Page 20 of Two Wrong Turns

I didn’t want to hurt him.

I wanted to fuck him.

I wasn’t sure I could do the latter without the first being an issue. While I knew Fate had made him for me, I didn’t know if his body could handle my knot. Worse, as an Alpha, my knot was even bigger than the other shifters in the pack. It was going to be an intense stretch for his body to allow mine inside him.

If it let me in at all.

“Thanks for letting me know, Doctor. I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”

He understood I was dismissing him, though he didn’t appear pleased to have to leave. I didn’t take any offense. He was a doctor. It was in his blood to protect his patients.

“I won’t do anything without his consent. He’ll have to let me know himself that he wants to bond with me, and only then will I properly knot him. There is no need to worry,” I said when we reached the door.

“That’s good to hear, Alpha. I’ve seen some Alphas who don’t know how to restrain themselves when near their mate. Granted, most of them were with other shifters.”

He shrugged as he stepped over the threshold, like he didn’t just drop that little bomb on me. I’d have to reassure my bear about things once we were alone again. No need to let the doctor hear me argue with myself over keeping my mate’s wishes in mind.

The human side of me could see the dangers knotting him would bring. I also knew he needed to be enthusiastic about the bond for it to work long-term.

But the animal side of me, my shifter brain, wanted to claim its mate. It also wanted him to be safe and healthy though. I could work with that to encourage him to wait.

As if he could hear my thoughts, Barrett began to stir. I rushed to his side, eager to be the first thing he saw when his eyes opened.

“What happened?” he rasped without looking around. “I feel like death.”

I ran a hand through his hair. “You’re inside. I caught you so you didn’t hit your head. I’m sorry you feel so rough, mate.”

The words slipped out before I could think about how he might react. His eyes popped open, wide and… curious. I could also scent a bit of confusion in him.

“Mate? So that was all real? The talk of knots and stuff.” He blushed, then looked away from me like he couldn’t handle my proximity.

I refused to pull away from him. Refused to give him the space I probably should have.

Just because I stopped my bear from rutting him until he was bred didn’t mean I could take him away from his mate. That was asking for more trouble.

“Yes, it was all real. I apologize if you felt overwhelmed. I wasn’t quite sure how to break the news to you. As I said, I haven’t had to tell many humans about me being a shifter.”

He blinked at me, like he was thinking back over everything I’d said and showed him earlier. “Your bear is gorgeous. I can’t believe I’ve been drawing and painting him all these months. It makes me feel a bit like a stalker now.”

“Not a stalker, mate. It’s just Fate’s way of bringing us together. I’m honored you kept envisioning my bear for your art.” My beast preened at the reminder of Barrett’s talent. It was a blessing from Fate to be given such a beautiful mate, as well as someone who captured even the finest details of our animal side.

“What happens now? Do you need to —” he waved his hand at me like that was going to give me some idea of what he meant.

“Do I need to what?”

“Mate me. Knot me. I don’t know. Whatever it is mates do together? Does it hurt that we haven’t?”

Oh, my precious mate. He was so sweet for thinking of me.

“You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be ok. I can wait for you to be ready. There is no rush.” I took his hand in mine, careful not to move him too much. “And if you’re never ready, I’ll still be here to support you however you need me to.”

His eyes went wide, like he hadn’t even thought about not bonding with me. I wanted to rejoice over the fact, yet I couldn’t. Not really.

“The doctor came by when you were passed out. He said you needed to take it easy and eat once you woke up. How does some soup sound? I can heat some up.”

“Sounds delicious. Thank you.”

I pressed a quick kiss to his forehead, then left him on the couch to make the food. Hopefully with some space, this urge to claim him would ease up.

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