Page 18 of The Wolf's Mate

Maybe for people like her and Thorne, who were in love to start with. But for Rip and me? The most I can hope for is a semblance of respect. “Does it hurt?”

Tallie shakes her head. “No, it feels fantastic, actually. But the bite is usually given…” She trails off, looking at Thorne for assistance.

“Given when?” I press, annoyed that they insist on keeping their secrets. I suppose I understand in a way. I’m still an outsider, but I won’t be for much longer.

Thorne takes over the question, and his answer immobilizes me. “The bite is usually given during sex. The bite is only half the mating ritual. Sex solidifies the bond.”

Pause.

They expect me to fuck Rip? I’ve barely accepted the fact that I’m to be mated to him for the rest of my life, but I’m not ready for sex. No matter how my body responds to him while he’s around.

But what if I don’t have a choice in the matter? Would he simply take what I’m not ready to give him? Would Thorne and Tallie stand by and watch while he…

My breath comes faster, and I sway on my feet. I think the room gets hotter, or maybe that’s just me. I can’t do this. I can’t go through with this. I can’t, I can’t, I can’t…

“She’s in distress,” I hear Tallie say to Thorne, and then she’s in front of me, grabbing my arms in a vise-like grip. My feet slip from underneath me, and I realize she’s the only thing holding me upright.

“Hettie, I need you to breathe. Can you do that with me? Breathe with me, okay?” She demonstrates breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth. She does this repeatedly until I finally follow suit. The rising panic that threatens to detonate slowly subsides.

“I don’t…can’t have…” I try to get the words out, but coherent sentences aren’t coming.

Tallie understands, though. She nods. “I know, and you won’t have to.”

“Tallie—” Thorne interjects, but she shoots him a reproachful glare.

“She won’t have to,” she says more firmly this time. I’m not sure if she’s directing that at me or Thorne. “The bite is non-negotiable, but she doesn’t have to have sex with Rip. Enough of the bond will be there without it.”

Tallie continues to rub my shoulders and whisper soothing words. My anxiety about this situation soon turns into embarrassment. I hate people seeing me like this. It’s not the image I want Rip’s cousin and second-in-command to have of me, a weak human who is far from home.

“I’m sorry. I...don’t know what came over me.” I step away from Tallie.

She drops her hands and offers me a reassuring smile that reminds me so much of my sister’s that I nearly lose it again.

“The hour grows late, My Star. We need to get our Luna to her ceremony,” Thorne says to her.

“Right, of course.” Tallie’s smile only amplifies her beauty. She is trying to put me at ease, and I appreciate that. “Let’s get you to your alpha. He’s going to be speechless when he sees you.”

Chapter 9

Rip

Imelda places the last goblet on the ceremonial altar and steps back. She inspects her work and nods once she’s satisfied with what she sees. “This is the best I can do with the time restrictions you’ve presented me, my boy. I really wish you would hold off just one more night, and I could decorate for this ceremony properly.”

Tallie’s mother, my aunt Imelda, fixes me with a stern stare only a mother can give. For the past twenty years, Imelda has been the closest thing I’ve had to a mother. She and Tallie are the only ones I have left.

“We can’t wait.”

“Not even a day, Rip? Just one day?” she asks. “You are the King Alpha. I’ve just always pictured planning your ceremony, gathered around all our loved ones. It should be a joyous occasion.”

I hate letting down my aunt, but there’s no putting this off. Mating ceremonies amongst the pack are a big deal. Celebrations that last well into the night. Typically, there are multiple mated couples at a ceremony, bonding their souls together. As the King Alpha, my ceremony is supposed to be a grand event, lasting all day and all night. Food, music, and lots and lots of sex. Not just from the newly mated couple, but the whole pack. Ceremonies always bring out the animal side of us, and we give into our base instinct.

Normally I would too, but it’s just not in the stars for us.

“Michael found her in the woods today,” I say.

Aunt Imelda sucks in a deep breath. “Oh my. That poor girl. Is she okay?”

I appreciate her not commenting on my incompetence to keep the human safe. “She’s fine. But he knows she’s here now, and if he can get through our defenses so easily, I need Hettie to be connected to me. It has to be tonight. To keep her safe.”

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