Page 11 of Mated to Fenrir (Fated Mates Collection #5)

FENRIR

The doorbell of my studio sounded, and I picked up my phone to answer it, seeing my uncle on the other side of the camera.

"It's open," I said, not watching his response. He'd been here enough times that I knew he knew what to do.

Sure enough, the creak of the stairs sounded, and he appeared at the threshold taking up as much space as he usually did. I supposed that was what came with being Thor.

"Your suit's ready," I said. "Let me grab it."

"Thanks. I appreciate it. I know it's not that long since you last made me one."

"It's been longer than you think," I responded. "And that one was black. The blue of the new one will look good on you." I headed over to the rack of garment bags and selected the one with his name on it.

"Thanks." He took it from me. "Same as usual for payment?"

I nodded. "Just transfer it over. How's Daisy?"

A smile spread over his face at the mention of his girlfriend. "She's good. Things are going well. I was thinking about asking her to move in with me."

"That's great," I responded, trying not to think about Delia and the fact that she'd talked about us doing that last week. She was right, it was too soon, but that didn't mean it wasn't on my mind. "Do you think she'll say yes?" I asked in the hope that I could avoid talking about my own thoughts.

"I hope so. Though I know she likes living close to her metal-working studio, so maybe she'll be reluctant about that."

"What does she do when she stays at yours?"

"She uses part of my forge," he said.

"Maybe you could change it so that part of the forge is just a studio of her own?" I suggested, thinking about ways I could change my own house in order to make it more suited to Delia when she moved in. Apparently, it wasn't even an if in my head, but a when.

"I can see about that," he said. "So, Hel said you were seeing someone."

"My sister should learn to keep her mouth shut."

Thor chuckled. "And who is going to make her do that? She's scarier than the rest of our pantheon put together. I'd rather take on Odin than Hel."

I laughed. "Fair point. But yes, I met someone. She's nice."

My uncle raised an eyebrow. "Nice?"

"She's great..." The doorbell went again, cutting through the conversation. I frowned, not really sure who it would be. I didn't have any other appointments today. "Sorry, one second."

Thor shrugged. "Do what you've got to do."

I picked up my phone and clicked through to the camera, my heart constricting as I took in the blonde outside my door.

I cleared my throat and clicked the microphone button. "Hey."

"Hi," Delia responded. "I know you're not expecting me, but I was in the area and I thought you might want a coffee." She lifted her hands to show a couple of cups in their holder.

Thor gave me a curious look, but I ignored him.

"The door's open, it's the first floor," I said in response.

She nodded and pushed open the door. Unlike with my uncle, I waited a few moments to make sure that she'd gotten inside okay before I set my phone down.

I looked over at the other god to find him watching me with an amused expression on his face. "Yeah, she must be great," he said.

"She is. Don't mess this up for me."

He chuckled. "As if I could. Does she know you're a god?"

"Yes. So she'll know you're one unless you want me to introduce you as something else."

"What do I care? I'm not the one dating her."

"Mmm."

The door opened, and Delia stepped inside with her coffees in one hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise you had company."

"It's okay, this is my uncle," I said, gesturing to the other man. "And this is Delia."

"It's good to meet you," she said, looking at him a little nervously. I didn't know whether that was because he was an imposing figure with his broad frame and dark red beard, or because she knew who he was.

"Likewise," Thor said. "I guess I should get going."

I nodded. "Let me know if you need any alterations, and I can get you sorted."

He waved and headed out of the room.

"I'm sorry," Delia said once he'd gone. "I didn't think that you might be busy."

"It's fine," I assured her, stepping closer and taking the drinks so they weren't in the way of me pulling her into my arms. "I'm glad to see you."

"Me too." She leaned in and pressed her lips against mine in a warm and welcoming kiss that just made me want more. But that was being around Delia. My wolf had calmed down a little since realising that I was pursuing her, but there was no doubt he still wanted me to take the next step.

"Thank you for the coffee," I said, though I didn't move away from her to get it.

"You're welcome." She put her hand on my chest. "The coffee wasn't the only reason I came."

"Oh?"

"Can we sit?"

I nodded and gestured to the sofas I had placed there as a kind of waiting room for when people needed it.

She grabbed her coffee and went to take a seat, leaving plenty of room for me to sit down beside her.

The scent of vanilla rose from my cup, filling me with warmth that she'd thought about what to get me.

"Is everything okay?" I asked her.

"Yes. It's fine. I actually just came from an interview at a local beauty school," she said. "After you asked me about why I'd never pursued it, I started thinking. And the more I did, the more I realised that not having time just wasn't enough of a reason not to do it. So I'm doing it."

"That's great," I said.

"Though it does mean that there'll be one day less a week that I'll be available for dates."

"I think I can survive," I promised. "That's really great that you're doing that."

"Thanks." She took a deep breath. "I'm excited. So thank you." She reached out to put her hand over mine.

"I didn't really do anything."

"True. But it was what you said that finally made me do something I've wanted for a long time, so I appreciate that."

"Then you're welcome. I guess I do see that as my job as your fated mate."

She raised an eyebrow.

"To support you," I said. "And encourage you to be the person you want to be."

"I like that," she agreed. "I want you to feel that way too, though I know that I haven't really had many opportunities to show that to you yet."

"They'll come," I assured her.

"I'm sure they will."

"Speaking of dates. Are you free tomorrow night?" I asked.

"I am."

"And Monday?"

"I'm not. I'm going running." She paused for a moment, as if considering something important. "But you could come, if you wanted."

"I'm not much of a runner."

"A wolf run," she said softly.

"Oh." My inner wolf perked up at the idea. Not just of getting to spend time with her in our shifted forms, but about letting myself run free too. "Do you think that's a good idea?"

"It depends," she said. "You don't have to decide now, but if you think you're ready for us to move on to the next step of our mating bond, then I am too."

My surprise must have shown on my face because she laughed.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have sprung that on you."

"I just wasn't expecting it," I said. "It's not been that long."

"It's been a couple of weeks," she pointed out. "Longer by Monday. And I think that's a couple of weeks longer than I've left it every other time."

"Fair point."

She took a deep breath. "I guess I've been thinking about it ever since you stayed over last week.

I know that wasn't the right time for us to seal the mating bond, but we've been on a couple more dates, and can maybe go on a couple more this week.

So Monday...I guess it just feels like if we're ready, why wait? But I understand if you're not."

"I just don't want you to feel rushed," I said.

"I don't. And I feel like we've talked about a lot of the important stuff."

I nodded, realising that she was right. By denying the wolves for as long as we had, even if it wasn't a huge amount of time in the grand scheme of things, it had given us time to have conversations together.

But by virtue of knowing the bond was hanging over our heads, they were the more serious kind.

"All right, let's go for a run on Monday," I said. "But we should have dinner on Sunday to make sure that it's what we want. And dinner afterwards so that we can talk about it before we do anything about sealing the bond."

She let out a sigh of relief. "That sounds good."

"It does." I turned my hand over in hers and gave it a squeeze, feeling as if things were falling into place.

My wolf was certainly happy about the development.

I could feel him settling within my chest, content that things were going the way he wanted with the wolf he thought of as his match.

"Do you have anywhere else to be right now? " I asked her.

She shook her head. "Not until three."

"Want to go for lunch? Posiedon's restaurant isn't far from here, and it's great."

"Sure, that sounds great." She leaned in and kissed my cheek.

I turned, bringing our faces close together.

I reached out and cupped her cheek, drawing her to me and kissing her gently, hoping that it conveyed the feelings that were already starting to grow within me towards her.

There was no doubt in my mind that this mate bond had the potential to be a happy one, and I looked forward to discovering everything it had in store for us.