Page 55 of Fated to the Feral Wolf

I froze, not wanting to move or breathe or do anything that would stop her from talking to me, even though my wolf was howling about the fact that her past had been terrible enough to give herinstinctsto flinch away from us.

When I realized she was waiting for an answer, I nodded.

“Dax grabbing me like that…” She shuddered, then forced herself to continue. “Him grabbing me brought back some bad memories. And in that headspace, I wasn’t here, safe with my mate. I was… there, then. A little girl whose wolf had to save her from the bad men.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about that, really. I just… I just wanted you to know that I don’t think you’ll hurt me, and I’m sorry. Sorry for letting the past get in the way of the present. And I hope you can understand that it might happen again.”

Shay bit her lip when she finally looked up and held eye contact with me.

I moved slowly as I reached up and freed her bottom lip from her teeth, and she didn’t pull away. Her skin was smooth and soft beneath my thumb, and I had to resist the urge to shudder at the heat that ignited inside me at the small touch.

Resisting my mate was going to be sweet, sweet torture.

“You never have to apologize to me. All I see is a strong, gorgeous woman sitting in front of me. And if you’ll let me in, we can conquer those bad memories together. On your terms.”

She gasped as my thumb traced the shape of her mouth, tongue darting out to tease the tip.

I growled low in my throat then. I couldn’t help it. She was playing with fire, and I was desperately holding on to my control, trying to ignore the halfie already pressing against the zipper of my borrowed jeans.

“I would like that. A lot,” she added on a whisper. We leaned in, each of us subconsciously closing the distance as electricity seemed to crackle in the air around us.

But the air had nothing on Shay. When our lips met, it was like the world tilted on its axis. Everything that mattered in the world faded in comparison to the woman in front of me, whose lips tasted like the sweetest pomegranate and who smelled like home. Her small hands landed on my chest, fingers twisting into the front of my shirt as I buried my fingers in her curls, anchoring myself so I couldn’t lose her.

Our heads tilted in perfect synchronicity, and when her lips parted, I plunged in, sweeping through her mouth, tasting, teasing. She matched me stroke for stroke, still holding me tightly as I devoured her.

When an insistent knock at the door interrupted us, I groaned, but didn’t let her go. We pulled apart just enough to let our foreheads touch, our heavy breaths mingling as I took a second to compose myself before calling out.

“Yes?”

“If you don’t start showering now, you won’t be ready for the ritual start time. If you two are coming, that is?”

There was a question as well as a suggestion in Reed’s voice, and Shay blushed again, ducking out from under my touch.

“I’ll go hop in first,” she murmured, darting for the bathroom door.

I walked to the door of the room and pulled it open so I could see my brother face-to-face. “We’re coming.”

Reed nodded, but took a step back, waving his hand in frontof his face. “The pheromones in that room are enough to knock me on my ass.”

“Say that to Shay andIwill knock you on your ass. She’s shy.”

Reed grinned. “I know, and I wouldn’t dream of embarrassing her. Your wolf picked a good one.”

I nodded, gravely this time. My wolf had picked the best one, and I needed to keep my head on straight andprotect herinstead of getting caught up in the physical. We still needed to talk about the news regarding her parentage, if for no reason other than to tell her it didn’t change a thing for me. But we had time. Time to talk and figure out what to do about the Fetya’s curse.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Reed asked, concern immediately replacing the good-natured teasing from a moment before. “Is she still upset about Dax? I’ve been assured by Jada’s people that they were removed from the island and won’t be a problem again.”

“That’s good,” I said as the shower flicked on. “But everything’s fine.”

“Why do I not believe you?” Reed asked as I shut the door and turned the lock.

He’d better believe it, because I was going to make it okay, whatever it took.

THIRTY-SIX

Shay

Dirge and I showered separately, and I dressed in the unbleached linen clothing Jada’s people had laid out on top of the dresser for the ritual while he was in the bathroom. It was softer than it appeared at first, simple linen that did nothing against the Alaskan cold. Or to hide my pebbled nipples. I was debating whether to cross my arms over my chest to hide them when he walked out in a towel, steam caressing his bare chest and immediately erasing all other thoughts from my mind.

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