Read Online A Mate's Submission: (Hot Paranormal Shifter Romance) (Ozark Mountain Shifters Book 4) by P. Jameson - Free Book Online

enemies for so long.
    Oh, he’d seen the hostile looks some people gave him. But Avan’s trust in him went a long way with a lot of the wolves.
    Lexar glanced at her as they made their way back to the cabin. She was bloody and naked from the battle, but hardly even walked with a limp. She couldn’t let them see her weakness, he got that. But what bothered him was how contained she’d become since that first fight.
    Since the night she’d broken him open and showed him the possibility of a future he’d always wanted but thought impossible.
    He’d stayed with her every night, lying beside her in bed while she healed, and she hadn’t said a word to stop him. But she also wasn’t opening up to him anymore.
    Lexar yearned for that. She’d said no strings, but he couldn’t accept it. He needed more of her. He wanted to know everything about her. Wanted her secrets and fears. He wanted… damn it all, he wanted the intimacy. And someone who would be there for him, like he was there for her.
    She opened the door and he followed her inside, expecting her to collapse onto the sofa and catch her breath. Raden had issued his challenge. It was to take place in five days, as long as no other challengers arrived, in order to give her time to heal. She’d need all the rest she could get.
    Avan turned as soon as the door was shut. “I asked Seleka to prepare a cabin for you.”
    Lexar’s mouth went dry. Fuck.
    “I think it’s best if you didn’t stay here anymore.”
    His head spun at her sudden change of heart. Whether she’d opened up to him or not, she’d still spent every night in his arms.
    “You can’t be serious.”
    “I am.” She avoided his gaze. “I have five days to prepare for the next challenge, and I need my space. I need to focus on what really matters. Raden won’t be an easy win. I don’t have time for distractions.”
    Fucking hell. His chest hurt. Is that what she thought of him? That he was a distraction. A nuisance.
    “Bullshit,” he snapped. “I’m not leaving. Go take your shower.”
    She sighed, exhausted. “Don’t make me kick your ass out. I’m too tired for that shit.”
    Lexar threw his hands behind his head and cocked his jaw. She had some nerve.
    “No strings, right? Is that what this is?”
    She stared at him. “I just… don’t need you anymore, Lex. I can take care of myself, and soon, this will all be over. You’ll return to Ravendale, and both our packs will live happily ever after.”
    Lexar swallowed the ache in his throat. Don’t need you anymore, Lex . Shit. Hadn’t she felt something special too? He’d seen it in her eyes that first time. What changed? Was he just another notch to her?
    “I’m not having this conversation with you when you’re bloody and beaten. Go shower.”
    “You need to be gone by the time I get out.” She turned, as if to dismiss him.
    “I told you,” he ground out, “I’m not going anywhere.”
    She could kick him out of her bed, but he wasn’t leaving the camp. He wasn’t leaving her to straighten out this mess of a pack all on her own. Even the strongest alpha needed a support system. She had her mama, her sister, and a guard who was off dealing with his own family problems. Whether she knew it or not, she did need him. Maybe not in a physical or emotional way—the way he needed her—but in a practical way.
    Surviving these alpha challenges was only the first step in fixing the shit Jax had broken. There was an Elder problem to deal with as well. That was a shitstorm of a different color, and he wasn’t going to leave her alone when she needed him most.
    Maybe he hadn’t found the woman who would be there for him through thick and thin like he’d hoped, but it didn’t matter. Because he was the man who would be that for her. He didn’t have a choice. He was done for. Animal and man, damaged and scorned, had found the one who made them feel again.
    Walking away would cripple him.
    Avan turned slowly, her glare scalding him.