Page 47 of King of Forest and Fur

She turned to see Rehn walking over to her, naked and gleaming with sweat.

All of her clones vanished as her eyes were locked on his.

When he got to her, she started to say something, but instead, he wound her tightly in his arms and kissed her as if he’d never let her go.

TWENTY-TWO

REHN

When Rehn finally pulled his lips away from Leila, he couldn’t let the rest of her go.

His fingers laced with each other as he tightened his grip around her waist to bring her closer.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She nodded, but there were tears in her eyes.

“Hey, why are you crying?”

“I’m not. I mean, I am. I’m just… Thank you for saving me again.”

He stroked her cheek and smiled.

“I didn’t really save you. You seemed to have that handled. I just did the dirty work.”

She choked out a chuckle and leaned her face into his palm. “Still, thank you.”

Now was the time to tell her. He couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“Leila, I need to tell you something.”

“I know,” she interrupted. “I should have said good-bye to you myself.”

“Well, yes, but that’s not what I was going to say.” He lifted her chin and looked into her deep brown eyes. He saw his whole life there and it was time she knew that. “Since I met you, I knew something that I’ve kept from you. I was scared that it would frighten you away from me.”

Leila’s forehead furrowed.

Rehn took a deep breath.

“You’re my fated mate. And before you say anything, I want to explain. For me, a shifter, we have fated mates. Someone we are destined to be with. Our animal needs that person in our lives. But, for a human, or non-shifter, you don’t have the same reaction as we do. Maybe something, but not as strong. I didn’t want to scare you away by telling you that. I wanted you to want to be with me on your own accord.” He had never felt so vulnerable in his life.

Leila remained quiet for a moment.

Rehn had seen Idris standing at the door while he waited for Leila to say something. Anything.

Finally, she did.

“So, you need to be with me?”

“Well, yes and no. I’m not going to keep you against your will. It will just be very hard, next to impossible really, to keep my distance.”

She smirked at that.

“I don’t mind that.”

His heart pounded feverishly in his chest. His bear roared a victory.

“You don’t?”

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