Page 2

TWO

Jensen

My mate turns to face me, her expression guarded.

I curse myself.

Fuck, none of this is going how I imagined it would.

I always thought my fated mate would also be a shifter. We would smell each other and be mated instantly.

Instead, I found my very human fated mate when she was dying. I bit her before I even learned her name or the color of her eyes. Now we’re mated…but not. She doesn’t know what I am. She doesn’t know anything about me, and I don’t know a damn thing about her except that we’re meant to be together.

My wolf paws at me, and I take a deep breath.

How the hell am I going to explain all of this to her?

“Did the wolves at the accident…bite me?”

I hesitate. Part of me wants to lie and say yes so I can win her trust and convince her to stay with me. But I can’t do it. A relationship built on lies will never work.

“No, not those wolves.”

“What does that mean?” She sounds panicked.

“Come and lie down, and I’ll explain everything.”

I hear the nurse, Mrs. Webster, a coyote shifter in our pack, slip out of the room and send up a silent thank you as I help my mate back to bed.

I pull my chair closer to her bedside and scrub my hands down my face. “I’m Jensen. I was with the ambulance at the scene. I pulled you out of the car.”

“Thanks for that.”

I nod and swallow. “I bit you.”

She stares at me, and I hold her gaze.

“It was the only option,” I explain when she remains silent.

“Why was biting me even an option?” she demands.

My wolf paws at me again, eager for me to get on with it. “There’s so much I have to tell you.”

This won’t go the way we want, I warn him.

He snorts. She wants us.

I close my eyes. She won’t in a minute…

Dillon crosses her arms over her chest, and I steel myself for her reaction.

“I’m a shifter. A wolf shifter.”

She stares at me blankly.

Keep going! my wolf orders.

“I can shift between human and wolf form.”

Still nothing.

“And shifters have fated mates. One person they’re fated to be with.”

She doesn’t blink.

“I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true…and you’re my fated mate.”

“So, you bit me because you think you’re a wolf and we’re meant to be,” she deadpans.

“I bit you because it was the only way to save your life. You were dying. Fuck, when we came up on that scene…it was so bad. Then I smelled you and realized that we were fated mates. You were in rough shape, and your condition deteriorated in the ambulance on the way here. They wheeled you in for surgery, but your injuries were…severe.”

I swallow hard as I remember how panicked I was when I found her. I knew she was dying. I couldn’t handle it. I’d found my fated mate and wasn’t about to lose her. I couldn’t handle that. So I did the only thing I could—I bit her.

Dillon shakes her head. “But I feel fine.”

“That’s because I bit you. Shifters have advanced healing properties, and they transferred to you. It’s the reason why you’re awake right now. The reason you’re not in excruciating pain.”

Her expression is blank. “Right.”

She’s not giving me anything. She’s closed off and won’t trust me easily.

I clear my throat. “I know that this is a lot to take in.”

She laughs, but it lacks humor. “Not really. You’re crazy. I’ve been around crazy.”

“I’m not. I’ll prove it for you.”

“This should be good,” she mumbles.

I stand, tug off my shirt, and reach for my pants. She slams her hands over her eyes as I strip.

“Watch.”

She peeks out from between her fingers. As soon as her eyes meet mine, I start to shift.

The hair on my body grows, my teeth and nails elongate, and in seconds, I land on my paws in front of her hospital bed.

“Holy shit!” she squeaks.

I step forward, nudging her leg.

She jerks away. “Okay, you’re not crazy. I am. Maybe I hit my head harder than anyone realized.”

I shift back and pull on my clothes. “You didn’t. It’s real. Everything I said is real.”

“No offense, but I just met you. I don’t trust you, even if we are meant to be or whatever.”

“We are.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“We’re already mated. When I bit you, I claimed you. You’ll have my mark for the rest of your life.”

“Great,” she mutters.

“You’re upset.”

Dillon snorts. “You think?”

“Why? Tell me, and I’ll fix it.”

“You can’t! This is all…It’s too much! I mean, I was in a car accident. I wake up with some strange man by my bedside and find out that he’s a wolf, he bit me, and claims to be my fated mate. You say it like this is a done deal.”

“It is,” I point out. “We’re already bonded.”

“Yeah, because you chose it! Where was my choice?”

I frown. “You were unconscious.”

“God! You don’t get it.”

“Then explain it to me.”

“No. Get out. I want you to leave.”

“I can’t do that.”

“So what I want doesn’t matter?”

I feel like shit. “I’ll call Miles and Mabel. Visiting hours start soon, and Mabel will be here.”

She ignores me as I stand and head out into the hallway. I call Miles to tell him Dillon is awake, and he says they’re on their way.

My wolf paces inside me, anxious to return to our mate, but I can’t walk back in there. Not right now.

Miles and Mabel step off the elevator a few minutes later and head my way. Mabel smiles at me distractedly before she heads in to be with her friend. I sigh as Miles leans against the wall next to me.

“How are things going?”

I shake my head. “Badly.”

“Did you tell her about us?”

“Yeah. I shifted for her and everything. She’s pissed.”

“She’s pissed that you’re a shifter?”

“No? I don’t know. She just seems pissed with me in general. She’s mad that she didn’t get to choose. When I pointed out that she was unconscious and on the brink of death, she got even more upset.”

“Hmm.”

“How are things going with your mate?” I ask him.

“Well, I think. I don’t know. We went home, and she kind of passed out. She seems to be warming up to me, though…maybe.”

“They’re both closed off and distant,” I comment.

Miles nods. “Wonder what their lives were like before yesterday.”

I swallow hard, and my wolf whines as we think about what they might have lived through.

“Tucker will be here soon to ask them questions about the accident,” Miles says.

“Think it was the Red Fog Pack?”

He shrugs. “I’m headed in. You coming?”

“Yeah.”

I follow him, preparing for round two with my mate.