Page 33 of Moon Claimed

“It doesn’t seem like we can get through the meets, Sascha. Part of me doesn’t think we should bother. You said this far through the process, distance between us causes you physical pain. Will that get worse?”

“For the record, I wanted to tell you everything after you nearly drowned the first time,” he said.

“I wasn’t ready to hear it then.”

Sascha searched my face, voice lowering, “I know, little bird.”

My eyes misted at the aching in his smooth tones. Fucking bond shit. Wade would give me crap over thelittle birdcomment later too.

I dragged a hand over my face. “Tell me now.”

Sascha’s eyes narrowed at the command, but he pulled his throne closer. His knees bordered mine, and I sucked in a breath as we touched.

“What was that?” Wade demanded. “You both relaxed.”

Sascha’s voice held a floating quality. “At first, scenting each other, eye contact, and touching carries the ability to heal your potential mate.”

He blinked several times, fixing on me. “The effect is less in you, Andie, but you can feel some degree of what’s happening. After the capture meet, usually a bond would be forged on both ends. We’d always know where the other was.”

I stilled. “You don’t, do you?”

He pressed his lips together. “I do.”

That’s how he knew I was at the apartment! “For fuck’s sake.”

“I’m guessing you didn’t receive this gift?”

“Gift is a massive stretch.”

“All supernatural creatures refer to powers developed through the mating process as gifts.”

Vampires, demons, and witches included?“I knew you were in this building. But it only works at close quarters.”

Sascha’s chest rose sharply, but his expression didn’t alter.

He liked that I could feel where he was. “You saidat firstabout the healing stuff. What does that mean?”

“As the meets progress, the individual gifts knit together. Each gift begins to interact with the others. Our senses would become one over time. We could exchange physical strength and call to each other from great distances. If you choose to mate with me, the gifts are greater still. We would be able to see through each other’s eyes and mind-speak outside of wolf form.”

Mind-speak.I struggled to contain my excitement.“It’s not normal for mind-speak to happen outside of wolf form?”

“Not in human form,” Sascha said after a beat.

He’d said too much and knew it.Got ya.That’s how wolves communicated in Water. They were partially shifting. Some of them anyway. Our heat detectors didn’t pick that up.

“Is mating a senses thing then?” Wade ticked off his fingers, saying, “Touch, sight, and scent.”

Sascha darted him a look before returning his focus to me. “Senses are crucial to our way of life, so those dictate the initial meets, yes. My wolf then controls two of the meets—the capture meet and the biting meet.”

My eyes widened. “Bitingmeet? No way.”

“It won’t turn you into a werewolf,” Sascha added.

I almost melted into a puddle on the floor in relief. Their bites didn’t do anything. Thank fuck.

“It’s a marking thing?” Wade asked. “The Luther version of Andie tattooing your name on her butt?”

The werewolf tightened his grip on the armrests.

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