Page 35 of Wanderlust With Wolves

And then the anxiety slams into me like a freight train.

Mates mean forever.

Forever means being tied down.

Burdened.

Not free.

I stare at Luna, my hands tightening around the basket.

She notices the shift in my expression, her amusement fading into mild concern.

“You okay?”

I force a small, tight smile. “Yeah. Just… surprised.”

But inside, my heart is racing.

Ronan’s knot.

The way he filled me, claimed me, locked himself inside me.

It wasn’t just sex.

It wasn’t just instinct.

It was a bond.

A bond that, in his world, his culture, his bones, meant forever.

I take a slow, steady breath, but it doesn’t help.

I need air.

I need distance.

Luna says something else, but I don’t really hear it.

Because one thought is ringing through my mind, louder than anything else?—

I have to tell Ronan.

I have to tell him now, before we keep seeing each other, before this goes deeper, before it turns into something I can’t walk away from.

Because I don’t do forever.

I don’t do roots, or staying, or belonging.

And Ronan?

Ronan deserves someone who does.

Chapter Seventeen

WHAT YOU WANT RIGHT NOW

Ronan

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