Page 27 of Fated to the Wolf Prince

“Umm, maybe? Are you Cherry?”

“The one and only.” She waggled her eyebrows at me. “I’ve gotta hit the showers before this thing gets started. I’m already in deep crap with my Alpha for missing the opening meeting yesterday, so I’ve got to be on time today. See you later!” She pushed past me, and I was still shaking my head at our interesting introduction when Shay opened the door and gestured me inside.

She wrinkled her nose and leaned in to take a bigger sniff. “You smell like a stranger, and is that… sour fruit?”

“I met my roomie in the hallway.”

“Ahh. Leigh’s still in the bathroom. You know how she always takes forever,” She raised her voice on that last bit, and I heard an answering grumble from Leigh.

Shay dropped onto the foot of her bed and shoved her feet into her favorite black sneakers. They were adorned with three different silver buckles instead of laces, and they jangled just a bit when she walked. My quiet bestie loved music, and even her footwear reflected it.

“So, how was the rest of your evening?” Shay asked without looking up while she finished buckling her sneakers. There was no judgment or cattiness there, and I loved her immensely for it.

My face went hot, and I knew I was blushing as my brain gave me the ninety-seventh replay of the hottest kiss of my life, and my panties grew damp at the memory. Just like the last ninety-six times.

I was a hopeless goner. I’d even put on my sexiest pair of cheeky panties today,just in casehe could be tempted to continue where we’d left off. No granny panties for Kane, not today.

Though, I did love granny panties, and if we were going to be mated for the next five hundred plus years, he’d see them eventually. But not untilafterhe was good and in love with me. Seemed safest.

“That good, huh?” She arched an eyebrow up at my silent blush.

“Umm, yeah. I mean, we weren’t actually together that long after you guys left, since Gracelyn was having contractions, and we—well, he, but I wasn’t about to not go check on her—got called over there.” I stopped myself, feeling the urge to ramble building in my chest. If I didn’t stop now, the word vomit would get a lot more personal real quick.

“Was your time together… good?” She kept it polite, but I knew exactly what she meant.Mate signs.

“We kissed, and it was the best kiss of my life,” I gushed, unable to stop the flood of words after all. Leigh’s head popped out of the bathroom, flat iron in one hand, toothbrush in the other.

“Did I hear someone say there was a life-changing kiss? Please, do go on. Don’t skip a single detail.” She waggled her eyebrows salaciously, and I ducked my head into my hands. These two were yin and yang, but I wouldn’t trade them for all the other besties in the world.

Dropping my hands and shoving them into my back pockets where they couldn’t betray my embarrassment any further, I nodded. Leigh’s excited squeal was so loud, I’m pretty sure a mirror somewhere shattered. She abandoned the flat iron and frantically scrubbed at her teeth while she sank onto the foot of Shay’s bed next to her, gesturing for me to hurry up and spill.

“Okay, okay. So, you guys left, and we talked a little. I really didn’t intend for anything else to happen, you know? I mean, you guys know about my parents. I never really expected to find a mate, but even if I did, it’s too risky.” I sucked in a deep breath, not needing to tell them what was at stake. “But he didn’t care. In fact, he pushed even harder after I told him. I never expected that, and when he started kissing me, well, I just couldn’t say no. It was like he lit my whole body up from the inside, and I’ve never felt anything like it. The pull toward him is unreal.”

Leigh grinned around her toothbrush, and Shay’s warm expression told me they were both happy for me. I was too, except…

“What is it? Where’d that happy glow just skip off to?” Leigh’s words were mostly intelligible around her toothpaste.

“I— He—he stopped. Stopped kissing me. I was a hundred-percent onboard, right there with him, and then he just stopped and curled up behind me like that was that.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” Shay asked, her voice gentle.

Leigh waved frantically toward her face and the bathroom, ducked inside, and back out a moment later. “Okay, listen. I can practically see the freak out exploding out of your chest, but it doesn’t have to be. There are about eight million reasons why a guy might not gostraightfor the gold, so to speak. None of them being that he’s not into you. He was raised by Kosta, who, by all accounts, is a traditionalist. You guys just met a few days ago. Even for fated mates, there’s no expectation that you jump straight into bed, okay? He probably wants to take it a little, tiny bit slower, so he can get to know you first. And finally—and I cannot stress this enough as the one with the most relationship experience—guys arenotmind readers. If you want more, it’s okay totell him. You’re shy and studious and hot as hell, lest we forget that very important puzzle piece. But you’re also allowed to let go, get wild, and ride that stud pony whenever you’re both ready, mm’kay?”

I about choked on my tongue atride that stud pony, but her point was spot-on. I was shy and not the type to ask for what I wanted, especially not with someone as intimidatingly gorgeous as Kane. But, could I?

I thought back over the kiss and how patient he’d been, how determined to get my consent every single step of the way. Did he stop because he thought I wanted him to?

Au contraire. My dry spell had been running a long damn time, and I had never felt anything for a man with one-tenth the intensity the new mate bond had coursing through my veins. Did I know him like my longtime besties? Well, no. Did I know enough to take it to the next step?

My perpetually needy lady bits saidhell yes.

“There she is! Look at that face! She’s going to get some tonight.” Leigh elbowed Shay, who just rolled her eyes and gave me a knowing look.

Leigh was a little loco, but she was ours. And we loved her for it.

Besides, she wasn’t wrong. If I had any say in the matter, I would be getting some. Because I wanted him, and unless I waswayoff base, he wanted me too.

It was time to go out and get it.

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