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“I’ve heard that too.”

“On top of that, drinking my blood will trap me to you.”

“And me to you,” I countered.

“Mates live and die together. If you go, I go too. If you starve, we’ll starve together. I’ll have to feed you to keep us both alive, so drinking from me guarantees that I’ll always be here.”

It was a good selling point.

A very good selling point.

“Alright, I’ll do it,” I said.

“Try not to sound so excited, Si.”

I smiled. “I’ll come around.”

“You’ll definitely come.”

I laughed. “I don’t doubt that.”

Beck grinned. “I missed hanging out with you like this. It was a long two weeks.”

“It was. Let’s not do it again.”

“Agreed.” He brushed his fingers through my hair, then glanced over at Sprinkles. I’d forgotten she was there until my gaze followed his over to her.

“You should try to move her,” I said. “She hates me.”

“She doesn’t hate you.”

“She definitely does.”

He reached over and hooked an arm lightly over her torso, pulling her across the bed. I made a noise of protest, but cut myself off when she licked his arm, then rubbed her head up against it.

When he tugged her closer to me, she rubbed her head and arm against my side…

And purred.

My eyes widened.

“She never hated you, she just hated your house and had no other way to communicate that. It probably smelled bad. A handful of other shifters lived there before you.”

Well, I hadn’t considered that.

Even if I had, it wouldn’t have changed anything. It wasn’t like I could move before. The pack gave me free housing, and my job at the bakery didn’t pay enough to afford the price of housing in Wildwood on my own.

She licked my arm, and my lips curved upward.

“Maybe Sprinkles isn’t so bad,” my wolf murmured.

“I guess she just needed to feel safe.”

We spent a few minutes petting her lightly before she jumped down to the floor and slipped out of the room, leaving us alone.

“She should’ve been like that when I adopted her to keep me company,” I remarked.

“Then you wouldn’t have needed me.” He tickled my side, and I wiggled a bit. The motion made his cock throb inside me, and my hips moved lightly in response.