Page 38 of Oath of Revenge

“Fuck, you smell delicious, bunny. Have you changed your mind?”

Oh gods, he could smell her? She flattened herself against the wall, excitement racing up her spine.

She shook her head, nearly panting. “No, yes, maybe. Ground rules, I need ground rules. Information. Answers.” Fuck, what was wrong with her that sentences were too much?

He grinned, the predatory nature of it making her whimper. “Cat got your tongue again?”

She sucked in a deep breath and asked on the exhale, “What exactly does a mate bond mean?”

Her voice was barely a whisper, but his wolf ears quirked at the sound as he went eerily still.

“It means we are mated for life. Our souls entwine, and we give each other strength.”

She breathed deeply, her mind racing like she was running through mud. “And the consequences?”

She fought her body’s response to him. The clawing hunger in the pit of her stomach that urged her to straddle him and ride like nothing else mattered.

“All magic comes with consequences,” she whispered.

He nodded, “Mates rarely outlive each other. Most cannot live without the other, so if one dies...”

She swallowed hard and frowned. She had to get revenge on the queen and fix the curses on the rest of the people too. She wasn’t the only one who needed to be turned back.

If the Growlers could turn her back to normal, they could help the rest of the villagers too. Then she could take care of the queen. But if they mated and Wulfric failed in the alpha challenge, he’d be dead… and so would she.

She couldn’t afford that now, not when so many people were relying on her to find a solution. Well, they were looking to Knox and Eirwyn, but they were tied to the Feral Forest for now. It was up to her to solve this, and she couldn’t do that if she were dead.

Focus, she needed to focus.

She took another calming breath of his intoxicating scent.

“Is there a way to have sex without completing the mate bond?” she asked, praying to the gods that the answer was yes. Lust burned in her brain, making her barely comprehend their conversation.

He nodded slowly. “If I can control myself during it, yes. If I go feral, then no.”

“How...how does the mate bond become complete?” She only knew vague details of how Eirwyn had mated with Knox. There were rumors of other shifters, but no one talked about how mates claimed each other.

“We bite each other at climax,” he growled. “We claim each other, accept each other, love and protect each other. The bite symbolizes that trust.”

Her stomach flipped at his words, and it had nothing to do with physical desire. Her soul yearned for that kind of acceptance. Wasn’t that why she wanted to reverse her curse and get her old body back, get back to normal? Become the hero of the people instead of the freak?

So she could slink in the shadows and do her job as Hunter. So she would be accepted in Knox’s kingdom as an ally and friend, instead of a monster to be avoided. So she could hold her nephew when he finally hatched, without scaring the poor thing.

“No biting. Got it. Think you can handle just sex, wolfie?”

His ears twitched at her words, and he pulled the blanket aside. She stepped forward and paused beside the bed, her tail tucked down beside her leg.

Was she really going to sleep with a Growler? What would her mother say if she knew? What would her father say?

As soon as the thoughts came, they floated out the window because he moved. His muscles rippled under the faint light until he sat at the edge of the bed. He looked up at her, then his gaze dropped like a caress along her skin.

She was surprised he hadn’t pounced as soon as she’d come into the room. He was letting her set the pace and waited for her to make the next move.

More than anything thus far, it challenged everything she thought she knew of Growlers, but she didn’t have time to be confused or think about it as he reached for her.

Chapter 12

His hand hovered in the air, his golden eyes watching her, waiting for her.

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