Page 114 of The Hunt of Night

“Options. I’ve never had those before,” I blurt, slapping my hand over my mouth quickly to stop anything else from slipping out. Brody’s eyes soften, along with his smile, but before he speaks, I drop my hand. “I don’t know if I’ll want to go ahead with whatever we might find.” Another blurt, another truth, and it’s accepted with a simple nod.

“I know, and that will be your choice,” he states, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that he will stay at my side no matter what I choose, no matter where our fate falls, he’s always going to be there.

“Thank you,” I breathe, unable to expand on my appreciation, but he doesn’t seem to mind as he winks.

“You’re welcome.”

I nod, my gaze drifting back to my book, but something pauses me from going back to the passages. “Why did he call you with that information?”

“To get me to do the opposite,” he answers immediately, and my eyebrows crinkle. “He wants me to be on high alert with you to ensure you don’t find your wolf.”

There it is. That’s the issue. What a fucker.

“Thank you for telling me.”

“Always,” he says with a firm nod, sealing the promise between us. With a lingering smile, we turn back to our books.

Flip, flip, scan, pass. Flip, browse, sigh, flip, pass. Flip, flip, flip, scan, scan, pass, double sigh.

The cycle continues, the desperate need to find something—anything—grows.

“Oh,” Brody hollers suddenly, making me pause.

“What?”

He scrubs the back of his neck, his eyes narrowing on whatever he’s reading.

“What?” I repeat when he doesn’t answer quickly enough.

“I’m trying to confirm the sources,” he offers, but I shake my head.

“I swear, Brody, if you don’t tell me what it says?—”

“It says if you mate with your fated other, it could lift the spell or whatever it is that’s suppressing you.”

My heart rattles in my chest. “Mate?”

“Yeah.” He finally lifts his gaze from the pages to look at me, to find my eyebrows crinkled.

“You know what that means, don’t you?” he says, wagging his brows, and my throat dries. I struggle to gulp. “Do you like the idea of that?” he pushes, placing the book beside him as he rises to his knees.

“Of sex? Obviously?—”

“Not just sex, Addi?—”

A knock at the door startles me and halts whatever Brody was about to say. He groans, rushing to his feet and charging toward the door. As quickly as he swings it open, he slams it shut, but when he turns to me, there are two bags of food in his hands.

“Who was that?” I ask, discarding my book carefully.

“Kryll,” he answers with a shrug, and I gape at him.

“I could have said hi.”

“You’re mine right now.” The pointed look he offers leaves me rooted to the spot.

“Am I, though? We’re discussing me fucking my true mate. I’m going to assume that’s a wolf, not?—”

He cuts the distance between us, slamming his palm against my mouth before I can say another word. “Don’t finish that sentence while you’re with me. There’s teasing, Dagger, andthen there’s playing with fire. You’re off the Richter scale with words like that.” His eyes darken with every word, leaving me speechless. “Do you like that? You like my warning?” he breathes, keeping his hand firmly in place as he kneels over me on the bed. I nod, unable to deny it, and he grins. “I love that you’re not shy.”

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