Page 47 of Redeemed Wolf

While it wasn’t terribly cold outside, I was grateful to step into the cabin. Testing the door as I closed it, I decided it was sturdy enough, though it wouldn’t keep much out except the weather. I had to remind myself that even the super-secret reinforced lab hadn’t been enough to keep out a small group of mercenaries. It all depended on how determined someone was to get through.

“Is this your real home?” Carter asked, looking around.

I assumed he meant instead of the apartment in the city. “No, I live in a town not far from here with a pack of my own, Overlands. I thought you’d be better off here with your family to start.” Whether we would go to Overlands later or not, that was the question.

“They kept trying to touch me,” Carter said with a grumpy pout, his arms still tucked close to his body. It was like he didn’t want to come into contact with anything here.

I chuckled, walking around the small cabin, checking all the nooks and crannies. “Shifters tend to be a little touchy-feely. It’s a scent thing. Smells in our world can be a powerful tool. We identify our surroundings, deciding if we’re safe, we hunt food by following our nose, and we can even pick up changes in our packmates’ mood. But it’s also partially about displaying ownership,” I added with a smirk, making a point of rubbing myself on him on the way by, before lowering myself to sit on theedge of the bed. I bounced a couple times, testing the mattress. The frame creaked a little but seemed sturdy, and the sheets smelled brand-new.

“And Isaac with those two men? What was that?” he asked curiously. “He looked like he was in pain.”

“They’re mates.”

“Like you and I are mates?” He toyed with the edge of the towel where it was tucked in at the front of his waist.

I nodded slowly. It was as good a place as any to start. “Yes. Can you feel it?”

He nodded, keeping his eyes down on the floor as he walked toward me slowly. “I feel it here… and here…” He tapped his chest then his temple. Carter frowned, biting on his lower lip like he wanted to say something. I waited for him to be ready. I would always wait for him. Finally, he peeked up at me through his lashes. “There’s this voice in my head, and it calls you my mate,” he whispered.

“That’s your wolf. My guess is the drugs you’ve been taking have been keeping him suppressed this whole time, but you can trust him. He is a part of you, and he will always watch out for you, no matter what.”

He gave a little hiccup, his shoulders dropping as he released all the pent-up tension in a whoosh. “So I’m not going crazy?”

“No. You’re perfect.”

Carter heaved a breath, drenched in frustration. I could see behind his eyes that he was making connections between everything he’d learned. “So, if we’re mates like Isaac and those men are, then why is this so hard? Why didn’t I just fall to my knees in front of you the first time I saw you?”

I reached out and took his hand, drawing him in until he stood between my legs. “Shan and Brody didn’t recognize each other as mates either.”

“They didn’t?” I shook my head. “But they’re so great together. When one moves, the other moves too. I swear they can hear what each other is thinking.”

I huffed a laugh, reaching for his hips. “Tell me about it.” I rested my forehead on his chest and breathed him in. “It’ll get easier, I promise. They are connected through a mating link, a bite they each wear, acting as a tether between them. It forms an unbreakable connection, letting mates feel some of each other’s thoughts and emotions.”

“A bite…” Carter’s fingers trailed over my arm, setting my skin on fire as he coasted up to the mark on my neck. “Like when I bit you?”

“Yes, exactly that.” I placed a kiss on the groove below his sternum, my tongue peeking out for a quick taste.

“But you didn’t bite me,” he said, pointing out the obvious.

I tilted my head to gaze up his body at him. “I needed you to know what it meant first. Forever is not a decision to make likely.”

“And now that I do know?”

Hope bloomed inside me, my wolf ready to pounce as soon as he gave the word. “Is it what you want?”

“It is.” He reached between us to tug the towel free, the fabric dropping to the floor. His cock was already thickening. He grabbed my jaw, forcing my eyes back up. “You’re it for me, Silas. Even without the bossy voice telling me what to do, I would’ve come to the same conclusion.”

Then he lowered his mouth to mine, his kiss full of love, heat, passion. Full of promise.

Chapter 20

Carter

The last 12 hourshad been a lot. No, that was an understatement. It was the kind of information overload that would make the average person fall apart, but somehow, I was managing to hold it all together. I knew, without a single doubt, that it was because of my connection to Silas. This tether he was talking about. Ever since I’d bitten him, it was there. Even when we weren’t together, I felt it give a solid tug from somewhere inside me, guiding me, coaxing me to return home.

Silas… he had always been my home.

His grip on my hips tightened, but it was nowhere near enough. I wanted him to show me that he needed me just as desperately as I needed him. I couldn’t be alone in this obsession.

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