Page 56 of Entering a New World

Oh.

That was…

“Are you disappointed?” Levi asked, biting his lip. The smell of his anxiety soured the air.

“What?”

My wolf yowled in my chest, demanding we make it okay and to put our mate at ease, to assure him we could never be disappointed in him because—to us—he was perfect.

“I mean…” Levi started, wringing his hands in his lap. “You obviously thought I was rich. And I’m not. I’m a probably unemployed human with no survival skills.”

“But that’s not true,” I said forcefully, grabbing Levi’s hands. “You’re amazing. You got thrown into an incredibly dangerous situation, and you survived. You’re resilient as fuck.”

Levi scoffed, but there was a flash in his eyes, so maybe my words were getting through to him.

Good, my wolf said, satisfied. Truth.

“Without you, I’d have died out there.” Doubt still clouded his features, and he averted his eyes.

“So what?” My wolf howled loudly in protest. “Do you have any idea how many hikers we have to save every year because they get lost in the wilderness? The number’s in the double digits. And those folks know the dangers. They prepare for it, they usually go hiking in summer when the weather’s good—and they still get lost.” I shook my head and held Levi’s hands a little tighter. “You knew what you had to do. Yes, I helped you find the way, but you knew you had to find water and shelter. Even though you were royally screwed over, you kept a cool head and utilised your resources—one of those resources being me.”

Levi snorted, a small smile tugging at his lips. “I knew right from the beginning something was off with that wolf.”

My wolf chuffed.

“And during the storm?” I continued, because I wanted to get it all out there. To really make him see how incredible he was. “You held up so well. You’d been out in the woods for four fucking days. You were starving, you were probably on the verge of hypothermia, but you still hiked through the woods, in the dark, during one of the worst storms I’ve seen in the past years.”

Levi chuckled. “The way I remember it, I merely held onto you and you basically dragged me along.”

“Semantics,” I said and winked at him. “And don’t forget everything that came afterwards. You bounced back so quickly and took the whole finding out about shifters thing in a stride.”

Had it sucked that he’d needed time to process?

Yes.

Had being patient been hard for me?

Yes. It’d been the hardest thing I’d had to do in my whole life.

But it’d been worth it.

Because now he was here, at my house. Well, sitting in my truck in front of my house. A fact I needed to rectify.

“Do you want to head inside?” I asked, smiling at him. “I have a couch that’s infinitely more comfortable than these car seats.”

Levi laughed, and the sour stench of anxiety faded from his scent. Letting go of me, he reached for the door handle and climbed outside. I watched him as he tilted his head to the sun, closed his eyes and drew in a big breath as if he was savoring the air.

Something inside me unfurled upon seeing him like that, and the tugging sensation inside of me that always appeared to be drawing me closer to Levi grew even stronger.

I needed my mate inside my arms.

My incredible mate, who was human and from an entirely different world than I was, still appreciated the same things I did.

Egged on by my wolf, I climbed out of the car and walked up to Levi, who was still standing there with his eyes closed, letting the sun shine on his face. His features were relaxed, his lips tilted into a small, content smile, and his hair gleamed golden in the sun.

“I love the air out here,” he murmured, smile widening a fraction. “Every time I step outside, I’m amazed at how clean the air is. It’s like I can taste the nature just by breathing.”

I put my arm around him and drew him close, the faint bond in my chest humming, my wolf yipping happily. Tingling spread through my whole body, and heat pooled in my groin.

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