Page 68 of The Wolf Lord's Mate

The morning air carried with it a gentle quiet; a pattering of the horses's hooves against the uneven earth, the waving of tree branches overhead, Nathaniel's steady breath at my ear, and his heartbeat at my back.

It was enough to let me begin to feel the subtle pull of sleep, my eyelids slipping shut into longer and longer blinks until I could hardly keep them open anymore.

Shifting in the saddle against a hand that refused to let go of my hip, I adjusted myself to lean my head back against Nathaniel. I could hear the male practically purr as I willfully positioned myself closer to him, and the alpha ducked down to bury his face in my hair.

"Don't get any ideas," I murmured, "But there aren't that many ways to get comfortable on one of these things."

"By one of these things, I'm assuming you mean a horse?" Nathaniel chuckled, "It's only an animal, Mira—besides, I'm perfectly comfortable exactly where I am."

"You could make yourself comfortable anywhere." I said as Nathaniel stroked his fingers along my hip bone.

"Only when you're there with me," Nathaniel took a deep inhale of my scent before pulling back, "What else could I need when I have you, little mate?"

I only hummed in response, tugging Nathaniel's riding cloak until it covered my arms as well, soaking in all of the warmth from him that I could steal.

I wasn't even particularly cold, but the heat that constantly radiated off of him called to me like a moth to a flame, beckoning me to relax into his arms. And so relax I did.

That seemed to be an easier part of the bond to accept, the feeling of comfort and calm difficult to apply a distrustful view on; although one could consider how prey is lured through a false notion of safety—

—Stop it. Regardless of my continued hesitancies, I had promised Nathaniel that I would try, and always thinking the worst of him wasn't fair, not when he had been so kind to me so far. I would be cautious, but I would try not to assume his intentions.

Nathaniel gave me a moment to enjoy the quiet, but despite his satisfaction at the way I had chosen to seek comfort from him, he was far too tense. There was something else, something that was nagging at him.

Just as I was about to doze off, Nathaniel took a deep breath in and gave my hip a squeeze.

"We have to have a conversation, love."

"About?"

"Our bond."

"Half the conversations we have are about that bond—surely we can talk about something else?"

"Right now it's a bit unavoidable."

"And why is that?"

"Because Walton will be at the Manor, and I need to know how you would feel most comfortable addressing our bond."

It hadn't even occurred to me in the rush of the morning that we would have to decide whether or not to announce the bond.

In all honestly, I had just assumed that we would continue to go about things quietly, and if something did slip that it would only slip to the staff.

Those who both Nathaniel and I trusted, a group that certainly did not include a rival Lord.

"My hope was that we could be discreet," I spoke softly, somewhat unsure of myself even though that was what I had wanted all along, "You said that Walton might use your mate against you?"

"Only if I let my guard slip for a moment," Nathaniel's arm shifted to slide around my waist, drawing me even further into him, pressing me tightly against his chest, "Which I would never do, not when it concerned your safety.

I would not let you out of my sight or away from my side for the whole of his stay—even after, for a time. "

That familiar panic rose inside of me once more, but this time it was not unfounded. There they were, the words I had been so fearful of for so long:

Possessed.

Trapped.

Watched.

Controlled.

Nathaniel's only way of keeping me safe was to keep us attached at the hip, constantly under his supervision. Yes, it was for my safety, but surely there was another way?

My heart was beating a mile a minute, and Nathaniel could tell, his grip loosening slightly. He opened his mouth to speak, but I managed to cut him off first.

"But surely there is another option?" I spoke slowly, take measured breaths to try and steady my panic, "That would only be the case if Walton knew that I was your mate, so if we did not tell Walton then we could avoid all of that?

Both the danger and the—" The word froze on my lips, and I let it die with the wind.

Cage.

Perhaps it wasn't an entirely fair description, but that was what I felt when I heard him speak. It was what I imagined.

"I understand that is your preference," Nathaniel gave a sigh, "I would have been shocked to hear otherwise in all honestly, but there is still the issue that Walton is an alpha like myself and despite every character flaw contained within him, he is not unintelligent.

There is a high chance that he would be able to guess that you were my mate, and that outcome might be worse than him knowing straight away. "

"He would only guess that we were mates if he saw us together though, right?" I offered, peeking up at Nathaniel, immediately taken aback by the yearning in his eyes as he looked down at me, "I could hide away downstairs during his visit."

"And then I will be left unfocused and half-crazed by the fact that I won't be able to see you, resulting in me likely making poor decisions of my own."