Page 28 of Burned By My Mate

“Is it safe to go to the diner?” She asks and I nod.

“They’re hitting homes closer to their pack land. The diner is in the center of town. I doubt that they’ll come that far onto our land.”

“Okay. I trust you.”

Her words hit me right in the chest. She trusts me. That has to be a good sign.

“Have you given any more thought to what I said yesterday?” I ask as we head the short distance to the diner.

“About you being a shifter?”

“About us being fated mates. About the mating heat today.”

“Yeah. I’ve thought about it,” she says softly as we pull into the parking lot and park.

“Can you feel it?” I ask, needing to know if she wants me even a fraction as much as I want and need her.

“Yeah, I can feel it.”

“Do you want to be my mate?” I ask her.

“I…need to know more about what that entails. I need to know that I’ll be safe here.”

“You will be. I’ll keep you safe,” I promise her.

“You can’t be with me twenty-four-seven,” she points out.

“I could.”

“I don’t want you to be. We need to have our own space sometimes.”

My bear growls at that, and I hold him back.

“Okay. I can give you some space.”

“What? Are you going to hide in the bushes outside your house?” She asks with a snort, and I try not to let my face show that that was exactly my plan.

She sighs and leans her head back against the headrest.

“I need to be somewhere where I feel safe. I was looking for a place that felt like home, and I thought this was it, but I can’t be afraid to leave the house.”

“So, we’ll move.”

“You love it here. This is your home.”

“I need you. Wherever you are is home.”

“It’s crazy to me that you’re so sure about this. We’ve only known each other for a few days.”

“That’s just how it works with shifters. You’re it for me. My one and only love.”

“It doesn’t usually work that way for humans,” she says as we climb out of my Jeep.

“I know, and I know that you’ll need more time to develop these feelings. I guess I’m just asking if you want to have these feelings. If you think that you could feel this way about me.”

We meet at the front of my car, and she looks up at me.

“Yeah. I could,” she says quietly, and I swallow hard.

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