Page 62 of Witchblood
“Because your wolf says so.”
“More than just my wolf.Ineed you. The way you react to me says you feel it too. When I’m with you, everything is clearer, calmer, yet I have a burning need to touch you. I want to learn everything about you. I want to memorize the noises you make when you sleep, and the taste of your skin beneath my tongue. I want to argue with you about the best yeast to put in a doughnut, and kiss you until you agree. Your soul is nestled against mine. They fit together perfectly, two halves of a whole. The mating was the hard part. Learning about each other as our love grows is worth spending the rest of our lives exploring. That is what our mating means to me.”
Once again this man made me breathless with his words. “You’re too good to be real.” I leaned my head against his shoulder.
Chapter 27
“I’m also temperamental, territorial, and an alpha asshole. Ask anyone in the pack,” Liam said.
“You’ve done pretty well withApaand Oberon being in your territory,” I pointed out.
“I haven’t. That’s why I needed to go to the cave up the mountain. You weren’t there as a buffer for me focus on, and I just wanted to rip them both apart for thinking they had any right to come and defend you. You’re mine.” He sighed. “That sort of caveman thinking probably scares you.”
It didn’t. Which was odd because Felix’s thinking hadn’t been all that different. Or had it?
“I’ve worked really hard to push my boundaries. Sometimes the possessive bastard in me rises up when someone says the wrong thing. Carl and I have fought about that a lot in the past year. Many a time I wanted to go looking for you. He always backed me down, reminding me that you’d run if I stalked you. No matter how much my wolf needed you, I had to wait. Dylan saw the worst of my temper crop up after you arrived, but he’s always been good at sensing when to back down. I can’t always stop myself from growling when someone else touches you. He’s a dominant wolf, and attractive, so my wolf bristles at the idea of him being close to you, even though he’s my friend and third. I try to rein in the dominant asshole raging through my blood.”
“You were okay when Sean touched me.”
“Sean is Dylan’s. They are practically mated. He smells like Dylan. You smell like me now. So it’s easier to restrain the wolf. Sean also doesn’t ping my wolf’s radar as competition. He might have an independent personality, but he’s not a dominant wolf like your father, or Oberon.” Liam stroked my back lightly. “It’s easier to face them with you in my arms.”
He made me braver too.
“But I’m not a possession to you,” I affirmed. Not like to Felix. I was not just the little fox. I wasn’t something to be hidden away or condemned. He’d held my hand and walked through the town’s little main street with me. He’d even introduced me to the most powerful members of his pack like I was more than just a useful omega to him.
“You’re my life. You possess every part of me. My mate. My love.” His arms tightened around me, reaffirming his words. His body warmed mine even if his touch made me crave something much hotter. I sucked in a deep breath, realizing what he’d just said.
“Too soon?” He asked. He didn’t sound worried or apologetic, more curious.
“I don’t know,” I told him honestly. “You’ve had a year to work this all out in your head.” I told him, reminded of my conversation with Dylan before the madness began. “I’m new to this mate thing. Is this us or just some weird pheromones? Some metaphysical pull created by fate?”
“Does it matter?”
Maybe. I hated the idea of him being forced to like me because his wolf was attracted to some metaphysical scent my fox was producing. “Do kitsunes produce pheromones?” I sniffed my arm pit like I could smell some if I was. I just smelled like me, thankfully not ripe, though I could use a shower.
“You smell like lavender and honey. Like forest and wildflowers. I’m not the only one who smells those things. The whole pack does.” He lifted my hair, like maybe it was the scent of my shampoo. “It’s not something you use, it’s just your scent. Over the past year I’d get glimpses. Like a ghost of the scent drifting through the window. I’d remind myself you’d find your way home. The pack sometimes said they smelled it too.”
“So do they smell you? Vanilla, cloves, and cardamom?”
Liam squinted at me. “No. To them I just smell like a dominant wolf. Maybe you smell that on me because of the bakery?”
“Have you been to the bakery in the past month while I was gone?”
“No. I wasn’t sane enough.” He ran his fingers over my cheeks like he was memorizing how my skin felt. “For a year I battled the wolf. But the moment you stepped into my territory, he decided he was done fighting me. Then you vanished. He became enraged. Holding him back took everything I had. There was no time for the bakery, my pack, or even my daughter. Though Carl has often assured me they are all fine.”
“Sorry,” I whispered. Feeling bad about taking him away from everyone.
“You didn’t do any of it. I’m just glad you found your way back.”
“I followed your scent out of Underhill. Vanilla, cloves, and cardamom.”
“Hmm.”
I growled at that answer. He laughed and leaned in to kiss my nose. “I’m not imagining your scent. It’s real.”
“I believe you,” he agreed. “All that matters is that I smell nice to you.”
“You’re a little cheesy,” I told him.