Page 43 of Fated to the Wolf Prince

“Kane,no, you can’t be serious.” Her horrified words were half stutter, half shock.

“I am deadly serious, my heart. I won’t live a single day without you, even if it would kill Gael to fulfill the task of sending me to the afterlife and back to your arms.”

“But, Kane, you could have so much more. You could have a real life—”

I couldn’t take it anymore, the way she kept writing off her own worth, her ownpain. She was priceless to me, and she acted like I could just toss her aside like so much garbage.

“No, not another word of that. I heard you. You told me your why, but you need to hear me too. I am fully aware of the risks, and I accept them. I acceptyou, mate, exactly as you are.”

Her face crumpled, and she buried it back into her hands, hiding herself from me once again. I was starting to see a pattern with her. Any hint of weakness, she hid. She only let the world see the strong, composed doctor version of herself. Everything else was tucked away, kept private.

My mate was stronger than she realized, but hiding from me was unacceptable.

“Mates are meant to face the hardships of lifetogether. Let me prove myself to you, Brielle. Let me show you that our love was meant to be, written in the stars by the Goddess’s own hand.”

I sank down lower into the water, dropping my forehead to hers, and giving her a moment to compose herself. I wanted to wrap her up in my arms, but I needed her to come to me. I’d promised her that I wouldn’t cross any lines, and I would always keep my promises to her.

Any scrap, any crumb she would give me, I would gladly accept it until she was ready for more.

“You don’t have to prove anything, Kane. I believe you. I just hate this, hate that I’m forcing you—”

Her words warmed me, a flicker of hope blooming in my chest. Her trust was a gift I wouldn’t squander.

“There’s more, Brielle. I don’t think your sickness is physical.”

She froze, looking up at me with a confused furrow in her brow. “How on earth could a sickness be anythingbesidesphysical, Kane?”

“Think about it. You’re a doctor, an incredible healer, and you’ve had years to study this and haven’t found anything, right?”

“Right… but for a lot of that time, I didn’t have any symptoms. Now that it’s intensifying, I’ll have a better chance of isolating the cause.”

“Sure, but when you shifted, I saw something. Something was off with your magic, right before you collapsed and shifted back.”

“What? What did you see?”

I explained the greenish magic and the witchy tint, as if something was oozing off her, draining into the earth. The shocked look on her face grew until, by the end, her mouth was hanging open, those perfect pink lips taunting me. So close, and yet, so far. My dick pulsed against the too-tight fabric of my boxers, demanding to be let loose to sink past those heavenly lips into the wet warmth of her mouth.

“How has no one ever seen that before? I’ve shifted in front of the pack multiple times over the years, but no one has ever suspected anything with my wolf. I’ve always assumed it was a weakness of the human side, something faulty in my genes.”

“There’s nothing faulty about you or your genes. You’re perfect, and whatever this is, Reed’s got a call out to a shaman who might be able to help.”

Her mouth popped open again. I gently reached up, and ran a wet fingertip over her lips, unable to avoid the temptation another second. She had me keyed up like a live wire, my entire body one big, frayed, electrical pulse ofneed.

The shocked “Oh” melted into a blissful sigh, her eyes fluttering closed under my wandering finger. She was soft, plush, and a thousand times hotter than the focal point of any wet dream teenaged Kane had ever had.

“Do you trust me?” I asked, the question slipping past my determination to stay quiet.

“Yes.” The word was so small, but meant so much.

“Do you still want to reject our mate bond?” That question burned like acid as it left my lips.

She hesitated for only a second and then shook her head. Joy soared in my chest, right alongside a new determination to prove to her that it was therightchoice.

“Will you let me love you, Brielle? Let me show you what we’re capable of together?”

She bit her bottom lip between straight white teeth, and my fangs descended so fast at the sight that they nearly tore through my bottom lip.

Hot.

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