Page 21 of Fated to Him

I shrug. “That’s because I’m not. Benji will clean it up.” Ordinarily, I would still be growling, but I’m having fun finding new ways to make my mate blush.

“And Benji is…?”

“Beta.” As the cabin comes into view, I subtly sniff out any looming threats. There’s no sign of Teri looking for revenge, and my nose tells me that wherever she went, she took Morgan’s body with her. Good. She must know what will happen to her if she shows her face.

Delilah gazes at me blankly.

“Second-in-command,” I explain.

“Is he used to cleaning up those kinds of messes?” she asks with a strange note in her voice.

I scrutinize her, trying to work out what it is. “You’re avoiding telling me something. What is it?”

She rolls her eyes. “You don’t get to know everything about me.”

“Why not?” I ask her, merely to see what she says. Talking to Delilah is proving to be a surprisingly enjoyable experience when conversation is usually a chore I relegate to Benji. My role as Alpha is to ensure the continued survival of the pack. If someone doesn’t follow my orders, I give one warning, and then they die.

Benji handles anything else.

But talking with Delilah? I don’t want to stop.

“Because you’re a stranger,” she says, walking faster.

I easily match her pace. “You see, that’s where you’re wrong. I’m no stranger to you, and you’re no stranger to me.”

She huffs. “That isn’t true. You think we’re mates, but I assure you that we are?—”

I circle her wrist and yank her back. She yelps as she crashes into me. Her breasts mash against my chest, and her eyes are wide as she stares up at me.

I lower my head. “And I assure you, Delilah, that we are not strangers.”

She doesn’t respond. When her eyes flare to gold, I can guess why.

“You feel it too, don’t you? The pull toward me? Because, baby? You wouldn’t be wearing my sweatpants and shirt if you didn’t,” I say, wondering why she still smells human. It doesn’t matter whether she’s an alpha, a beta, a gamma, or even a submissive wolf. She’s mine.

She swallows hard. “Humans don’t have mates. We have soul mates.”

My shrug is casual when I’m anything but. No man would be with a woman as beautiful as Delilah pressed flush against him. “Humans do. But you’re not human anymore. Whether or not you like it, we’re a mated pair. Sooner rather than later, you’re going to have to accept it.”

Her expression is so neutral I would give anything to know what thoughts are circling in her mind.

Without another word, she turns and walks back toward the cabin.

I take in the tension radiating up her spine, and I know I’ll be staying up all night. Her expression might be blank, but if I didn’t know better, I’d say Delilah was thinking about running.

I have no intention of letting her.

7

DELILAH

Ilay stretched out on the same bed I woke in before, counting to a hundred.

The cabin is silent, a gentle wind blows outside, and Malakhi, who has decided I’m his, is quietly snoring in the bed beside me.

Ninety-nine. One hundred.

My eyes snap open.

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