Page 16 of Bonded Beyond Trickery

Tilly shifts from one foot to the other like she’s nervous before blurting out, “I’m sure you didn’t expect me to show up so soon, but I couldn’t wait. I know it’s my fault that we’ve lost so much time, but the thought of not being with you, even if you can’t forgive me yet, was too much for me and my wolf. Honestly,” she huffs out a breath, “I can’t even put into words how difficult it was to stop myself from launching myself at you five years ago. Last night and right now is even harder,” she mumbles the last part under her breath.

I barely stop myself from chuckling. She’s fucking adorable. I swear I can feel my wolf sigh with contentment in my mind. Yeah, he might be an Alpha wolf, but he’s a big softie for our mate.

“If you,” she swallows hard before standing up a little taller and taking the last few steps to the top of the porch, “aren’t ready for me to be here then you just need to tell me. I know this is my fault. I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t understand my reasoning. I won’t hold it against you, Whitaker,” my name whispered from her lips is everything.

Even though I want to deny her and turn her away, I know I won’t. I know I can’t. I want to hear her say my name over and over. One day I’ll hear her screaming it in pleasure.

The thought sends a shiver down my spine.

Her eyes are wide as she looks up at me, waiting and fighting against saying more. My mate is proud, not one to beg, but she’s also willing to let me see a sliver of her vulnerabilities. It’s beautiful.

Surprisingly, with her heartfelt words and the look on her face, she steals a bit of my heart.

“She has all of mine,”my wolf sighs as he stretches in my mind.

“But,” she breathes out, “I really hope we can start over. I don’t expect you to forget, but I’d really love a chance.”

Fuck.

My mate, whose strength sings from her, showing me a side that she probably hides from everyone is heady.

I hold my hand out between us, an olive branch of skin and bone. She looks at it for a long moment, probably scared to hope the same way I am. When she slides her hand into mine, the rightness of it brands my heart and soul as hers.

“We’re hers and she is mine,”my wolf sounds like there are hearts shooting out of his eyes.

I clear my throat, trying to push down the joy of feeling the tingles of the mate bond dance from our joined hands and up my arm. If this is going to work, I’m going to have to let go.

Before I can think twice about it, I tug my mate toward me. She huffs out a breath when our chests connect, and I get lost in the blue of her eyes. I don’t know who moves first, but then our lips meet and the world around us fades into nothingness.

When I nip at her bottom lip, her mouth parts and I swallow down the moan she lets out. The taste of my mate explodes on my tongue. She tastes just like I imagined she would—chocolate with a hint of orange.

As the ambient sounds of the pack waking up and starting their day filters through our shared moment, I pull back slowly. The way she looks up at me, her eyes dazed and full of lust, makes me want to haul her over my shoulder and carry her off to the Alpha suit.

But I can’t do that. Not yet. I don’t know if she’s ready, but I’m not. My wolf huffs out his displeasure, but he doesn’t try and argue with me about it.

My need for Tilly to feel comfortable here overrides the way my cock is throbbing. My voice is husky and thick with need, “I think starting over is a good idea. How about we start with a tour?”

Tilly smiles so brightly that it makes my entire body tighten with the need to taste her lips and hold her against me. I’m sure there will be setbacks as we work through the beginnings of our mate bond, but this right here? It’s enough for now.

CHAPTER 7

WHITAKER

It’s amazing what you can learn about your mate in the span of a few hours. It wasn’t just the things we chatted about as I gave her a tour of the pack, either. I learned just as much about Tilly from the way she reacted to everything and the looks on her face as she took it all in.

I’m not sure if it’s just the mate bond, but there’s something so light and right about being around Tilly. She’s easy to smile and saw the best in every part of the pack I showed her. I was more than impressed with the way she threw herself into being in my, our, pack.

Even though people stared at her, curious about who she is and why I was giving her a tour of the pack, she had a smile for everyone. While it made my heart sink, more than few she-wolves in my pack gave her dirty looks and sneered at her.

While my wolf was urging me to put the she-wolves in their place, I held back.

“You’re punishing our mate,”my wolf grumbles, pointing out what I know but wasn’t ready to admit to myself.

“Maybe,”I grit out, hating to admit that my wolf called me out on my bullshit.

“If you’re starting over and really giving her a chance, don’t do anything that’ll come back to bite us on the ass later.”My wolf punctuates his words with a snap of his jaws that has me internally wincing.

“When do you think I can join training?” Tilly’s innocent question has me focusing on her and my wolf sitting up in my mind and taking notice.

---