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RHODES

H oly fuck.

I stared at Larkin for a beat before I moved forward, vaguely aware that I wasn’t in complete control of my body. My wolf had used my shock against me and was pressing closer to our girl.

No, our mate .

Fuck me.

A soft whimper slipped from Larkin, the sound one of need and want and… Shit, I could only rumble my approval as I nuzzled against her. Her gray and white head ducked, butting under my chin as she pressed herself against me with a heavy sigh.

She fit perfectly under my chin, and I was acutely aware of every sound in the forest. Every branch breaking, every leaf crunching, every animal running. All of it was a potential threat to my mate, and it drove me out of my goddamn mind.

My ears flattened against my head as I looked around for potential problems while Larkin burrowed her body against mine. Her body trembled, and all I wanted to do was drag her back to my house and strip her bare…

My jaw ached with the need to claim her. Make her truly mine once and for all.

A howl rose up in the dark, followed by a chorus of others as our pack called for us from the other side of the woods, finally realizing we weren’t with them. Usually their howls were a siren’s call, and my wolf would join in, mingling with theirs in a haunting cry to the moon above.

But tonight, I had zero urge to join them, and judging by the way Lark didn’t answer them either, she felt the same way.

I could feel our mating bond in my soul, like threads of sunshine had been wrapped around the darkness that still lingered in the deepest recesses from my shitty upbringing. Larkin was nothing but goodness and purity, her light flooded into the corners and chased away the shadows for most of my life, but with this new bond, her light had gone from a candle to the motherfucking sun.

Nothing else mattered anymore. Not my mom running off, not my dad’s suicide, and not the way I’d been forced to be the adult in my house since I was barely in the third grade.

The only thing that made any fucking sense at all was the woman at my side.

My fucking mate.

My wolf gave a huff, annoyed as if reminding me of all the years I’d spent pushing her away and trying to cage her into the friend zone because I thought I wasn’t good enough for her. But a true mate bond was undeniable; it meant we were two halves of the same whole. Fate had tangled our souls together since birth, and I’d been the dumbass trying to fight the inevitable and hurting her for years.

I tugged at the bond tethering us together, the strands fragile and new and… silent.

When my best friend had bonded to his girl, they’d been able to use their bond to communicate almost instantly, which definitely wasn’t the norm. Then again, bonding as teenagers was practically unheard of and Lark was even younger than Skye had been.

Still, I wished like hell I could communicate with my girl now. Oh, well. Guess there was only one way to do that.

My wolf pushed against me as I changed back, wanting to stay with our mate in our wolf forms. He’d have plenty of time to run and cuddle with her in furry form, but right now I needed to be able to talk.

I was in front of her seconds later, naked and completely unashamed as I ran a hand across her head, petting her fur.

A warm rumble started in her chest and she leaned against my legs, the weight of her almost pushing me back a step.

“I know, baby girl, but we need to talk,” I murmured, kneeling to look into her eyes. I watched as her wolf released her hold until the girl I loved was crouched across from me, her golden brown eyes wide.

“Rhodes,” she whispered, her voice full of wonder and fear as she reached for me. Her eyes darted around the clearing until they landed on me, looking at me like I was her whole world.

And fuck if I didn’t feel the same way. Then again, Larkin Tracy Dawes had been my entire world since we were kids. Since that day on the playground when I walked over and asked what she was doing, she held out a dandelion as a gift, telling me it wasn’t fair that dandelions got a bad name because they were weeds.

I still had that damn weed. It was dried out and pressed together between the pages of a book in my room along with a few other things I’d kept of hers over the years. A homemade Valentine’s Day card from when I was eight, a friendship bracelet she’d made of different colored strings when she was ten, and a pillowcase I’d managed to steal from her bedroom when she was thirteen. It was right after her wolf had emerged and her scent was so potent that I had to have it.

I’d lost count of the night’s I’d slept with it under my own pillow, the scent of her—jasmine and vanilla—giving me comfort when I felt most alone. And, as I’d grown up, something I’d jerked off to more times than I could count. Now all it took was a whiff of her scent in the air and my cock was at full attention in record time.

Yeah, I was that guy. A freaking hairdoll away from a full blown stalker.

But it all made sense now. My obsession with Lark, the way my wolf calmed when she was near, and why she was the only safe harbor in the chaotic thunderstorm of my entire life. It was all because fate had twined us together, ingrained us on one another’s souls.

I was a fool for ever trying to keep us apart.

Reaching for her, I slid my hand around the back of her neck and drew her forward until our lips were a breath apart. “It’s okay, baby.”

She nodded and bit her lower lip. My cock ached at the sight of those perfect teeth sinking into that pillowy lip.

Shit, I’d already been a possessive asshole about my girl, but now that she was my mate? I was never letting her go. Ever.

I closed the distance between us, my lips capturing hers and taking her prisoner. Her soft moan went straight to my dick, making it rock hard between us. It throbbed as I sniffed the familiar tang of her arousal on the night breeze.

With more strength than I thought I’d possessed, I pulled away from her.

Her big eyes blinked at me, her mouth still parted. “Rhodes?”

The uncertainty in her tone cut me to the bone, but I wasn’t doing this while we were here. Especially not when our pack might come looking for us.

I wrapped her hair around my fist. “We need to go back.”

She frowned. “Back?”

I nodded, letting her go to stand up and then dragging her up with me.

She swallowed, the nervous sound audible. She shifted her weight on her feet, looking close to tears. “I don’t—”

I stepped up into her space, crowding her body with my bigger one and grinding my hard on into her soft belly as I framed my hands on her face to force her to look me in the eye. “I’m not claiming you in the middle of the meadow where our pack might find us. We’re going home and I’m going to worship you in a bed the way you deserve before binding us together forever, baby girl.”

Her breath hitched as I dragged my knuckles across the slope of her neck. Bending a bit, I leaned in and pressed an open-mouthed kiss to the place I would sink my teeth into, completing our bond.

But I wasn’t doing that here or now. Yeah, we’d had fun in the meadow this evening, but claiming Larkin was something I’d dreamed of, and I knew she deserved the world.

Besides, once I got her into my bed, we weren’t leaving it for a damn long time.

Lust filled her eyes, making them shine brighter than all stars in the sky above. “Can we do that now?”

A grin worked across my mouth. “Fuck yeah, baby.”

She licked her lips and my cock jerked between us, remembering all too well what it felt like to be pushing into the wet heat of her mouth, those full lips wrapped around—

I forced myself to take a painful step back. “Let’s go, Lark.”

She nodded, but didn’t move much as her gaze raked down my body. A growl rumbled in my chest.

“Larkin,” I warned, dangerously close to saying fuck it and closing the circle of our bond right here, right now.

She smiled at me, and just like every other time she did, it made my heart stutter in my chest. A second later, she was on the ground, her wolf shaking out its fur and looking up at me with big eyes.

“Fuck, I love you,” I murmured, shaking my head in awe because what the hell had I ever done to deserve a girl like her?

Her head cocked to the side before she gave a high-pitched yip of agreement. Her tail wagged, her wolf practically vibrating with happiness as she danced around on her paws before me.

Mine , my wolf snapped, bossy and demanding, but I couldn’t argue.

Taking a deep breath, I let go and shifted. My bones and muscles twisted and morphed in seconds until my wolf was all that remained. Instantly Larkin was on me, pouncing hard enough to knock me to the ground as she playfully nipped at my side.

I rolled to my feet as she raced into the night, and I gave chase.

Because it didn’t matter how far Larkin ran, or where she went; I would always be right behind her.