Page 8 of Mated to Fenrir (Fated Mates Collection #5)

DELIA

Even though I was waiting for Fenrir outside the food market, I realised that I had no doubt that he was going to show up.

And not just because of the wolf. He just seemed like a dependable person, and I liked that.

The atmosphere in the park was great, and while I'd prefer to have a date somewhere more private under usual circumstances, this wasn't that.

Though there was a part of me whispering that my flat wasn't far from here.

I wanted to blame my wolf for that train of thought, but I knew it wasn't true.

This was all me. Spending time with Fenrir made me feel at ease, even if I knew that both of our wolves were trying to make us seal the bond before we were ready to.

I was almost too lost in my thoughts to notice him arriving.

Feeling bold, I leaned in and pressed a kiss against his cheek.

The urge to kiss him on the lips was almost impossible to ignore, but I managed, stepping back so that I could put some space between us.

We might have kissed the other night, but I knew that it was better not to tempt fate until we'd at least spent some time together.

"Something smells good," he said.

"I think it's the fried onions," I said. "The food market comes here once a month during the summer, and I always come down to it for dinner. I'm actually excited to be able to come with someone. Though it looks like it might rain."

He shrugged. "A bit of water isn't going to be an issue."

"True. And it's been sunny all week."

"So, if you come down here all the time, then you know where the best place to start is."

"I think that depends," I said. "Do you want food of your own, or are you okay sharing?"

"I'm okay with sharing if you are."

"Good, because that means that we can try more things. There's a stall that serves delicious Korean fried chicken. I think that would be a good place to start."

"It sounds good," he responded. "I do like Korean fried chicken."

"No doubt you've probably had it in Korea."

He chuckled. "If we do seal our mating bond, maybe you can too. We can head to Korea through the portals and be there within a few hours."

I stared at him for a moment. "The portals to the god realm?"

"Yes. We'd go in the one closest to us and come out of one in Seoul, or wherever else in the world we wanted to go."

"I never thought about what it would actually mean to date a god," I admitted. "That would be good. Though it might ruin Korean food from other places for me."

"Perhaps." He reached out and put a hand on my lower back, and I leaned into his touch.

Satisfaction rolled off my wolf in waves, though she wasn't alone in that. I could feel how much I liked it too. I didn't do anything to break the contact until we got to the stand and I had to order some of the food.

The woman put some of the fried chicken pieces into a tray and handed them to me. I held the tray out to Fenrir once we were away from the line, and he took one of the chicken pieces, popping it in his mouth.

"That's good," he said.

"But not as good as in Korea?" I asked.

"The best I've ever had is actually in a restaurant in the god realm," he said. "We can go once we're a little more settled."

"You don't trust us until then?" I asked.

"I think it's too close to where I live," he said.

"So is this a good time to tell you that we're close to where I live?"

He chuckled, a warm and inviting sound that I wanted to hear more of. And luckily, it seemed like I was going to. "I picked up on that when I walked you home the other night, I just didn't want to bring it up in case you didn't want me to."

"I don't mind you knowing," I responded. "And this is our third date."

"Is this where I'm supposed to pretend that I don't know where that means?" he joked. "And follow it up with that I'm eight hundred years old, I don't have a clue about modern dating conventions."

"You can if you want to. But I also know that the three-date rule doesn't have to apply to us."

"I guess we can see how we feel in a couple of hours," he said.

A warm feeling spread through me. I liked the idea of us potentially going somewhere more private, even if it did seem fast.

On the other hand, our wolves had certainly wanted it to be faster.

"What should we eat next?" he asked.

"That depends on what you like the sound of. There's a place that does burgers, or a place that does Jamaican chicken."

"The chicken, I think," he said. "It sounds more interesting."

"Good point. There's also a place that does really good fried rice." I pointed to it.

"Why don't I go to get that, and you get the chicken?" he suggested. "Meet you back here to share?"

"Sounds good." I lingered for a moment, wanting to kiss him goodbye even if we weren't really at a place to do that yet. If things kept going like this, then I was definitely going to want to see whether he was interested in coming back to my flat after this.

Instead, I went over to the van selling the chicken and ordered some of it, thankful that the queues didn't seem to be too bad this evening, and that I'd be able to get back to Fenrir.

He'd claimed one of the tables, and I went to sit down beside him. Our legs brushed against one another, filling me with the thrill that came from dancing around someone I wanted.

He held out a wooden fork to me, but I shook my head, digging into my bag and pulling out a couple of metal ones.

"I hate the feel of wood in my mouth."

He snorted. "Is that supposed to sound as suggestive as it does?"

"If it did, then I'm sure you'd be disappointed."

"I don't think you could possibly disappoint me," he promised.

My breathing caught in my throat. It wasn't just the words he was saying, but the way that he looked at me while he did. "I don't have any problems with that kind of wood."

"I can't say I'm disappointed to hear that," he joked.

"But I did bring you a fork too. I thought it was weird if I only brought one for myself."

"Thanks, I appreciate it." He took one from me, his finger so brushing against mine as he did. It was going to be a long couple of hours, even if I was hungry.

I dug into the rice, letting out a satisfied hum as I enjoyed the taste. "I realised I never asked you what you do for a living," I said. "Unless you're about to tell me that you're a god and just have all of your money from investments you made decades ago."

He laughed. "I mean, I do have some of those. And I live in the god realm, which helps with that too. But I work as a high-end tailor."

"Unexpected."

"What did you expect?"

"I don't know. A lumberjack? Something woodsy?"

"That's just stereotyping wolf shifters," he pointed out. "Though I did do a stint as a personal trainer."

"That doesn't surprise me." I looked up and down him without even fully meaning to.

"What about you?"

"I work in HR. It's not my dream, but it pays the bills. I do lead a yoga class too. That makes me very flexible."

"I shall try not to think about that too much."

"You can think about it as much as you want," I responded.

He cleared his throat, clearly trying his best not to think about it. I leaned closer to get some more food, knowing that it would likely affect him and feeling a bit mischievous for it.

"So, what is the dream, if it isn't HR?" He asked, clearly trying to change the subject so he stopped thinking about whether I was actually flexible or not. He leaned over and speared a piece of chicken with his fork. "Mmm, that's good."

"It is," I agreed. "I've always wanted to be a hairdresser. I know that sounds like such a boring dream..."

"It's not," he said firmly. "What's stopping you?"

"Money," I responded. "I shouldn't really be talking about that yet, should I?

" Though it felt right to, especially when we weren't exactly going for a short-term thing.

We were taking things slower than we normally would because both of us saw the potential for a long-term relationship, and one that could last a very long time.

It was better to be open about these things.

"You can tell me whatever you're comfortable with," he promised.

"When I left school, my parents weren't in a position to support me studying for longer, so I started working. I have a savings account for going to beauty school, but it's been nearly eighteen years and I haven't actually gone back."

"You should do."

"Maybe."

"You only get one life," Fenrir said firmly. "You should make sure you make the most of it."

"An interesting take from someone immortal," I responded.

"My life might be long, but a lot of the people around me have had limited time in this world. It's better to tell people that they should be true to themselves before they realise they've run out of time."

"I get that you think that, but I've had to focus on other things."

He nodded and pushed the tray with the last piece of chicken towards me. "I had to do the same when I was younger. Though it wasn't as possible to choose your career as it is now."

"Mmm, I wonder what I'd have ended up doing if I'd been born when you were."

"Maybe you'd have become a goddess," he said, a serious expression in his eyes as he looked at me.

"Hardly. I'm not nearly special enough for that."

"The only reason you think that gods and goddesses are special is because they're deities," he points out. "Most of us started out just like you are now. A normal person just going about their life."

"I find that hard to believe."

He shrugged. "The only thing special about me is that my father was immortal.

When I was in my late twenties, Loki asked Odin to make me immortal.

After that, the rumours of me betraying the rest of the Norse gods and causing Ragnarok started, and were eventually enough to make me a god.

It's only a circumstance of birth that made me special. "

"Isn't that true for a lot of different people?" I asked.

"True."

"So, did they really chain you up?"

He laughed. "Yes, but it was a bet. I won a chest of jewels for getting free."

"What would you have lost if you hadn't broken the chains?"

"My dignity," he joked.

A wide smile spread over my face. "You couldn't have that, could you?"

"Definitely not," he grinned. "So, we've had lots of savoury stuff, is there more you want, or should we go sweet?"

"Sweet is good. And for that, it's got to be churros."

"I've never had them."

"What? You're eight hundred years old and you've never had churros?" Of all the things he'd told me, that one had to be the most shocking.

He shrugged. "I've never had a chance to."

"Then we are definitely getting churros." I got to my feet, pausing as a big fat drop of rain fell on my head. I held out my hand, trying to gauge if it was a one-off or if we were about to get rained out. "Maybe we should get some churros and then go back to my place," I mused.

Fenrir looked at me with something like longing in his deep blue eyes. "Are you okay with that?"

I swallowed hard, knowing exactly what he was asking. If we went back to mine, there would be no denying the wolves or what they wanted.

"Yes," I whispered. For a moment, I thought he might not have heard my response over the noise of the other people at the food festival, but he nodded once, removing all of those fears.

And igniting a feeling within me that I hadn't felt since my first night with Todd. But somehow, I knew that this was going to be better.