Page 44 of A Curse So Vile

She moved out of Cole’s way, allowing him to cross the threshold into her room.

“May I ask a question?” There was an anxious twinkle in his eye.

“You may, but I may not answer.”

“Will there be any angry lovers back at your Den? A not yet spoken of betrothal?”

She chuckled lightly. “No.”

“Will I be competing for your affection?”

“Someone sounds jealous.”

“I’m just preparing myself.”

“To satisfy your curiosity, until a couple agrees to be life mates, they may see whomever they want. My pack isn’t prone to jealousy, and once they’ve chosen their forever partner, they’ll have eyes for no other.”

“Forever partner? As in marriage?”

“Like marriage, but not the same. Marriage is words and signatures. Life mates are…more. We feel our mate in the depth of our soul. We know their joys, their pain, their every worry.”

“Is that just among people of your blood?”

“Some Denithians choose to take human mates, and the bonding is true with them as well.”

“Would you?”

Brenna narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Why do you ask?”

“If my life now belongs to you, why not commit myself wholly?”

For a moment, Brenna thought she might faint.

“Cole, you can’t possibly mean that.”

Taking a step forward, he looked down at her with the most soulful pair of blue eyes she had ever seen. “I’ve never been so serious about anything in my entire life.”

Brenna’s heart shattered.

It made no sense that she would want him so badly. She hardly knew him, and most of their time together, they’d been at odds.

Yet, she saw the vision of them together so clearly; it made her weep.

“Did I say something wrong?” Cole asked, his voice edged with worry.

She turned away. “No, you’ve said and done nothing wrong.”

“I suppose I got ahead of myself.”

“One day, you will make someone very happy. But it will never be me.”

“Why is that? Is my Heartlander blood not good enough?”

“That’s not it at all?”

“Why, then?”

“It’s complicated and better discussed at the Den.”