Page 82 of Fated to the Feral Wolf

“Hmm?” I hummed, happily ensconced in his arms and not looking to move any time soon. Granted, his legs were probably falling asleep and his back was getting tired from leaning against the hard tree trunk, but if so, he didn’t complain.

“There’s a full moon in just over a week.”

“That’s… not a question.”

“Will you bond with me?”

I froze, my heart thudding at double speed.

“I saw your face earlier. When Karissma said you could help Brielle. And at first, I was against it. Frankly… the scene where you threw yourself in front of that assassin before I could get to you? It has played on repeat in my mind every single night since. But the truth is, I want you. I want this bond between us sealed up tight. It’s selfish, really. We’ve been through a lot, and if you want to wait, I?—”

“I don’t.” I cut him off, then blushed.

“You don’t want to bond with me, or you don’t want to wait?” he asked, studying me intently.

“The second thing. I want you to be mine too.” I wove my fingers between his, holding him tightly. “I don’t want to wait.”

A grin started to bloom then, slowly spreading like honey until his whole face was a breathtakingly handsome grin. Goddess, he looked like a fallen angel when he smiled like that. Just a hair to the wrong side of holy.

“Yeah? You sure?”

“Yeah,” I said, waggling my eyebrows at him. “I’m sure. If… if you still want me. After hearing everything, about me being a broken mess of a murderer.” I hated myself just a little for ruining this moment with my ugly insecurities. Goddess, I kept on shooting myself in the foot. But?—

“You arenota murderer,” he admonished, giving me a stern look. “You’re a hero. You saved not just yourself, but every other little girl in those shipping containers from a horrible fate. And if you’re broken, well, I guess I am too. But maybe together, we can rebuild something beautiful. The fact that I didn’t kill when I was feral doesn’t mean I didn’t in my time as an enforcer or even since. I have no regrets about taking out the assassin who stabbed you.”

I nodded, too emotional for words at his acceptance. After all the things I’d kept hidden, even from my very best friends, he’d just wiped away the stigma, the shame, with an easy smile like it was nothing.

But to me? It was everything.

He kissed me then—both a reprimand and a promise—and I felt the tingles from the top of my hair to the very tips of my toes. And everywhere in between.Everywhere.

We stayed like that for a long while, just basking in the comfort of a mate’s touch and kissing as we talked, until the moon had traveled far across the sky and even his banked-coal-level warmth wasn’t enough to keep the cold at bay any longer.

“Ready to head back?” he asked.

“Yes, I just wish it weren’t so far. I’m exhausted.” And I was, to my very bones.

“Luckily for you, I’m not. Hop on,” he said, then shifted into his wolf form.

He was big, yes. Almost chest height when I was still in human form.

“Are you sure? You ran just as far as I did.”

He yipped his assent, and I pursed my lips, considering the long,longway back.

“Okay, here goes nothing,” I muttered, and climbed on his back.

FIFTY

Shay

By the time we made it back, the sun was already kissing the horizon. The twilight was fading into soft lavender, the deep orange of sunrise hot on its heels.

As beautiful as it was, though, I couldn’t look away from the man standing outside our lodgings. He stood tall and proud, but quiet, patient. He looked exactly as I remembered from my childhood, as if time hadn’t touched him, the same hint of silver at his temples, the same laugh lines at the corners of his eyes.

Brand.

He’d waited. I’d tried to run from the past, from the shame and hurt of a little girl’s memories, but he’d waited.

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