Page 40 of The Wolf Lord's Mate

Nathaniel

If the Gods had ever made a perfect creature, it would have been Mira.

I did not know her second name, though I doubted that she had one, and did not want to embarrass her by asking. It was not uncommon for Humans from The Alleys to simply use their vocation as a second name, to be identified by their use rather than their family. In some cases, they simply had none at all, or chose one to share with a partner.

Mira had mentioned her mother, but said nothing of a father or any other family members, and I doubted that she had any. Mira wouldn't have been alone if she did, left to fend for herself in The Alleys. It made my heart break every time I thought of it, my sweet little mate all on her own with no one to care for her.

But she wasn't alone now, and she would never be alone again. I would care for her until the day I died, and Gods did I hope I died first—there could be no heartbreak as unimaginably painful as the thought of losing my little female. My beautiful mate, who still somehow insisted on hiding her body from me, despite the worship I wished to give it.

Mira stood at the edge of the hot spring, gnawing on her bottom lip, arms crossed over her chest in an attempt to hide herself from my view. She wore only her slip, but the light fabric did nothing to hide the shadows of her curves.

Holding her in my arms the previous night had been bliss, and getting to touch her, to feel her feminine softness had brought me a peace like no other. But it had done nothing except worsen my desire for her; her body, her happiness, to see her smile pointed at me.

Mira so rarely smiled at me.

She always looked agitated or confused, battling a war within herself that I knew she would never win.

Even there, standing at the edge of the water, her brow was furrowed and her jaw was tight, her full lips tilted into a frown. Mira was inches away from a hot spring on a lovely day with a mate who would tear down the sky for her, and yet she still found a way to make herself unhappy. I only wished that I knew a better way to help her, but all I had was my devotion and my patience, and I knew that in the end it would be up to her to stop her needless defiance of our bond.

"Are you coming in, little mate?" I asked, and Mira glanced away, the lightest flush catching at the base of her throat. My sweet female thought she could hide her feelings from me, conceal her reactions to my words and my presence, but they were as clear as day. That knowledge was the only reason that I could survive her constant arguments and rejections because I knew that they were false.

My concern was less that my mate did not want me, but more so why she was so focused on forcing herself not to want me. It was causing my poor little female unnecessary stress, and it was driving my Wolf instincts wild, having to see my mate struggle and not knowing what to do to help her.

My unyielding desire for her was not making things easier either. I had not been this sexually frustrated since I was a teenager, and no amount of self gratification could help quell my urges. My only cure was Mira, and I knew once I had her that I would be addicted for life.

My eyes practically glazed over at the thought of getting to feel her, to taste her, to smell her arousal as I knelt between her legs. Sensing the heat pouring out of her core in the moments just before my lips finally made contact with the slit between her thighs—

—I shifted in the water, my cock twitching at the very thought of it.

"Did you at least bring soap?" Mira muttered, finally stepping down into the pool.

"Of course." I immediately moved to help her, to grab her hand to keep her from falling into the water, but she lurched back and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Do not move," Mira warned, "Please."

"I'm sure it is not a mystery to you what I look like naked, my darling," I teased, unable to help myself from cracking a grin, "I am a male after all."

I won't deny that it brought me a delicious sort of satisfaction to know the effect that my presence had on Mira. My little mate's mind might rebel against the bond, but her body craved it.

Her desire had been so potent that morning that I could smell it from the kitchen, the mouthwatering scent so maddening I'd had to force myself to go outside just to keep myself from marching upstairs and claiming her right then and there. I'd had to chop wood just to let out some of that frustration, and I'd actually managed to break the first axe I used after swinging it too hard.

"I do not care what you are," Mira gave a disgruntled sound and waved her hand for me to move back, "Because I have no desire to see you naked."

A lie. Blatant and obvious, I could tell from the increased rhythm of her heart, the flush that was spreading to her cheeks, and the lightest scent of arousal that fought through the competing smells of the woods.

Besides, there would be no need to protest so much if it were actually true. Sometimes I wondered if Mira was even trying to convince me with her arguing, or if she was merely trying to convince herself.