Page 21 of Wrong Number, Right Valentine

“Okay.”

His wolf’s claws extended, and he raked them over my chest. I did the same to him with my nails, and Reg lowered himself onto me, his chest heaving as our blood mingled.

“Forever,” I mumbled.

16

REG

The first thing I saw when I cracked my eyes open this morning was my mark on my mate—the one telling the world he was mine. I stared at it for the longest time, loving what it meant: that the two of us were now bonded, a connection that could never be broken. If he wanted to get married, we would. It was a tradition of his kind, and I’d honor it. But in my heart, I knew I would never be more committed to him than I was at this moment. That commitment was absolute.

“Why are you watching me?” he mumbled, still half-asleep.

“Because you’re sexy.”

“I have bedhead, and I smell like I had sex all night.” His bedhead was adorable and the scent… I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

“Huh. I wonder why that is,” I teased.

He snuggled into my side. “Because my alpha’s too hot to keep my hands off of.”

I kissed the top of his head. “You’ll hear no complaints from me. But we should get up and get ready. The pack is running this afternoon.”

“Which means we have plenty of time. Let’s go back to sleep.”

“As much as I’d love nothing more than to spend a few more hours wrapped in your arms, it’s already past noon.”

“What?” He bolted upright. “How is it so late?”

“Because you were still riding me at five this morning.” We’d taken a few power naps in there, but for the most part, we’d had a very enthusiastic night of mating fun.

“Oh… yeah, I did do that.” He pulled his bottom lip in with his teeth, a guilty little smirk playing on his face. “I guess that means we really do have to get up.”

We climbed out of bed, got cleaned up, and grabbed something to eat. Normally, pack runs were held in the evening, but today was special: it was the first pack run for one of our young cubs who’d shifted for the first time, Josiah.

After dinner, my father had explained that he’d met his wolf far younger than usual for our kind and that a daytime celebration seemed fitting and that we were expected to come.Wemeaning the pack Alpha had already accepted my mate, sight unseen. At the time it sounded like a great way to spend the afternoon, but that was before I stayed up all night with my mate.

Banks wouldn’t be running, but plenty of others would stay behind with him. I wouldn’t go far—just enough for my wolf to reconnect with the pack. And of course, no pack run would be complete without food. A good time would be had by all, even if it meant leaving our bed.

We walked hand in hand to the clearing where the run always began. As we arrived, it quickly became clear that my parents hadn’t told us the whole truth about today. Yes, it was to celebrate little Josiah, but sitting in the middle of the table filled with food was a cake that very much resembled a human wedding cake. This was for my mate and me, too.

The wedding-style cake was them doing what they could to make my mate feel welcomed and included. It was the sweetest gesture, and while it shouldn’t have surprised me, it did. Probably because I hadn’t even considered it.

“Is that a wedding cake?” he asked, eyes wide.

“Yeah.” I leaned in and nipped his earlobe. “They know what we were up to last night—it’s for us—for our mating.”

“I had a feeling most of the pack knows,” he said, blushing.

We weren’t exactly quiet, and as private as those cabins are, if someone was walking by… well, they’d know.

“So, does this mean we’re getting married today?” he asked, not sounding opposed to the idea.

“I don’t think that was the plan. I think they’re trying to be sensitive to your human customs, showing you they accept you in a way that makes sense for your world.”

“That means they like me,” he said, grinning as he bumped my shoulder.

“Yeah, they really do.”

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