On top of all of that, he looked pissed. She didn’t know why. Had she done something wrong?

He sniffed her again. His frown deepened. His mouth was a thin, white line of distaste.

“Hey.” She felt herself tense up. “Stop that. What are you doing?”

The guy straightened up. He completely ignored her. “You have rutted extensively although I can tell that you haven’t mated her yet.” His shoulders were tense. His neck muscles corded. The guy was shirtless so she could see all his muscles pop. Although he was built, she didn’t find him sexy like Coal. He was pretty but too mean looking.

Then she realized what he had said and how he was ignoring her.

“Hello, buddy. I’m right here. Maybe you shouldn’t talk about me like I’m not. It’s damned rude. I don’t like it. Stop!”

The king—big deal—raised his brows. “Is she always like this?”

Coal chuckled. “She’s a bitch. That means that she’s direct and honest in her approach.”

Julie had to suppress a laugh. Coal said it like he was paying her a compliment. Such a cutie pie.

“I know what it means.” The king sounded irritated.

Coal cleared his throat. “Julie does have a point though. You shouldn’t speak of her as if she isn’t here. It is not polite.”

The guy looked at her for the first time. Shit, his eyes were a stunning green. His gaze was intense. “Hello, human. Why has my brother not mated you yet? I want you pregnant at your next heat.” He sniffed.

“Stop that!” She yelled. “I don’t like it. Coal and I are not going to mate.”

“We are discussing it.” Coal quickly intervened.

The king sighed. He played with his ring. “I can scent that her heat is coming. Another four days tops.”

“What?” Julie felt all the blood drain from her body. She turned to Coal. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

Coal’s eyes were blazing. His jaw was set. His whole stance softened as his gaze landed on her. “I was going to tell you. We are still safe. We will start to use rubber coverings tomorrow.”

She folded her arms. “No way. We’ll start today. I trusted you. I’m an idiot.” Why had she trusted him with something so huge? He was planning on trapping her. Whenever she trusted someone in the past, they let her down. Every. Single. Time.

Coal touched her arm softly. “You can trust me, I…”

“No rubber coverings!” The king boomed.

“Blaze, we are not ready to mate. We will use coverings this time.”

“This time…” What the hell was he talking about? She’d explained about not wanting kids. There was no way she was messing up some poor kid’s life. No way! “I don’t want children. How many times do I have to tell you that?”