Page 95 of Beginning Fate

Okay, that was a lie. I could have done without the part where she jumped in the water, and I thought I had lost her forever.

I let go of her hand and wrapped an arm around her as we neared the house. I kissed her temple as we entered and held the door for her.

We were naked and very newly bonded. The others must have sensed the shift between us or they just feared I was still on edge from earlier. Regardless, when we entered the room, they all turned their backs to us. It wasn’t a motion of disrespect, more of absolute respect and privacy in the moment.

We didn’t quite make it back to our room though before we were interrupted.

Kylie came out of nowhere wrapped in blanket and threw herself at Lauren.

My mate let go of me long enough to embrace her sister. And then Kylie pushed back as her hands flew through the air. She signed so fast that I couldn’t make out every word, but I got the basic idea of their conversation.

“I want some space, but I don’t want you to go. What will I do without you?” Kylie asked her.

Lauren smiled and then looked up to me.

“I’m not going anywhere, but I will work on boundaries, okay?”

Kylie eyed her suspiciously and then her jaw dropped. She made a noise of excitement that caused the others in the room to turn and look as she pointed to Lauren’s neck.

“When? How?” she signed.

Lauren blushed.

“Wait, you guys mated? When?” Remy asked.

“Uh, just now,” I confessed.

“In the woods?” Braxton asked.

“Uh, yup.”

“You’re insane,” Monte said with a chuckle.

“Must have been that adrenaline from almost losing her sister. Hope you don’t regret it. Major decisions like that should never come in times of crisis,” Caleb said.

Remy slapped him across the back of the head.

“Dude, you don’t say something like that even if you think it.”

Caleb just shrugged.

“No worries. We have no regerts,” I told them.

“Absolutely, no regerts,” Lauren agreed.

The others laughed and took turns congratulating us until I finally managed to break away, tell them all we really needed to get dressed as we were still naked as the days we were born. But while I got Lauren back to our room, I also got her into our bed where I claimed her again and again throughout the night.

We never did manage to actually get dressed.

Lauren

Chapter 24

I couldn’t keep the smile off of my face as I walked across campus. Kylie had texted me late the next day letting me know that Dean Shannahan had requested a meeting. I had assumed that meant the both of us, but when I arrived at his office, it was just me. There was no sign of Kylie.

“Lauren, come on in.”

“Okay. What’s this about? Kylie said you wanted to meet with me.”