Page 24 of My Pucking Mate

“Hockey is primarily played by werewolves and other men with werewolf blood.”

My eyes somehow widen even further. I’m either sitting in a room full of crazy people, or a room full of werewolves.You’ve definitely lost your mind, Leera.

A small laugh escapes me, and I offer another small nod for him to continue, I mean what the hell am I supposed to say to that?

“A lot of the folklore is based on the truth. How much do you know about werewolves?”

“Um, I mean, silver bullets; you shift under a full moon; alphas are the boss. Oh! I love Twilight. I was always Team Jacob.” I nearly facepalm myself the second I say that. That sounded way less stupid in my head.

They all sigh, grumble, and scoff at once. Roman is rubbing his forehead, the twins are snickering, and Slate looks disgusted, causing a nervous giggle to escape me.

“The silver is true. It’s one of the very few things that can kill us. The full moon is only partially true, our first transformation is under a full moon. The werewolf hierarchy is true, I am the Alpha of our pack, but like that horrid movie,” he continues as though it pains him to agree with it, so I press my lips together to keep from smiling.

He chuckles at whatever my expression reveals, and I can feel the sound throughout my entire body.That was weird, but also felt amazing. . .

“Anyways, we can change into our wolf form any time we want. We don’timprint,” he says the word with contempt, and I lose the war with holding in a less nervous giggle. “We have something far more important. Most supernatural creatures do. For us, the Moon Goddess bestows every wolf a fated mate. It’s the other half of our soul. The person you can’t live without. Most wolves are mated to other wolves, but a mate can be any other living soul,” he says this with a sadness, longing and vulnerability I don’t understand.

“I was given my mate a long time ago,” he begins, and just when I think he won't say more, he continues, “She was . . . taken from me, but that’s a story for another day. I was always taught that you are only given one mate.” He slowly lifts his head to stare straight at me, “Until I met you.”

Again, all the air is pulled from the room and my hand instinctively rests on my heart as I stare at this man, trying to absorb what he’s telling me.

“Leera, that day at the arena, when we were supposed to do the first interview . . . the reason I reacted that way, was from shock. I thought someone had spelled or cursed me. That feeling you felt, or at least some of why you feel this way, is our mate bond. Our souls are woven together. We were made to live our lives together,” he must misunderstand my small gasp as fearwhen he lifts his hands in surrender and quickly adds, “that doesn’t mean you have to have anything to do with me. You can reject the bond, though painful, and you don’t ever have to see me again,” he quickly adds. Even the thought of rejecting him feels like a fracture to the very core of my being, though I still cannot speak, I'm waiting for him to finish.

“I had never heard of anyone getting a second chance with their mate, but after speaking with our elders, it is possible, just very rare. I was in shock, and I can admit I was terrified, especially with you being a human. But after tonight, I don’t know how it’s possible, but the healer was able to sense a wolf within you. I don’t know how you’ve lived your whole life without knowing about her.”

“Her?” I ask before the thought was even able to cross my mind.

“Mmhmm,” he nods, “Your wolf. Your wolf will be a female, like ours are males.”

“Oh, right, that makes sense,” I reply a little embarrassed at my lack of common sense.

“None of that. You never have to be embarrassed around any of us. We’ll answer all your questions and support you in any way you need.”

All the men nod, seemingly happy I haven’t bolted from the room yet. Andrei comes back and seems to have pulled himself together but the strange look he gives me tells me something is still bothering him. Miss Tilly is right on his heels with a tray of snacks and teacups.

“I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I brought a little bit of everything. You’ll need to keep your energy up,” she says sweetly as she slaps Benny’s hand away from my smorgasbord of snacks making me smile.

“Thank you, so much. This looks amazing,” I say, taking in all the treats when Roman reclaims my attention.

“What questions do you have? For me. For us. Ask anything you want.”

Swallowing my snack and washing it down with a yummy citrusy tea, I nod.

“Um, okay so . . . I’m your soulmate, er mate?”

Nod.

“Our souls were made for each other?”

Nod.

“I’m not a human?”

Shake.

“I have a . . . I’m a werewolf?”

Nod.

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