Half Claimed novel · Chapter 11 of 24

Chapter 11: The Slot

Lorne Corvin had the grace to look at the floor when Idris stood up from my bed.

Idris had put his trousers on, and that was the whole of his dressing.

His chest was a map of black stitches and bruises, and the room smelled of the two of us.

Lorne breathed in once, plainly, and his face did something quiet and rueful.

Then he lifted his chin and met Idris's eyes.

"Morning, Alpha," he said.

"Alpha Corvin." Idris's voice was low. "You petitioned for my mate."

"I petitioned for Miss Colter."

"She is not anyone's mate until she says so, and as I understand it, she hasn't."

I coughed. "I'm in the room."

"Yes," said Lorne. "That's rather the point."

I stepped between them, which wasn't hard, because I am almost as tall as Idris and a good deal more irritated.

"Sit down, both of you," I said.

"I want to know why a man who wasn't in love with me stood at my gate and offered to bite me."

Lorne sat on my kitchen stool with the red book on his knee.

He did not look offended.

"Fair," he said. "I owe you that, and a good deal more."

"I had a worry from the first night."

"If another Alpha asks first, he holds precedence. His petition is heard first, he is answered first, and the others wait their turn."

"So I asked first."

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