EIGHT
Miles
I’ve spent all day hovering over my mate. Luckily for Jensen and me, the guys at the firehouse covered our shift. It was easy enough since there were no calls today.
Jensen shifts next to me, and I glance over at him. His gaze is locked on his mate, Dillon, and she keeps giving him little glances. She looks at him like she’s trying to figure him out. He needs to tone it down if he wants to keep her.
Mabel yawns and I glance at the clock. We’ve been here all day. She must be worn out.
Take her home, my wolf orders me.
Soon.
“Visiting hours are ending,” a nurse informs us as she comes in to check on Dillon.
“We’ll be back in the morning,” I say, pulling Mabel into my side.
Dillon’s eyebrows rise at my possessiveness, and I wonder what my mate has told her about me.
“I’ll be back first thing in the morning,” Mabel tells her friend. “Want me to bring you anything?”
“Maybe some food that didn’t come from the cafeteria?” She laughs. “And some clothes. Hopefully, I can get out soon. Maybe tomorrow.”
“You got it.” Mabel squeezes Dillon’s hand. “Is he coming?” she asks, nodding at Jensen as I lead her out of the room.
“No, he’ll stay.”
“For that paperwork, huh?”
“Dillon may be his fated mate,” I admit.
“Hmm, so he’s a shifter, too. Wolf?”
“Yeah.”
“You know,” she says as we head out of the hospital, “Dillon seems fine, considering she was unconscious for quite a while. She’s in less pain than me. Looks better, too.”
“Jensen already bit her,” I tell her.
“He bit her?”
“She was dying,” I say gently.
Mabel freezes.
I rub her back soothingly. “Her injuries were bad. He bit her to save her.”
“How did that save her?”
“Shifters have special properties. We heal faster than humans. Our bite transfers some of the healing power to our mate.”
“What else do they get?”
“Besides a loving and doting mate?”
She nods.
“Their hearing is better. Eyesight, too.”
“Can she shift now?”
“No. You need the shifter gene for that.”
“Oh.”
We walk in silence for a block before I nudge her toward the police station.
“We should get your things.”
“Right. Tell me more. About shifters and fated mates and all of that.”
“Well, we only have and love one mate. We only ever sleep with that person.”
“So, you’re a…” She trails off.
“A virgin? Yeah. You’ll be my first and only. If you pick me,” I rush to add.
She better, my wolf growls as he paces inside me.
“Hmm.”
“What about you?” I ask. “Have you ever dated anyone?”
I relax as she barks out a laugh. Maybe I’ll be her first and only, too.
“No, I was too busy surviving for stuff like dates or crushes. Plus, everyone in my small town sucked, so even if I’d had the time, I wasn’t interested in any of them.”
Good. She’s all ours.
She might not choose us, I remind my wolf.
Oh, please. You can smell her arousal. She wants us.
“So, what about Dillon and Jensen? If he’s already bitten her, what happens now?”
“They’re linked now. He claimed her when he bit her. They’ll both experience the mating heat on the full moon, but?—”
“The what?” she asks, cutting across me as we stop outside the police station.
“The mating heat. It happens every month on the night of the full moon.”
“Okay… and what the hell is the mating heat?”
“It’s an intense feeling. A pressure to mate.”
“Mate…”
“To have sex.”
“So, you only have sex on the night of the full moon?”
“No.” I laugh. “But the urge to have sex is the strongest then to ensure we continue our bloodlines.”
“Oh.”
I pause before my next words. “The full moon is tomorrow.”
“Oh,” she repeats, looking up at the moon, lost in thought.
I push her hair behind her ear. “I’ll grab your suitcases and stuff from the car. It’s probably better if you don’t see the wreckage.”
“Yeah. I’ll wait here.”
I hurry into the station and grab the keys from Tucker’s desk. The car was towed to the lot in the back—or what was left of it.
The trunk is bent and partially open. I wedge it the rest of the way open and grab the bags. I frown. There aren’t many. This is all they packed to start a new life thousands of miles away. I expected more.
I grab the few things from the backseat and throw the backpack straps over my shoulder. Collecting the suitcases and duffle bags, I wheel everything out front.
“Here,” Mabel says, rushing forward to help.
“Are you hungry?” I ask as we head to my place.
“Yeah, I could eat.”
“We can grab something from the diner in town, or I can make something.”
“Whatever’s easier for you is fine,” she says.
We cross the street, and I take the bags as we reach the front door. Mabel grabs the keys from me and unlocks it.
“Let’s see what we have here,” I say, dropping the bags inside the door and heading to the kitchen. I open the fridge and poke around. “There’s not much, but I could make sandwiches or eggs.”
“A sandwich is good.”
“BLT?”
“Perfect.”
I get to work on our dinner. Mabel sits at the kitchen counter and watches me.
Ask her! my wolf orders.
I know I have to. I need to know what she wants. Does she have feelings for me? Could she in the future?
I don’t have much time with her to show her that we’re meant to be, so I need to make every second count.
“Mabel, I…”
Fuck this is scary.
“What do you want to do?” I blurt out.
“Um…eat? Take a shower and go to bed?”
“No, I mean, yeah, we can do that. I meant with us. With me.”
She seems caught off guard by the question. I watch as she licks her lips and gathers her thoughts.
“I, um...” She sighs. “Listen, I can’t deny that I’m drawn to you.”
My hopes soar, and I smile.
“But,” she continues, deflating my hopes, “falling in love and settling here wasn’t the plan. We escaped one small town, and I don’t know if I can settle in another.”
“I can leave. I’ll go wherever you want.”
She hesitates, taking a shaky breath. “What happens if something changes and we break up?”
“That won’t happen. There is no breaking up for us.”
“How can you know that?”
“It’s how shifters and fated mates work. We’re destined to be together. I’m meant for you. No one will make you happier. No one will treat you better or love you more.”
“Love?” She looks at me in disbelief. “You just met me. You don’t know anything about me.”
I can smell it then.
Fear.
She’s scared to stray from her plan. She’s scared to trust me.
“It’s how it works for shifters. I know all this is new for you. It’ll take time. I can give you that. But you need to be willing to give me a chance.”
She settles back in her seat and swallows hard.
I finish our sandwiches and set hers down in front of her. “Water?”
She nods.
I pour us each a glass and grab her pain medicine.
“Thanks,” she says, swallowing a pill.
We eat in silence for a few minutes. I watch her, absorbing the play of emotions across her face. She’s thinking hard about what I said. I need to give her time to think it through and process everything.
My wolf isn’t as patient.
Bite her! he snaps.
Not yet!
“So, if I say yes…” She leaves the sentence hanging
“Then it’s forever. I’m all in. I’ll do everything and anything to make you happy and keep you safe. I’ll give you whatever you want.”
She stares at me wide-eyed, and I hold my breath as I wait to see what she’ll say next.
“I, uh, I think I’m ready for bed.”
“Of course.”
She stands, and I grab her bags.
“Do you want me to wash any of your things? They might smell like the airbags,” I say before we head upstairs.
“Oh, don’t worry tonight.”
“I can make a start.”
“Okay.”
“You can borrow one of my shirts to sleep in.”
“Thanks.”
I nod and set her bags by the laundry room. She heads upstairs, and I follow, grabbing her a change of clothes.
She turns to face me. “Night.”
“Night, Mabel. I’ll see you in the morning.”
I close the door slowly behind me and take a deep breath.
It feels promising. She’s interested.
My wolf sighs. The mating moon is tomorrow.
We’ll be ready, I promise him.
I hope.