, the three men walked quickly away from the house and down the street out of sight.
Flora exhaled forcefully and gave her head a slight shake, dispelling the anger from her countenance before turning her attention to Camden. When he saw that she was carrying a lunch box and a water bottle, he realized he hadn’t come home for lunch. But faced with the choice between food and devouring the mate who had just stood up to her bullies, he knew which option he would rather have.
“That was the most attractive thing I have ever witnessed,” he told her honestly.
“Shut up,” she said with a laugh. “They deserved it.”
“They absolutely did,” Camden agreed, walking over to her and gently removing the lunch box and bottle from her hands. “But I will not shut up. I wasn’t blowing smoke just now—seeing you stand up for me, and for yourself, makes me more proud of you than ever. And when I feel proud, it makes me…stand at attention, if you will.”
He waggled his eyebrows up and down at the innuendo and looked down at his trousers suggestively.
“Camden Hughes, are you flirting with me?” Flora teased back, placing her hand on his chest.
He had been waiting, after the reveal of Sofia’s parentage and their subsequent falling out and reconciliation, to make a move on Flora. He didn’t want to break the trust they had built or make it seem like she owed him any part of herself that she wasn’t ready to give freely. After seeing how she’d handled herself and the way she’d supported him, he felt confident that she was ready to take the next step in their relationship, but the only way to know for sure was to lay his cards on the table.
“I’m so sorry, Flora. Maybe I wasn’t being obvious enough,” Camden said, switching from playful to serious in an instant. “I am trying to tell you that I have never been more turned on than I am right now, and I would very much like to kiss you.”
Flora inhaled sharply at the pure desire in his eyes. A slight smile turned up the side of her mouth, and she leaned forward, placing both hands on his chest.
“Then kiss me,” she said, raising an eyebrow as if her words were a dare.
Camden didn’t need to be told twice. His lips met hers in a soft rush that slowly escalated. He drew her closer to him, relishing the feeling of her soft body pressing against him. She bit his lip, and a groan of desire echoed through him. Her teeth released his lip as she kissed him again before pulling away and tilting her head back to look into his eyes.
“You have no idea what you’re doing to me,” Camden groaned.
“I know exactly what I’m doing,” Flora disagreed. “And I’m going to keep doing it, too.”
“Tease,” Camden said with a grin.
“Not at all. I never start something I don’t intend to finish.”
