Page 75 of Sparks Flying

So instead of dealing with the actual situation, I was now angry with Oscar.

Perhaps my physical boycott had been a bit immature, but the last thing I needed was to further confuse things with that. Well, that and I was still embarrassed by his mother walking in on us.

Helena had since calmed down and was actually really nice. I liked her a lot, and I thought she liked me too. Maybe the fact that Dean and I came from such different places wasn’t as concerning as I once feared.

Yes, my mate was a raven. So what? He was still mine, and we lived in our skin ninety percent of the time anyway, so really what did it matter? We were no different from any other couple.

My headspace was a mess and randomly everywhere. I couldn’t seem to connect the dots as I thought about everything at once. And once I started down a rabbit hole like this, there was no coming back, at least not without Dean there to physically ground me.

I was spiraling in chaotic thoughts.

Pull it together, Bailey.

I’d learned a lot about my mate this week. And I knew I was falling hard for him.

I could no longer envision a future that did not include Dean. The worst part was that it didn’t scare me in the least. I was excited about it. And for once in my life, I no longer felt lonely.

I loved him despite all our differences and, more importantly, I trusted him with my present, my past, and my future.

When the two of them stopped talking and I heard the doctor leave, Dean came to find me. I walked right into his arms and let his presence surround me. I breathed in his scent and let it clear my mind.

This was what a wanted. It was what I needed. I was ready to accept that.

“Mark me,” I told him.

“What? Bailey, you can’t be serious.”

His words cut me deeply. My eyes stung with unshed tears.

“He’s just a crazy old man, gorgeous. Don’t take anything he says too seriously. We aren’t doing anything just because he says we have to. The sky isn’t falling. Ravenden isn’t going to perish. Nothing bad is going to happen if we wait to seal our bond.”

Wait? Not if?

“I didn’t say that because of anything he said, Dean,” I whispered.

“What?”

I cleared my voice and spoke, more assured this time. “I’m not going to just hand my life over because of some superstition. To me, it’s not even a matter of if we’re going to seal the bond, but more of when. I heard you tell him this is what you want to.”

Before he could respond, his phone started going off with a ring tone I’d never heard before.

Dean looked frustrated by it, but I was getting good at feeling his emotional state now and I knew he was worried about something, too. I didn’t attribute it to anything I had just revealed.

“Do you need to check that?”

“Yes, but. . .”

“No buts. I’m not going anywhere,” I assured him.

He still hesitated, but eventually he retrieved his phone to check his message.

“Shit!”

“What is it?”

“Just got a flag on a vehicle entering our territory. And since Doc is insistent on not lifting our quarantine, I’m going to have to call Patrick in and see if he can check it out for me.”

“What sort of flag?” I asked.

---