Page 8 of My Mate

“I can’t change who they are, and I am not going to allow them to change who I am,” she said.

Her mother had always told her it wasn’t about what other people did or how they acted, it was about how it made her feel and behave. She was not going to let any of them get under her skin. The bullying was manageable. Now, she knew it was all because of Dex. He made it work. He stopped the bullies.

“No, you can’t change them, and they haven’t changed who you are. You’re amazing, Casey. I know that, and so does everyone who comes to know you.”

“I’m not special.”

“You are to me, and that is all that matters.”

She looked at him, a little taken aback by his honesty. “I had no idea.”

“And that is what makes you pretty dumb.”

Casey sighed. “So, what do you want?” she asked. “You won. You caught me. What is it you want?”

“This.” He closed the distance between them, and thenhis lips brushed hers.

She felt that tingle shoot all the way through her body, and it made her melt so hard and so fast. She didn’t know what to do with her hands, and for several seconds she kept them at her sides. Then, she wanted to touch him, to feel his body beneath her hands.

Starting at his waist, she slowly began to slide them up, going toward his chest. She felt how hard he was beneath his clothing. Dex had always been all muscle.

Several of the girls in her class had wanted Dex all to themselves. She’d heard them conspire, trying to gain his attention. Whenever he’d enter a classroom, they’d puff out their chests, wanting him to notice them.

Looking back now, Casey remembered him always finding her and coming to sit right beside her in class. Now, that made a lot of sense to her why some of the other girls hated her guts. Some of the bullying, especially in school, had come from the girls.

She was having a reality check and an epiphany after each one. They hated her because of all the attention she got from Dex. This made so much sense to her.

Kissing him, she loved the feel of his lips on hers, and then, as she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and pressed her body to his, he felt so good against her. She loved the kiss. It felt like she’d been waiting all her life to feel his lips on hers. And then he pulled away.

“You’re my reward.”

Chapter Three

“You’ve done good,” Klaus said.

Dex looked around at the stacked piles of broken wood.

“Now, all you need to do is to take them into the storage shed, and we’ll distribute them.”

“Great,” Dex said.

“You got anything else you need to be doing?” Klaus asked.

“Nothing.”

“Good, let’s get started. Trust me, your grandfather did this to me, and your great-grandfather did it to him.”

“And when I have a son, I get to give this job to him?” Dex asked.

“Now you’re getting it.”

There was no smile on his father’s face. They lifted several pieces of splintered wood, and he followed his father over to the storage shed. He knew Klaus had done this multiple times over the years. Even before he turned into a wolf and was old enough to help his father, he’d come and join him. His job had been to get the logs ready for his father to chop, and then gather each piece. He had to be fast, as his father didn’t like waiting.

“What’s on your mind, son?” Klaus asked.

“Nothing. Just remembering what this was like when I was a kid. Running around, gathering the wood. I used to love it.”

His father laughed at this. “Ah, as a grown man, you’re going to hate it. It’s a job that needs doing. I don’t want the pack to get cold this coming winter.” He stopped and took a deep breath. “It’s going to be a cold one. I can sense it.”

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