Page 21 of Fangs for the Memories (Budapest Bites #1)

S ated by goulash and whisky, Grace yawns a few times before she settles against the pillows, and as we talk, her eyelids droop until she is asleep.

I promised she wouldn’t sleep alone, and she will not, but the time for claiming her is not yet here. I will stay with her to protect her, but that will be all, at least for tonight.

I rasp at the fur under my skin with an absently clawed hand. I itch because the longer I go without claiming her the more feral I will become.

Grace is not to be rushed, that much I know. She hurts, from the way her former human partner has treated her and all which has happened to her since she came into my orbit.

I have the familiar buzz alcohol gives any werewolf. We can’t get drunk, but it takes the edge off on occasions. I watch as Grace’s chest rises and falls. I hear her heart beat, the blood rushing through her veins, and I muse on how last night, I did the same thing.

If not for the same reason.

Grace is mine now, even if she doesn’t yet know it. Whatever happened to her before, it matters not. She is my mate. I cannot let her go.

I will not let anything harm her, monster or human.

Pulling out my phone, I scroll through all the messages I’ve been receiving, which includes several voicemails from my mother, ones I delete straight away. There is a single message from my father asking me to call him.

He was once pack leader, until I challenged him and beat him in fair combat. As he was my father, I wasn’t expected to kill him, although there are times I wish I had. He has remained on the fringes of the pack, sniping and meddling.

My mother was part of a forced mating, a practice which belonged in the past and one I outlawed the instant I took over as pack alpha. She welcomed her release from my father, even if it hasn’t stopped her from her own type of meddling, born from her desperation I have pups to maintain my line.

I always knew if I mated, it would be because of fate, not because of duty.

I glance over at Grace again, then I reach down and remove my shoes before padding around to the other side of the bed, climbing on, and lying down next to her.

My cock is somewhat insistent with its arousal, being so close to her. It’s never exactly been patient, but on this occasion, it will have to wait.

And I’m not used to waiting for anything.

I switch out the light and lie in the dark, watching the shadows of the city flicker over the ceiling.

Then I fall into a deep sleep, the likes of which I don’t think I’ve ever had before.