Page 10 of Beary Mated Christmas

You can talk to his wolf?

Not now, but I can tell.

We continued to argue for a while, lumbering around the yard while I tried to explain to the purest half of my shifter that while we did believe Abel was our fated mate, if he didn’t agree, it didn’t count. He really objected to that wording, but I went on.If I suggest this, he’s going to feel uncomfortable and maybe leave.

If he can’t accept us, he should leave. But don’t let him leave.

We went around and around. Neither of us wanted our mate to leave, but also, we wanted to be genuine. And that meant telling him how we felt. I thought maybe we could wait until we were leaving, but he wouldn’t go for it.

The shadows grew longer before I managed to regain control of our body and shift back. Standing in the yard without any clothes or fur, my teeth were chatting before I could get back into the house.

When I did, I grabbed a pair of jeans and a thermal shirt from my bag and climbed into them, trying to keep Abel from seeing the fact that I was fully hard, something that never happened after a shift. But with what I had to tell him, I didn’t want to imply that sex was a factor. Not that I wouldn’t want to have sex with him, because of course I would. I didn’t want that to be a thing at all. Not now.

And the thought of what came next did the job, deflating my erection as I joined Abel in the kitchen area. “I need to leave. This isn’t working.” My bear was not allowing it. With the beast, it was all or nothing.

Even if nothing would rip my old wound open so wide, I’d probably bleed out.

Chapter Eight

Abel

“What do you mean you have to leave?” My voice cracked with the question. I thought we had been having an okay time. Sure, there was some tension, but that was to be expected considering our history and the fact that we hadn’t seen each other in years. We were doing the best we could.

And now he wanted to leave?

Denali put his fists on his hips and dipped his head. He shook it, a wave of sadness coming from him. Maybe it was the proximity or the fact that I was in love with him and he was my mate, but our bond had grown. It was somehow twice as thick as it had been when we were younger. I hadn’t thought that possible. When he left, he took half of me with him.

He shrugged.

I swallowed around the growing boulder in my throat. Tears threatened to pour out. This was like when he left all over again but hurt twice as bad. Cut three times as deep. “I thought we were doing okay.”

“My bear isn’t having okay, and it’s exhausting fighting him. I can’t be here with you like this.”

“We can’t be friends anymore?” This time, I let the tears flow.

“No.” He sighed, and the sides of his neck grew red. “It hurts too much. I want to. I want you in my life, but my bear is demanding—”

I stepped toward him, but he lifted his hands, warding me off. I ignored the action. “Denali, what are you saying? What does your bear want?”

Those deep brown eyes stared into me. In front of me wasn’t the young man I’d once been friends with. In his stead was aman. An alpha. Power and strength poured off him. We’d grown up, so it was time we faced some things. “My bear is demanding I mate you, Abel. He sees you and your wolf as our mates. He sees you as my mate. He always has.”

My chest released the tension I’d held since I arrived here, and maybe since that Christmas Eve so long ago. “I know.”

Squinting, he took a step toward me now. I would not stop him. “What do you mean, you know?”

“My wolf is telling me you’re my mate. You always have been, Denali.”

My confession hung between us, a life-changing statement. My heart nearly beat out of my chest, hearing the truth spoken out loud.

“But you said you didn’t scent me. You don’t scent me as your mate. Since we shifted, you always smelled like chocolate and peppermint bark, and now, you’re telling me I’m your mate but no scent?”

“I still don’t scent you like that. You smell like you. You smell like my best friend and like the alpha that I’ve been in love with for most of my life. No cinnamon rolls or honey buns or whatever candle or river, but you smell like you.”

Denali scrubbed his hands over his face. “Then, how do you know I’m your mate? Please. Tell me everything. This is killing me, thinking of losing you again.”

“That’s the thing.” I put my hands on his chest. He closed his eyes and his breaths stilled under my touch. “You’re not going to lose me because I belong to you. My wolf is telling me that I’m yours. That your bear is my mate.”

“And the scent?” he whispered.