Page 26 of Fur-Ever Home

I frowned at the generic toy selection. They had a few stuffed animals, but nothing as nice as Wolfy. They had a handful of travel board games, but not much else. The games, and everything else in the shop, had jacked-up prices, even higher than Burt's. I saw the same carved rock turtles for fifteen dollars more than I'd paid for Connor's.

Disappointed, I headed back to the station proper. I almost ran right into Connor, who was coming to find me.

"Hey! I can pay you back for the suitcase, and I think I have enough for two tickets to Vegas."

"All for a bottle of wine?" I asked.

"I sold both bottles and that little container of caviar." He Frowned at me. "You didn't want it, did you? I can repay you for that, too."

"You don't need to pay me back," I said. "We're in this together."

He flashed another of his bright smiles before it dimmed again. "You don't mean that because we're mates."

"I mean that because we crash-landed here on a dragon, and now we need to get home. Well. My home."

He turned away with a sigh. Seeing him with his bag reminded me of mine. The one I didn't have with me.

"Fuck! Where did I leave my bag?"

"It's right here." He pointed beneath the bench he'd sat on. "I've got you." He hesitated like he wanted to say more, omega maybe, or mate, but stopped short.

From what I could tell, Connor was a happy-go-lucky guy. I hated being the reason he second-guessed himself. When he swaggered and smiled, I liked him best.

I liked him. There was no denying it. He was skilled with his tongue, whether he was rimming me or selling wine and caviarto tourists, but it was more than that. I'd never felt this at ease around another person, let alone an alpha. If this was what it meant to be fated mates, I needed to know everything.

Connor left the bags with me while he bought our bus tickets. I pulled out my phone for a search. After a few duds and one dating site, I finally stumbled on a shifter site camouflaged as monster trivia. "Which type of monster fucker are you?" the headline read.

I blinked a few times to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me after so little sleep. Image after image of animals popped up, along with some of legend. Five different kinds of dragon. The Loch Ness Monster. A unicorn. I tapped the image of a wolf, and the screen filled with a wall of text broken up only by different images. One was the spitting image of Connor.

"The Moonlight Pack have traditional views about alpha/omega pairings. They do not believe in fated mates, instead bonding the strongest alphas with the most docile omegas to continue their bloodlines."

Well, fuck that. I was not a docile omega, and I was beginning to see why Connor left his pack.

I touched the back button to see if other wolf packs operated differently. The Broadleaf pack were mostly gray with some brown mixed in. They almost looked like coyotes to me. A link at the bottom caught my eye. "SeeFated Mates."

Okay, I was game. I clicked the link.

"Fated mates are destined to be together. Often, one or both feel a pull toward their mate and away from other partners long before they meet."

Huh. I'd never really wanted to be with an alpha before Connor, but that didn't mean … I kept reading. "Shifters and other monsters often recognize their mate from their scent. Humans take more time to develop the mate bond, but oftenthese pairings are between humans and non-humans to ensure biological diversity."

Ew. Biology was the last thing I wanted to think about. I was just getting used to the fact I liked Connor. I did not plan on making babies with him anytime soon.

Still, this website existed, and the iffy title "MonsterLovers.com" didn't detract from the valuable information I'd gained. Now, I had to decide if I trusted fate, and Connor, or if fate was just another way for life to screw me over.

10

CONNOR

As the alphain this relationship, my job was to provide for my omega. At least, that was what my pack leaders taught me. I'd been away from my pack for twelve years, but that amount of time wasn't enough to rewire my brain.

I should have taken a more active role in packing my bag and preparing to leave. Ben had packed up our room and divided our suitcases with quick efficiency while I lazed on the bed, still too blissed out from the fabulous sex.

What an alpha thing to do. I was the worst.

I'd channeled my inner angst to sell the two bottles of wine and the tin of caviar. I'd lied to the human couple celebrating their fifth anniversary, saying that my mate had rejected me. I showed them the card and said I was Doug. I'd been aiming for enough for one bus ticket, but they gave me money for two and then some. All I had to do was think how sad I would be if Ben actually rejected me, and that was enough to flood my eyes with tears.

Believing in fate was a lot to ask a human who didn't know about shifters and thought fated mates only existed in romance novels. He had every right to leave me at the Orange County airport and never look back.

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