Page 35 of Fated to the Warrior Wolf

Reed grinned, but didn’t argue with my assessment. “You know, Kane felt crazy like this while he and Bri were working things out. It’s possible?—”

I shook my head, not willing to go down that path. “Reed, you know as well as I do that they popped mate marks within days. Well, Leigh and I made a baby together and there are still no marks. She’s not my mate, and my wolf is probably just reacting to the fact that she’s carrying our baby, or something.” The words were bitter on my tongue, and my wolf growled again, no longer deigning to chime in with words.

But thefuck youtail swish was pretty easy to read.

Reed steepled his fingers, staring me down with infuriating silence.

“Just spit it out, man. I’ve got to get her lunch before we leave for the council.”

“You know that mate marks aren’t the only sign, right? And Bri and Kane were different because she’s an omega. We don’t know how much sway that had over their bonding process,” he said quietly, shooting a pensive look across the room toward where Lucien sat, presumably unaware of our pack’s secret.

I froze in my seat, my blood turning to ice in my veins. What was he saying?

“What other signs?” I asked when my tongue decided to work again.

“Well, there’s a physical pull. Wolf connection, mate scent?—”

He rattled things off as he ticked them off his fingers, but my brain had frozen at the physical pull. I definitely felt pulled toward her. But did that little bit mean we were mates?

“How the hell am I supposed to know the damn difference between intense lust and a mate bond trying to form?”

Reed grinned, a dimple in his cheek popping with the motion. “Time will tell. But marks aren’t the be-all and end-all.”

I sighed, dropping my head into my palms. “You know that’s not the case for me.”

“I do. I know what your family obligations are. But what I’m saying is don’t give up hope. It feels… it feels a lot like the Goddess is bringing us all together for a reason we just haven’t figured out yet.”

I glanced up, arching an eyebrow at his unusually woo-woo statement. “Since when are you into mystic shit? Aren’t you amoney talks and all others walkkind of guy?”

“Of course. But even I’m not blind. First, Brielle being what she is. Then what we saw on Ushagat, what happened when Shay didn’t die, what happened with the marks on Leigh and now Olivia? This is not the norm.Somethingis happening here, and you’d have to be an idiot to pretend it isn’t. We’re being pulled together, and I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you and Leigh making a baby together wasn’t an accident.”

My wolf rumbled his agreement in my chest, happy with the turn of the conversation. Shit, was he right? Was I in denial?

Fuck.

“Tell me the signs again,” I demanded, my brain moving too quickly for the rest of me to catch up.

“Physical pull, wolf connection, mate scent, mate marks, claiming, and finally, the mental bond, if you’re lucky.”

I nodded, combing back through all my interactions with Leigh. The very first thing I’d felt for her was irritation.

Or was it? Was I irritated at her, or because of how she made mefeelabout her? Distracted. Interested. Hot under the collar.

And my wolf sure as hell liked her. Maybe all hope wasn’t lost after all.

“You’re thinking something. What is it?” Reed asked, leaning back in his chair and kicking a foot up on his knee.

I wanted to punch him for looking so relaxed while I was going through the wringer, but his clear head was helping me, as usual, so I kept my fists to myself.

“I’m thinking about everything and questioning it. She irritates me, but I think that might be me trying to fight back an attraction I wasn’t ready to acknowledge.”

“That’s good. Honesty can only make the process easier. Maybe if you stopped fighting all this for once, things would just click into place.” He checked his watch and shook his head. “You better get a move on, though. We’ve got to leave for the council soon.”

I cursed under my breath and pushed back from the table. I wanted to dig deeper, but pack business couldn’t be allowed to slide, even if it felt like my own life was crumbling to pieces.

When I backedinto the room, I had an overflowing plate balanced in one hand and a bag full of kitten supplies in the other.

Leigh was sitting on the floor, her hair golden in the afternoon sun as she trailed a string in front of the tiny kitten.

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