“I can leave the bed anytime I wish.”
Bryce tossed the towel onto the bed. “Do you always have to be so combative? What the hell is your deal? I’m trying my goddamn best to remember the things you’ve lost because your tribe found out you’re mated to a male shifter, but give me one good reason why I shouldn’t wash my hands of you.”
Ahm heard the tension in Bryce’s tone. The man was at the end of his patience. “You don’t know me,” Ahm shot at the man. It was a flimsy response, but he felt like Bryce could see right through him.
“I highly doubt anyone knows you. You’re so damn flip-floppy. Do you even know who you are?”
Ahm clenched his jaw. “I’m the only one who does.” Grabbing the sheet, Ahm flipped it back over his legs, wishing Bryce would just leave.
“Damn, are you really that alone?”
Ahm wasn’t going to hide from the truth. Not with Bryce. “Try ruling a tribe of Shadow elves who are so stuck in tradition and prejudice that their very own race is dying out. Try living with a cousin who would rather stab you in the back than help you. Try wondering every single day of your life if someone is truly befriending you or if they have an ulterior motive because you are their leader and status means everything to them.”
Ahm was tired of the burden. He didn’t want to lead the Shadow elves any longer. He had ruled them for over three hundred years. It was time he gave the mantle of leadership to someone else and enjoyed his time.
“Sounds like being a leader really sucks.” Bryce took a seat on the bed, resting his hand on Ahm’s shin. “Didn’t you have anyone you could hang out with and have a few laughs?”
Ahm had a really close friend about two hundred years ago, but the man had died in battle. He hadn’t wanted to experience that pain again. Just thinking about Bryne made his chest hurt. They weren’t lovers, just really good friends. “No.”
“No wonder you’re such an uptight sourpuss,” Bryce teased. “You need brothers like mine to loosen that stick in your ass.”
Ahm glared at Bryce. “I’m not sure if I should feel offended or not.”
“Nah.” Bryce waved a hand at him. “Never take what I say personally. You’ll stay pissed off at me if you do.” His mate’s thumb was caressing Ahm’s leg, making his cock grow stiff again. “As a matter of fact, never take anything a Lakeland tells you seriously. You’ll stay pissed at the lot of us.”
“Do any of you have a serious bone in your body?”
“Oh, yeah,” Bryce answered. “You don’t want to piss one of us off. But most of the time we’re good-natured bears.”
Ahm moved his good leg, bumping it gently against Bryce. “Then how do I know when I’ve pissed you off?”
Bryce’s hand tightened on his leg. “You already have. But since you are still breathing, it must mean I care about you.”
Ahm was stunned. After everything he had put the bear through, Bryce cared about him? When did that happen? “You do?” The words were out before Ahm could censor his tongue.
Bryce’s grey eyes began to smolder as he gazed down at Ahm. “I do.”
Ahm was afraid to let his guard down. He was afraid to trust. Over the course of his ruling, he’d been stabbed in the back so many times he should have permanent knife wounds. Even though Bryce was his mate, it was still hard to let the man in.
“How can you say that when you don’t even know me?” Ahm asked a little too curtly.
When Bryce reached up and thumped Ahm on his ear, all he could do was wince and stare at the man as if he had lost his mind. “You just hit me.”
“No,” Bryce corrected him. “I thumped you. Say something stupid again and I’ll thump your other pointy ear.”
He was speechless. Ahm didn’t know what to say. So he reached out and thumped Bryce on his chin.
“What was that for?” Bryce asked.
Ahm wanted to chuckle. Bryce looked so put off. “For no other reason than I could.”
This time when Bryce reached out, it wasn’t to thump Ahm, but to grab his hair and pull it back. He started to protest until Bryce leaned in and licked his lower lip. “Feeling feisty?”
His cock pulsed at Bryce’s deep and throaty tone. It was filled with wickedness and need. Ahm pulled his head to the side, making Bryce grab the strands harder. “It seems you are the one feeling a bit aggressive.”
Ahm moved over when Bryce climbed up next to him and stretched his thick body next to him. “Maybe I am. But don’t worry, my little sex kitten, I’ll do all the work.”