Page 33

S pring is nearly over.

The lilacs are fading, the air’s thicker with the scent of fresh earth and warmer days, and the last of the early buds are giving way to the full bloom of summer.

And me?

I’ve got a ring burning a hole in my goddamn pocket.

It’s not much. Nothing flashy.

Just a simple twisted band made from silver and inlaid with a small sapphire because it reminds me of Arliss’ crystalline eyes when she looks at me with love shining in their blue depths.

She’s human. And humans have ceremonies.

Traditions. Weddings.

And while I don’t know much about tuxes or first dances or what side the boutonniere goes on, I know one thing for damn sure: I want to give her everything she’s ever dreamed of.

But I’ve been holding off. Waiting for something.

And today that something came.

My face hurts from how wide I’m grinning as I downshift the truck and tear out of the driveway like my tail’s on fire. Gravel kicks up in the rearview. Birds scatter. My Bull lets out a snort of sheer joy inside me.

I’ve never felt this light. This free.

Because today, I got a call.

Not just from anyone, but from one Sergio Gravino, a private investigator, and apparently a Bull Shifter, just like me.

Turns out, our very own Alpha Max has a cousin in high places. Specifically, at a company called PRIC.

Private Resourceful Investigative Contractors.

Yeah. That’s a thing. And yeah, Zeke laughed for ten solid minutes when I told him.

Still is, probably.

But names don’t matter. What Sergio told me does.

“Hello son, I understand you have some questions about your species of Shifter?”

“Yes, sir. Specifically, uh, the Rut.”

“Goddamnit. Are they still passing that load of crap around? Where did you hear about it, anyway? Never mind, doesn’t matter. Look, son, the Rut is nothing but a story. A legend. Something fathers told their daughters to scare ’em out of getting knocked up by a Bull. It doesn’t exist.”

I nearly dropped the phone.

“Are you sure?” I asked, barely breathing.

“Positive. What does exist is the occasional Bull with no morals and a wandering dick. But blaming the Rut? That’s just coward talk. You got a mate?”

“Yes. I do.”

“Then stop worrying. If she’s your fated, then your Bull won’t ever want another.”

I nearly cried. Honest to gods.

I muttered something about my whole life feeling like it had an axe over it and how he’d just changed everything.

Sergio snorted.

“Yeah, well, tell Mother Leeds she owes me dinner. I mean I would do it for her, anyway. That woman scares the shit outta me.”

“Same.”

That was fifteen minutes ago. And now, I’m speeding down the long dusty path toward the dairy barn, where the scent of herbs and sunshine leads me straight to my mate.

Arliss.

She’s in the cold room, dressed in jeans and an apron, a streak of goat cheese on her cheek and her golden hair pulled back in a messy knot that has me all but ready to drop to my knees.

She looks up when I enter, startled at first. But then her whole face lights up.

That smile? It hits me right in the soul.

“Hey, Romeo,” she teases, brushing her hands off on a towel. “You’re early.”

“I couldn’t wait,” I say, and my voice, hell, my whole body, is shaking with the force of what I’m about to do.

She blinks. “Everything okay?”

“Better than okay.”

I stride across the room, grab her hands, and press them flat against my chest so she can feel my heart.

“Kian?” Her brows draw together, eyes searching mine.

“I’ve got something to tell you. And something to ask you. But first, you need to know, the Rut isn’t real.”

She freezes. “What?”

“It’s a lie. A story. A fairy tale cooked up to shame and scare people like me. But it’s not true. There’s no beast inside me waiting to tear us apart. I’m not gonna lose control. I’m not gonna need to be with anyone else. You’re it. You’ve always been it.”

Tears gather in her eyes.

“Kian. I told you,” she whispers, and clutches me to her chest.

I reach into my back pocket and pull back. Then I drop to one knee.

“I’ve spent my whole life afraid of what I might become. But you, you showed me who I am. You made me believe I could be more than a freak or a cast-off or a mistake.”

I pull the ring out and hold it up.

“I want everything with you, Arliss. A home. A family. Sunrises, midnight snacks, and even your terrifying cucumber, mint jelly, and goat cheese experiments. I want to be your forever.”

She covers her mouth with her hands, eyes brimming over, and I don’t think she’s breathing.

“I love you. And I always will. So will you marry me, Mo Chroí ? Will you be my wife?”

She drops to her knees in front of me, laughing and crying at the same time.

“Yes. Yes! Of course I will, you big beautiful Bull!” she shouts and throws her arms around me.

I sweep her into my arms and spin her in a circle, both of us laughing like idiots.

When I finally set her down, she takes the ring and slides it onto her own finger with a trembling smile.

“It’s perfect,” she whispers.

“You’re perfect,” I whisper back.

And then I kiss her, right there in the dairy barn, surrounded by herbs, cheese, and the faint bleating of an audience of goats who probably think we’ve lost our minds.

But we haven’t.

We’ve just finally found each other.

And I swear, by the gods, the stars, and every moon yet to rise—I will never let her go.

“Promise?”

“Yeah, Mo Chroí , I promise.”