Page 42 of A Wolf in the Garden

Her hands comb through my hair. “It was a wolf thing,” she says quietly, figuring it out herself. “Van, when you say your father ordered you to, you really mean it was anorder, don’t you? Did you have any choice?”

I shake my head against her.

“Oh, oh Van,” she sobs, holding me tighter, her mouth against my ear. “You had no choice.”

“I should have left. I could have done it, I’m an alpha, I could have —”

“Thatfucking bastard,” she snarls suddenly. “What a fuckingasshole!”

Despite everything, I let out a small laugh against the skin of her shoulder.Fierce little mate.“I’ll explain everything. Any questions you have, I will answer. I have so many regrets, Ellie. I wasted so much time.”

“Shh, it’s okay.” She lifts my chin, and despite the redness around her eyes, her expression is open, trusting,loving, and I still don’t understand how anyone can be sogood.I’m not deserving of her, not her nor her forgiveness, but I’ll take both. I’ll take everything she offers me, because I love her, and now that I’ve been given this second chance, I’m never going to let her go again.

She kisses my eyes, my nose, my lips, my jaw, and when her lips brush my ear as she asks, “Do you still love me, Evander?” I feel as if my heart is being torn in two.

“I never stopped,” I tell her, clutching her tight. “I never stopped loving you, in all those years. I tried, and I’m so ashamed to admit that. I tried because I couldn’t see how… but I couldn’t forget you. No one ever came close. I love you. I love you so much. I will spend every day of my life making it up to you, I promise.”

Her lips press hard against my temple. “You don’t need to make anything up to me, sweet man. I love you,” she whispers. “I have loved you all my life.”

“You’re too good for me.”

“No, I’m not. I tried to forget you too,” she admits with a self-deprecating laugh. “I made so many bad decisions in my ho phase.”

I groan against her neck. “Don’t tell me that.”

“As if you didn’t go around doing the same.”

“Touché.”

“Hmmm. Look at me, Evander.”

I lift my head again, until we are pressed forehead to forehead, nose to nose, and all I can see are those big brown eyes I love so much. “Hey.”

“Kia ora,” she whispers back. It’s both a greeting and a wish, the literal translation meaningbe well. She taught me that years ago, and I’ve never forgotten it.

I don’t have the words I need to express how I feel, right now, so I kiss her. Passionately. It’s a frenzied tangle of lips and tongues and teeth, but this isn’t about sex. This is me trying to pour my soul into hers, because the love I have for her transcends all else, and I want to bind myself to her forever. She owns me, heart and soul; my beautiful, perfect mate.

I lose track of who is speaking, the same sentence repeated back and forth between us like a mantra, a promise, a pact.

I love you. I love you. I love you.

* * *

Idrive us both back to my place so that Ellie can collect her car. What I intend to be a small kiss goodbye turns into a ten minute make out session, her legs around my waist and her back against the side of her SUV as I grind into her repeatedly, feeling like a horny twenty-one year old again. “I really do have to get some work done,” she says breathlessly in my ear, even as her hands creep under the hem of my shirt, running over my back. I’ve already come twice this morning but my dick doesn’t seem to care, and it’s with great reluctance that I step back when she eventually pushes at my shoulder, setting her down on wobbly legs.

“Trust me,” she says with wide eyes and a smile that radiates happiness. “I want nothing more than to follow you inside and spend all day doingthat, but I genuinely do have clients I need to get back to with updates to their designs.”

“It’s fine, baby.” I don’t miss the way she radiates when I call her that. It’s just like old times. It’s so easy, being with her. “I’ll see you tonight?”

“Yes,” she nods enthusiastically. “I’ll pack my bag for tonight.”

“Good.” There’s more of a growl in my voice than intended, and I watch her shiver in response. She likes it; so far she likes everything about me that makes me a wolf, all the things I never got to share with herbefore, and it’s a huge fucking relief.

It’s hard to watch her go, now that I know the fae were after her. My wolves don’t like it and urge me to follow, but I can’t do that. There’s wards in place, and the logical part of my brain knows she’s safe. I can’t turn into a stalker, can’t hover and follow her around all day, suffocating her with attention, as much as I’m tempted to. It’s too soon, and I don’t want to get it wrong this time around, so I stand outside my house, watching her car amble up the gravel driveway until it disappears out of sight.

It’s midday by the time I’ve showered, dressed in appropriate business clothes, and finally make my way into the office at the back of Lost Moon’s main building. Cassidy is there, diligently working away at her desk, having kept everything running smoothly in my unexpected absence.

“I was wondering if I’d see your face today,” she says in greeting. “Welcome back.”

---