Page 6 of Howliday Match

“I’ve tried to figure out how to tell you this but I feel like I’m just spinning my wheels until I tell you the truth.”

“Ugh! Just spit it out, Raphael. You’re driving me crazy with these half-sentences and all the rest of the cloak and dagger crap you’re spinning.”

“Okay. But it’s not exactly easy.” He stops when I shoot him a frustrated glare. The dark shadows cling to the jagged planes of his face and he sighs. “Do you know what a shifter is, Helena?”

I shake my head. “No, I don’t.”

“Some people are more than human. We have something extra. A wolf, a bear, a jaguar, hell even a peacock. Living inside us.”

My jaw drops and my brain freezes. “You are an animal?”

He shakes his dark head and his eyes flash gold. “I’m not an animal per se. I’m…I guess I’m what you call a hybrid. I’m part-human and part wolf. A shifter.”

“Like a werewolf? Do you turn into a wolf when the moon is full?”

He grunts. “You know I hate that damn shit. It always comes up when you mention shifters and it’s just stuff from books and old wives’ tales. I can shift into a wolf any time I want. It’s on my terms, not when the damn moon is full.”

“O-okay. You’re a little touchy about this which is pretty rich considering that you’re trying to tell me that you’re a werewolf and I’m just supposed to accept that at face value.”

“You want proof, little sprite? I can give you proof. But you’re gonna have to have a bit of an open mind. You can’t freak out. Not here, not now.” He nods his head towards the interior of the ballroom. “Those people in there are more dangerous than you know to a human like you and the only thing saving you right now is me. So do not run or hide. I will be able to find you…hopefully before any of these others do. Because it will definitely be bad for you if they do.”

“Stop trying to scare me and just show me what you want to show me, Raphael. I’m getting tired and I want to go home.”

“That works for me because I want to take you home.”

Pressing my lips together, I cross my arms and stare him down.

He shrugs his broad shoulders and says, “Fine. Just don’t freak out and for god’s sake…don’t scream or run. That’s a death sentence around this crew.”

I huff and roll my eyes. He’s more of a drama queen than I’ll ever be.

But my eyes widen and I squeak lightly before whipping around, my cheeks flaming. “What the hell are you doing?” I hiss.

“This monkey suit was expensive. There’s no way I’m ripping it apart at the seams. Not to mention that I’ve outgrown running out of places naked because I rip my clothes up when I change.”

“Okay.” My heart races in my chest and I’m struggling to breathe. It feels like I’m on fire and all I saw was the first strip of skin on his tanned, toned belly when he started to pull his button-down up to unbutton it. My brain has turned to total mush and I know that I should be asking more questions than I am but it feels like my tongue is glued to the roof of my mouth.

I don’t know exactly what to think when I hear what sounds like snapping and cracking behind me. But when I whip around and find myself face to face with a giant wolf with startling dark chocolate eyes, it feels like all the blood rushes out of my body and everything goes dark.

CHAPTER 5

Raphael

“Fuck, fuck and double fuck!” I shift back so fast that it feels like my body goes to jello. My limbs are shaking and trembling from the speedy shifts and my brain is stuck in a gray limbo of cotton wool.

But none of that matters because every muscle and spark in my soul is focused on my mate and I catch her body before it hits the ground, my superhuman speed finally coming in handy for something more practical than fighting. Taking care of my little sprite and making sure that she doesn’t get hurt.

I lift her high in my arms, my head turning left and right. I have no idea what the fuck to do at this point. I mean, I don’t want to put my mate down when she’s vulnerable and soft like this. Every instinct in my body is fighting that. But I don’t want her to wake up and find me naked and rock-hard. Because there’s no way in hell I could touch my mate and not get turned on. My dick is so damn hard it’s throbbing against her soft ass where it’s touching my stomach. Her sweet scent, almost like candy canes and sweet tarts mixed together wafts up and wraps around my soul, feeling like it’s sinking into my dna as I stand here.

She whimpers and stirs and my dick jumps, slapping my belly and making me groan. I turn left and right and I still don’t see anyone around us. So I take the chance and gently lower her to the fancy deck chair that’s out on the patio. I quickly scramble into my tux and then grab her still-inert body.

I stride off the patio and into the woods surrounding the elegant ballroom. There’s nobody that I can see out here and I can’t walk back into that ballroom with her in my arms. There’s no way that any of the paranormals in there would believe that she is one of us.

The cool night air brushes my exposed skin. I didn’t bother doing my shirt up…just threw it on. And I didn’t put my shoes on. The rough feel of leaves and broken twigs under my feet doesn’t have any impact at all on me. My skin has been hardened so much that nothing breaks it when I’m tramping through the woods.

The woods are black as midnight, no moonlight breaking through. My wolf’s eyes have no problem seeing to guide me into the verdant depths. The smell of wood and moss comfort me and I breathe it deep. But not even that can calm my wolf’s need to claim my mate. He’s pushing hard, straining at the last feeble remnants of my control to bite her, mark her as mine so that there are no more questions. She can’t get away from me.

But I can’t do that. I well remember when I got old enough to realize that my parents hated each other. Most fated mates were over the moon when they found their fated one. Not my mom. She wasn’t ready to be mated and at eighteen she had just barely passed the mark where the mate call became an actual thing. Before you turn eighteen, a mate call doesn’t exist. You may feel something for the one who will become your mate but it’s not an incessant hunger fueled by a need so intense that it can’t be shut off.

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