Page 8 of The Bookish Girl’s Guide to Mating with a Werewolf (Mate Hunted #1)

I didn’t usually have a problem with that. But he hadn’t been able to reply when I told him he could take it or leave it. So, there was still a chance he wanted to leave it.

It , meaning me .

“I never thought I’d have a mate. That doesn’t mean I don’t want you, Abigail.” His voice was lower. Rougher.

The goosebumps from earlier returned.

“My family and friends call me Abby,” I said.

I should’ve come up with something more clever, but I had nothing.

“Abby, then.” Cucumber—Nico—took a step closer. He reached toward me, then stopped himself again and pulled his hand back.

I finally turned to face him. “You can touch me. I’m not uncomfortable with that. I am sweaty though, so try not to be disgusted.”

His warm, gigantic hand was on my arm a heartbeat later. His thumb smoothed slowly over my skin. “Sweat is natural.”

“So is death. And shit. Natural doesn’t translate directly to good.”

He snorted. The sound seemed to catch him by surprise. “Well, I don’t have a problem with your sweat.”

“I guess you wouldn’t, if you live in the middle of the forest.”

“In a house.”

“What?” I frowned.

“I live in the middle of the forest, in a house.”

“Oh.” Well, that changed things for the better. “You never answered about how this is supposed to work.”

He dipped his head. “There’s no telling how long your wolf will take to make up her mind about me.

Sometimes it’s a matter of hours. Other times, it’s a year or two.

Between a few weeks and a few months is the most common.

Male werewolves are expected to abandon their lives completely during the hunt, and often during the chase as well. ”

“That’s not what I mean.”

His forehead creased.

“I mean, what happens between us?” I gestured to his chest and mine again. “In the werewolf books, we’d fall in love suddenly. It’s called insta-love.”

The crease deepened. “That’s not real.”

“Then how do relationships usually develop between werewolves?”

“The same way they develop between humans. Shared experiences. Meals. Talking. Sex. Our wolves require us to live together during the mating process, which streamlines the relationships.”

“That must’ve been awkward for the guy whose mate was in love with someone else.”

Nico lifted a shoulder. “He doesn’t talk about it. It happened in another werewolf city across the country. None of us were there.”

So there were werewolves outside of Moon Ridge, too. That was kind of insane to think about.

“What happens after my wolf bites you? In-between calling me Cupcake , Ethan mentioned sex.”

Nico dipped his head. “He calls most people Cupcake . Started a few years ago. Don’t take it personally.

The final phase of the mating process is called the Climax.

The male and female werewolf are both overtaken by hormones that are only sated through a lot of sex.

It’s painful for them to resist giving in to the urge, and lasts for multiple days. ”

“Why would they resist that?” The question probably made me sound like a horny bitch, but it slipped out before I could reconsider asking.

“The process can end before a couple falls in love. Particularly if the male wolf hunts for a long time and the female doesn’t.”

I guess that made sense.

If the guy had been a wolf the whole time they were together, jumping his bones immediately could be weird.

I’d probably still do it, but like I said.

Horny. Bitch.

“So I should’ve waited to take my week off until the climax,” I said.

“Probably.”

I made a face. “It’s too late now.”

“We’ll figure it out.” Nico’s thumb dragged a small line over my upper arm. “I would prefer we spend your week off at my place so we have more privacy as you adjust to being a werewolf.”

“That’s what a murderer would say,” I said matter-of-factly. “I still don’t know anything about you.”

“I was raised by my grandparents after my mother realized she wasn’t interested in taking care of a child and left. My dad followed her. He sent letters and called now and then, but she was his priority. Mate bonds are like that.” He paused for a moment, studying me.

I waited.

He continued, “My grandparents wanted the same relationship with me that they had with my cousins, though they were raising me. They did their best, but I didn’t really have anyone to talk to and had to figure everything out on my own.”

“Being born an alpha meant that my childhood pack expected me to basically act as the father figure in the group. I was shitty at it. We weren’t close.

When they started finding their mates, I found a few other guys living in the forest. Axel, Kai, and Enzo.

Ryder, on and off too. We were the original Feral Pack members,” he said.

“What happened to them?”

“Ryder met his mate first. Charly. He wasn’t around much after that.

Axel was second, a few years later. His mate is a demon, Morgan.

Kai had a kid before his mate died, and ended up mated to a vampire a few years after that.

Enzo was never interested in women, and when Austin showed up to join the pack, fate set in and made them mates.

Bonds between two men are rare, but they happen. ”

So demons and vampires were real too.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what other kinds of magical beings existed. Dragons? Fae? Banshees?

I’d ask when it made me feel less uncertain. In a few weeks or something.

“What about two women?” I checked. “Can they be mates?”

“Werewolves are only born male, outside of extreme situations. There are only two female-born werewolves right now, and both are children. The only pair of mated women I know about are Graham’s ex and her mate.”

“Oh.”

Only men being born as werewolves was kind of stupid.

Guess that was nature for you, though. Like I told Nico, natural didn’t translate directly to good .

“The rest of the guys who are currently in the pack heard about us through the grapevine and found us after being rejected. Ethan is the only one who didn’t want to join.

Kai’s mate, Iris, forced him to when she learned how bad his depression had gotten.

She’s friends with him to some extent. Iris had Kai literally drag Ethan to the pack’s land. ”

“But he’s part of it now?” I asked.

“Yeah. He won’t admit it, but it’s helped him deal with the depression.”

“Was he rejected?”

Nico shook his head. “No. He and I are the only ones left without a partner who weren’t. I think it would be easier for him if he had been.”

“I can imagine,” I admitted, looking down. My eyes caught on my nipples—they were pointy and hard—and my face flushed again. “I need to shower and get dressed. Standing in front of you in the nude for this long is weird.”

“ Weird is not the word I’d use, Abby.”

Lifting my gaze, I met Nico’s eyes.

They were dark again.

“What word would you use?”

He made a show of slowly looking me down, then back up. He may as well have been touching my skin.

The warmth on my face spread over my ears and down my neck.

Stepping closer, he lowered his mouth to my ear.

It was a long way down, but somehow, he managed not to look uncomfortable.

His lips brushed my skin lightly. “Fucking hot.”

Yet another round of goosebumps broke out. “That’s two words.”

“Sexy. Arousing. Tempting.” Nico caught my earlobe between his teeth and tugged both of the hoops there lightly.

I shivered. “Those are all synonyms. You only get one word.”

He released my earlobe, and my head tilted to the side as he moved his lips down my throat and sucked lightly on the sensitive skin there.

My hands wrapped around his biceps as I held on for balance. I could’ve groaned at the feel of his thick muscles in my grip.

“ Erotic , Abby. That’s one. No synonyms needed.”

I shuddered. “Does the mate bond make us want each other somehow?”

“No. That’s not how it works.”

“So this is all me?” I pressed my thigh lightly against his erection, and a quiet growl escaped him.

“Yeah.”

“Damn. I thought you were going to walk away after I pointed out my cellulite and hatred of dirt.”

“You don’t have to like dirt. And I didn’t notice any cellulite—just a fucking nice ass.”

“It’s there.” I didn’t mind it, but I did know there were procedures and things to get rid of it because some people hated it that much.

People who looked like him seemed like the obvious ones to dislike it.

“Show me.” The challenge in his voice had me pushing him back a step as I spun around, showing him my butt.

I looked over my shoulder, watching his hot eyes move slowly over my bare backside. “See?”

“I don’t even know what cellulite is.”

I scowled, pointing to one of my cheeks. “See how it’s sort of bumpy?”

“Like most people’s skin?”

“Just give me your hand, Cucumber.”

He gave me a dark look at the nickname, but held his hand out toward mine.

It took me a minute to get a good grip of his fingers. When I did, I slowly moved them over the skin on the side of my thigh, and over most of my butt cheek too. “That’s cellulite.”

“I still don’t understand why you think this is a bad thing.” He spread his palm over my cheek and squeezed. A noise rumbled his chest. It almost sounded like appreciation. “Fuck, you feel good.”

“Are you sure you’re paying attention? Because I’ve seen your ass, and there’s not an inch of anything other than muscle on that thing, so—ohh.”

I leaned forward, letting go of his hand to brace myself on the countertop with both of mine. His other hand had landed on my other cheek, and smacked it lightly.

“Abby, I’ve never even wanted a woman before, and I’ve nearly come in this damn towel half a dozen times since we’ve been in here. Your ass is perfect. Your tits are perfect. Your whole fucking body is perfect. Stop trying to convince me otherwise.”

“That’s not what I’m—oh!” The soft cry had me arching as he stepped closer, pressing his erection against me.

“Tell me to stop touching you,” he commanded. His hands slid off my ass and over my hips, heading exactly where I wanted them.

“I’m not going to do that.”