Page 19 of Riding with the Shifter

“No!” I sit up, cupping his face in my hands. “No, Ryder, never. I love you, I want you, I chose you. But I’m also scared. Scared of moving too fast, of losing myself in this, in us. I need… I need to take this one step at a time.”

He stares at me for a long, tense moment. Then, slowly, he nods. “Okay. Okay, baby, I get it. I’ll try to be patient, to go at your pace. But I need you to know, to really understand… you’re it for me, Zara. You’re my forever. There’s no going back for me, not ever.”

Tears prick my eyes, my heart swelling with love and gratitude. “I know, Ryder. I feel the same way, even if I’m not always good at showing it. I’m not going anywhere.”

He smiles, that slow, wolfish grin that never fails to melt my insides. “Good. But you do realize that your mating mark is a sign of commitment, right? It tells other shifters that you’re claimed, that you belong to me and me alone.”

The part of me that comes alive under Ryder’s touch, that thrills at his dominance and savage desire is aroused.

“It binds us together, wolf to woman, in the most primal way possible. It makes you mine, utterly and completely.”

I moan, tilting my head to bare my throat in instinctive submission. “Do it again,” I whisper, my heart pounding. “Mark me, Ryder. One more time, please.”

He growls, the sound vibrating through me like a physical caress. Then his mouth is on my neck, his teeth grazing my pulse point in a teasing, electric sensation.

I gasp, my hands fisting in his hair as he worries the tender skin, sucking and licking and nipping until I’m writhing beneath him, my body alight with need.

“Please,” I whimper, arching into him. “Please, Ryder, I need…”

“I know what you need,” he rasps, his voice rough with hunger. “I know, baby. Just hold still for me, okay?”

And then, with a snarl that sends shockwaves through my system, he bites down, his teeth sinking into my flesh in a bright, searing burst of pain and pleasure.

I cry out, my nails raking down his back as he holds me still, his jaws locked on my throat as he marks me again, reclaims me, brands over and over me as his own. It hurts, God, it hurts so good, a sweet, brutal ache that throbs in time with my racing heart and spasming cunt.

Through the haze of sensation, I feel something shift inside me, like a key turning in a lock. The connection, the glowing energy that ties me to my Ryder, to my wolf, to the wild, primal force that lives in his blood and now, in mine.

I am his. He is mine. We are bound, mated, united in a way that goes beyond the physical, beyond the human understanding of love and commitment. We are one, now and forever, a perfect, unbreakable whole.

And as Ryder releases me, licking the wound with tender, reverent strokes of his tongue, I know there’s no going back. No more doubts, no more fears, no more holding myself separate and apart.

And as my wolf pulls me into his arms, his eyes glowing with love and possession and the promise of forever, I know I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.

Home, in the arms of my mate, my love, my destiny.

“I’ll move in with you.”

Thirteen

Chapter 13

ZARA

I stare at the little plastic stick in my hand, my heart pounding and my stomach churning. Two pink lines. Two unmistakable, life-altering pink lines.

I’m pregnant. I’m carrying Ryder’s baby. A little werewolf pup, growing in my belly.

Oh my God!

I sink down onto the edge of the bathtub, my legs suddenly weak. This can’t be happening. We’ve been careful, always using protection. I’m on the pill, for fuck’s sake. But I’m also late, so late, and I’ve been feeling off for weeks now. Nauseous, tired, my breasts tender and my emotions all over the place.

I thought it was just stress, just my body adjusting to the changes in my life. Moving in with Ryder, settling into our new routine, learning how to be a mate, a partner, a part of the pack. But deep down, I think I knew. I think some primal, instinctive part of me recognized the signs, even if my rational mind didn’t want to admit it.

I’m pregnant. I’m going to be a mother. And Ryder…

Oh God, Ryder. How am I going to tell him? We’ve never talked about kids, never even hinted at the possibility. We’re still so new, so focused on each other and our bond. What if he doesn’t want this? What if he’s not ready?

What if I’m not ready, for fuck’s sake?!

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