Page 44 of Crescent Warrior

“Can we start over? Can we be… mates?” His voice was husky as he stroked his fingers over her skin, his callouses feeling rough. She gave herself time to ponder the possibilities, reaching inside herself to see what she really wanted.

“Even if we became mates physically,” she told him, leaning forward to press her forehead to his sternum, “I don’t know if I can give you my heart.”

“Can you try?” he murmured, leaning down to press kisses to the top of her head, inhaling her scent.

She nodded, burying her face tighter against him. She felt the smile on his face before he released a satisfied hum, bundling her body closer.

“That means that we’re not telling anyone,” she insisted.

“I find it hard to believe that they won’t be able to tell by our scents alone, but alright.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, turning from him to grab a scarf and twist it over her neck. He snorted out a laugh at the hilarious picture she probably made, with her white fluffy robe and a scarf, but she didn’t care. She needed to protect herself first, and this time around, she would make sure of it.

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Finally,” Ambrosia rolled her eyes as they came downstairs, Cole holding their bags. “I thought you guys would miss this flight too.”

Hippolyta scoffed, turning to walk toward the door to the garage.

“I’ll go with you guys and bring your car back,” Ambrosia called, hurrying forward, lifting a bag onto her shoulder. Cole paused, shuffling bags so he could hold hers as well.

“What a charmer,” she joked, tapping his cheek with her finger.

Hippolyta glanced at them, annoyance clear in her eyes, but she didn’t say a word. Cole hated that they still had so much to settle between them. Fully mated couples weren’t prone to fits of jealousy because they implicitly trusted their mates.

While possessiveness was rampant, there was never a question of loyalty. He hoped that one day they could reach that point. Especially since his mate kept her feelings bottled inside. He never wanted to cause her pain again.

“You do realize that everyone knows what you two were doing, right?” Ambrosia called to Hippolyta, hurrying forward to link her arm with hers.

“If the rest of the pack has enough time to gossip, then they aren’t training hard enough,” his mate growled.

He smothered a laugh, knowing that she would probably start working everyone harder when they got to Greece.

“Well, I’m not even going to be there when you go all psycho on them, thank goodness.” Ambrosia’s smile was smug for only a second before Hippolyta turned to glance at her, her expression stern.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that you staying behind meant that you planned on slacking off.”

Ambrosia’s gaze dropped, a scowl on her face, contrite. Hippolyta sighed, shoving her shoulder against her cousin’s.

“What’s in the bag?”

“Just a few things I wanted to send to Nyx,” she said with a shrug, her mood lightening with Hippolyta’s. “To tide her over until she comes back with you guys. I can’t wait for her to finally be here!”

Her grin was infectious. “And I packed some stuff for the aunts and uncles. Cole, will you give them to everyone? They’re all labelled.”

“Sure,” he smiled, ruffling her hair as he took his seat behind his mate.

He wanted nothing more than to be next to her, but he knew she wanted to keep them a secret for now. He would respect her decision, but he had no intention of allowing his duties to fall to the wayside any longer. He would care for her like he needed to, the way his instincts insisted he should.

“Is everyone on the way to the airport?” Hippolyta asked, glancing around at the missing cars as she pulled out of the garage.

“Almost everyone,” Ambrosia said, shaking her head, her brow furrowed. “Harmonia, Kyril, and Niles are staying behind.”

Hippolyta’s gaze sharpened immediately. “Is it the pup?”

Ambrosia nodded, sadly. “She’s in a lot of pain, and it’s still so early. Aunt Phaedra decided to stay too.”

Hippolyta nodded, sighing with relief.

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