“He only touched me.”
“He grabbed your leg. You obviously didn’t like it, and he obviously didn’t care. He was trying to intimidate you, Hannah. That was clear.”
“I’m sure he won’t try that again.” I grumble the words as I look away from Falk.
“No, he won’t. That was rather the point.”
“Your point was overstated.” I roll back to my side, facing away from him.
“You didn’t tell me what he said to you.” Falk leans over, peering down at me.
“Nothing important,” I mumble.
“He was coming on to you.”
“Yeah, I guess so. He was drinking, so—”
“So, you’re going to make excuses for him?” Falk reaches over and places his hand on the side of my face, turning my head to look at him. “Do I need to come out and state the obvious?”
I glance away, but he keeps his hand on my face.
“Guys are assholes, Hannah,” he says. “You know this better than most. When we want a girl, we tend to go after her. We don’t usually think about how you might feel about our actions unless it’s made abundantly clear. I just made that clear to him.”
“You claimed me.”
“Yeah, I did.” Falk huffs out a breath and releases my face before rolling to his back. “Guys are like any animal out there. We fight for food, territory, and mates. Put us in a situation like this, and the fight comes out a lot more often and a lot more bloody.”
“So, you’re all cavemen?”
“Pretty much.”
“And you’re going to squabble over who gets to put a baby in me?”
He looks at me darkly.
“Essentially, yes.”
“Do you know how ridiculous you sound?”
“Do you realize how right I am?” He sits up in the bed and turns to face me. “I’m not kidding, here. Our minds might not actually form those words, but that’s exactly what we’re after. Every guy in this camp, with the possible exception of Chuck since he already has a mate, wants to fuck you. At some point, they’re going to try to act on that desire, that need. You can refuse, and some of them will respect that for a while. As time goes by, fewer and fewer are going to listen to your wishes.”
I swallow hard.
“You aren’t making me feel better.”
“I’m not trying to make you feel better,” he says. “I want you to see this for what it is. I want you to understand why I did what I did.”
“You made yourself the alpha in the pack. Only the alpha gets a mate.”
I can’t look at him when I say the words.
“I wouldn’t…I’m not going to…”
“Why not?” I snap at him. My stomach clenches and my body heats up as I clench my teeth. Part of me wishes I had never asked Falk any questions—that I would have been better off not knowing or thinking about how the men in the group might see me. “Are you saying you aren’t like the other guys? You don’t want to fuck me?”
He flinches at my words. I’m not even sure why I’m angry—whether it’s the idea that I should look at every guy in our community as a threat or that Falk doesn’t want me at all.
He looks at me, obviously confused by my words. I can’t blame him—I don’t know what’s going through my head either. First he says they all want me, and then he says he wouldn’t do that to me. Rejection is outweighing relief, and I feel my eyes starting to burn.