Page 7 of Wooded Bliss (Mated to the Monster: Season 3)

THATCHER

My hands are shaking as I stare at the small house in front of me. It’s adorable and even though I don’t know my mate very well, it screams ‘Birdie’. Maybe it’s how peaceful it looks from the outside, and how cozy I know it’ll be without even stepping inside.

It was what struck me last night when my bear took me right to her home, as if he’d always known where our mate was, when I shifted and tried to go for a run after talking to my brothers and Circe. I thought I was going to clear my head, but my bear had only one thing on his mind—our mate.

I shouldn’t have allowed him to lurk in the trees for so long. But, if I’m honest with myself, I didn’t want to leave either. It wasn’t like I could even see her, but knowing she was there was enough for me. Getting little whiffs of her scent was enough to calm my bear and have him chuffing happily.

What I didn’t consider was her feeling something out there or, maybe, she caught a glimpse of my bear when we moved in the tree line. Either way, I was drowning in her scent from the moment she opened her back door.

Everything in me wanted to scream and tell her how dangerous it was for her to leave her house and approach the forest at night. But if she hadn’t then I wouldn’t have seen her. It was impossible to keep my bear from stepping out and showing himself to our mate. I tried to reason with him, trust me, but he wasn’t listening.

He was sure she wasn’t going to be afraid, and I was positive she was going to run away screaming. My bear was right. Honestly, after seeing her reaction, I was surprised when she didn’t try to pet him like some overgrown house pet. I have no doubt that he would have let her.

My bear is still smug as hell over her reaction. “I told you,” his growled words are filled with awed pleasure, “our mate is amazing. She was never going to be afraid of me.”

I can only roll my eyes. Just because she didn’t freak out last night doesn’t mean she’s ready to find out I’m a shifter and she’s my fated, Moon Goddess’ blessed mate. I’m not sure anyone would be ready for that kind of information, honestly.

“Stop hiding and go up and knock on the door,” my bear orders. “I want to see mate.” He takes a deep breath and mumbles petulantly, “Need to smell her.”

I sigh as I get out of my truck. “Fine, fine. Keep your fur on.”

He growls softly in warning, but I’m not afraid of the bear spirit living inside of me. “Should be afraid. I’ll make sure to tell mate that you didn’t want her.”

I still with my bear’s threat and grunt, “You wouldn’t dare.” I can feel his satisfaction at my reaction, but it quickly dissolves when I tell him, “If you told her that it could delay us mating and marking her.”

He roars loudly in my head and now it’s my turn to feel smug. It’s a fleeting feeling as my nerves kick back in. I step up onto Birdie’s front porch and force myself not to turn around and run.

I’ve been thinking a lot. About having a mate. About my parents. About the future.

I don’t know if I can have a full future without my mate. It’s just a fact and I need to come to terms with it. I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the whole thing now that I have no other choice.

Even though I’ve been telling myself for years how I don’t need or want a mate, I’ve had to face the fact that fear was the only thing driving my staunch resolve. My brother was right when he pointed out how much I used to look forward to having a mate. I remember watching our parents together and yearning for the same kind of love and devotion.

They set the bar very high for me. Then losing them made me rethink so many things including my stance on the mate bond and the power it has. It can enrich your life, without a doubt, but there’s a certain amount of risk there.

It’s a risk I wasn’t willing to face. I didn’t want to. I couldn’t.

Because then I would have to admit my parents wouldn’t be there for all those moments, the big milestones in my life I always assumed they would be there for. I took for granted that they would be there to meet my mate. I didn’t even consider they wouldn’t be there to be grandparents and spoil my cubs.

Not facing it and pushing away the whole idea of having a mate allowed me to ignore the thought of how much of my future they would miss. It was already too much to confront everything they missed in the lives of my younger brothers. It was all too much.

Being against having my mate in my life was one of the few things I could control. But now it’s been taken out of my hands, and I know I won’t be able to do anything about it.

The mate bond is strong, and I already feel it tugging at my soul, urging to get closer to Birdie and to make her mine. And then there’s my bear. He would never let me live it down if I didn’t accept my mate.

“That’s right,” he growls, “now go and knock. I want to see our mate again.”

When I step up to Birdie’s front door, I swallow hard and knock before I can talk myself out of it. My knock isn’t soft and gentle. No, I knock like I’m an entire police force here to serve a warrant.

The door to my mate’s home opens slowly and I’m struck, again, when I see her peeking out at me. I have no idea how I didn’t notice her years ago when I did spend time in Whispering Pines. Sure, back then, I had no interest in anyone other than my mate, but she’s stunning and I have no doubt she always has been.

Compared to me, Birdie is short, only coming up to my shoulder. She looks delicate, but she still has curves in all the right places. The way the sunlight hit her blonde hair yesterday made it look like it was glowing. As her big blue eyes peek out at me, surprise written all over her face, I can admit she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.

“Tell mate that,” my bear whispers like he’s Cyrano de Bergerac reincarnate.

I shush him, and murmur, “Don’t distract me right now. I need to focus.”

He huffs and then lays down in my mind, his focus completely on my mate. Her voice is filled with curiosity and a little wariness, “Thatcher?”

After clearing my throat, I try and get my shit together. “Hi, Birdie,” I sound nervous, but it’s inevitable at this point. I rub the back of my neck while giving her a sheepish smile. “I’m sure you’re surprised to see me.”

When she opens the door a little wider for me, it feels like I’ve won the first battle. She doesn’t invite me in, but she leans against the door frame as her blue eyes travel down and up my body to take me in. I barely stop myself from puffing up my chest, hoping my mate likes what she sees.

“A little,” her voice is soft and helps me to relax.

This is no big deal. Just talking to my mate after making a horrible impression on her yesterday.

“I owe you an apology,” I blurt out the words.

Birdie looks at me in surprise, her pouty lips forming a perfect o. I want to grab my mate and kiss her, but I can’t. Not yet.

My bear rumbles, “Yes, kiss mate. Want to taste her. She smells so good.”

He’s not wrong. Her wildflower and sunshine scent is distracting. She smells like the most perfect day.

“I was rude yesterday,” I hope she can hear the sincerity in my voice, “and I’m sorry. You came to my home for a delivery, and I treated you like you were the enemy. I don’t have a good reason at all. It wasn’t right and it’s been bugging me since you drove away.”

“Wow,” Birdie whispers as her blue eyes search mine. “You’ve really been thinking about this since yesterday?”

My shoulders slump and I nod slowly. “I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It might not make a lot of sense, but the thought of upsetting you and you thinking of me as an asshole doesn’t sit right with me.”

A wide smile spreads across my little mate’s face. It’s like the sun breaking through the canopy of the trees to allow you to be kissed by light and heat. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything more beautiful.

“Thank you, Thatcher,” the way she says my name feels like she’s running her hand through my bear’s fur. From the way he rumbles his approval, I’m not the only one who feels that way. “I accept your apology.”

With a nod, I find a smile lifting my lips. A real one. It’s not something that happens all that often, but I shouldn’t be surprised Birdie is the one making me smile.

“Mate is perfect,” my bear hums contentedly.

Birdie’s eyes darken as her gaze focuses on my mouth. Does she want to kiss me? It would be rude to haul her against my chest and press my lips to hers. Wouldn’t it?

I’m not sure what to do and run my fingers through my hair to stop myself from giving into the fantasy of slamming my mouth down onto hers. “I guess,” I try and search for any other reason to stay, but I come up with nothing, “that’s all I wanted to come over and say. Thank you for forgiving me. I promise not to be an asshole the next time we see each other.”

I’m already making plans to see her again, but I keep that part to myself. There’s no need to come off like a stalker so soon. She doesn’t need to know I plan to be out behind her house every night to watch over her. She doesn’t need to know I’m considering becoming a regular customer at her flower shop.

“It almost sounds like you’re going to come into Whispering Pines so we can see each other,” her eyebrows furrow in the most adorable way as she tilts her head to the side and studies me.

“Maybe,” I hedge, “that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

“Why?”

Well. Fuck.

I wasn’t expecting her to call me out. My mouth opens and closes a few times, but the longer I look at Birdie the more I realize she’s genuinely curious as to why I would want to see her. She’s not calling me out and her question has nothing to do with my behavior yesterday.

Without thought, I take a step closer to her. My toes are almost touching hers and I loom over her. I can only hope it makes her feel safe and not intimidated. She cranes her neck back to look up at me and I stare into her blue eyes, thankful as fuck when I don’t see fear there.

“Why wouldn’t I want to see you?”

She shrugs, but I can see her nerves as she nibbles on her bottom lip. “I don’t know. We don’t know each other and have never been friends,” her face scrunches up as if considering us friends leaves a bad taste in her mouth.

Mine fucking too. One day I will be her friend, her best fucking friend, but first and foremost I’ll be her mate.

“Oh, so you’re willing to accept our mate and not push her away like a fucking moron,” my bear snarls, but there’s no real heat behind the words. I’m sure being face to face with Birdie is helping to quell the anger my bear feels toward me.

“Birdie,” I rasp, “I’m sorry. When we were younger, the last thing I focused on was girls. I wanted to do well in school and make my parents proud. Then,” I pause, unable to get the words out and shake my head instead. “It had nothing to do with you and everything to do with me being a blind fucking fool.”

Her blue eyes are wide and round as she blinks up at me. I shouldn’t kiss her, but I can’t seem to help myself. My lips press against her forehead, and she lets out a small gasp when she feels the tingles of the mate bond between us.

The pull won’t be as strong for her, but the tingles are something she can’t deny or ignore. They’ll get stronger when we mate and mark. My cock likes the idea very fucking much, but I try and get myself under control. I don’t want to scare her.

Easier said than done.

“Do you want to come in for dinner?” After she blurts out her question, she jerks back from me as if surprised she asked.

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I don’t hesitate to tell her, “I’d love to.”

She ushers me into her home after opening the door wider. I don’t give her a wide berth. No, I make sure to slide my body against hers as I walk by.

I can almost taste her arousal in the air which tells me something very important. She wants me just as much as I want her.

“Mate and mark her,” my bear growls.

Since I’m distracted by being in my mate’s home, I don’t bother responding. It’s hard enough to keep my own desires under control. I don’t need him to make this even more difficult.

As she serves spaghetti with meatballs, the tension between us is thick and awkward. I’ve never tried talking to females before, never saw the need since they weren’t my mate. Now it is my mate and I’m at a loss.

“Birdie,” I rack my brain for anything to get her talking so I can hear her voice again, “will you tell me about your shop?”

Her face lights up and I relax slightly. As she starts to tell me about Blooms Happen, I can feel the joy coming from her. With one question, it’s as if some of the wall between us crumbles and the tension, while still there, isn’t as oppressive.

I find myself chatting with her instead of feeling the need to hide myself away. It’s a feeling I haven’t experienced in years, but I welcome it. Maybe she can help me heal.

Surprisingly, I can’t wait to find out.