Page 26 of Wolf Bitten

My heart stopped. The last time I’d seen Raffe, he and I had partially completed our fated-mate bond, and he’d left, intending to tell Adam, Keith, and Josie that we were together. Had he not told them after all? Otherwise, Josie would have realized we needed a moment alone. Right?

The doubt about our relationship seeped back into my bones, making me question everything again. What if this fated-mate connection prevented me from seeing the real him, and I had fallen in love with an illusion? My heart ached at the thought, but it was short-lived.

“She’s muddy and cold.” Josie scoffed. “That should’ve hurried him up.”

Raffe tightened one hand around me and reached into his pocket with the other. He tossed something at the girls. I tried to lift my head, but the bite wounds in my neck stretched. I whimpered, and Raffe kissed my forehead.

“Tell Adam to drive my bike back to campus. She can’t handle it in this condition, so I’m taking the BMW. There’s plenty of room in the other vehicles for the rest of you,” he stated.

Lucy’s rosy scent hit me as she replied, “Yeah, okay. Here.”

“I could ride back with you two,” Josie offered as the sound of footsteps drew closer.

“No,” Raffe snarled. “You stay with them.”

My pulse quickened at his rough dismissal, and I hid my face in his chest. In fairness, Josie had always been nice to me, but I was cold, uncomfortable, and needed Raffe.

“Uh. Yeah.” She sounded disappointed.

Raffe didn’t pause. He took sure, hurried steps, and before long, I heard the beep of a vehicle unlocking, followed by an engine starting.

He stopped. “I need to put you down for a second.”

“Okay.”

Slowly, he set me down, and I found myself standing at the passenger door of a black BMW sedan. He opened the door and helped me sit on the dark-orange leather seat.

“Raffe, wait.” I’d never sat in a car this nice before. “I’m dirty.”

He chuckled. “You’re cute. I don’t give a fuck if you get our car dirty. I’ll get it cleaned later. You’re going to get warm, and I’m taking you home.”

My head spun, and in my shock, he got me buckled in.

The word kept spinning in my head. “Our?” I must have misunderstood him. All the things I’d gone through were messing with my head.

He shut the door, and my butt started getting toasty.

What the hell?

I glanced at the sleek buttons on the center dashboard to see that the car had seat warmers. Right. I’d heard about those, though I’d never experienced them. This was what they felt like.

Raffe got into the driver’s seat and put the car in reverse. The car drove so smoothly that I couldn’t be sure we were moving.

“Yes,ours,” he replied, answering my question. “You’re my mate, so everything that’s mine is yours.”

I snorted. “No, that’s marriage.”

He put the car in drive and pulled away from the few cars parked nearby.

Adjusting the controls, he turned the heat on, and the shivers shook me harder. I’d never been this cold before.

“Marriage is nothing compared to what we have.” He reached over the center console and took my hand. “That’s why I told you we didn’t have to rush into anything. When I bit you, that made youitfor me … for myentirelife. Our bond is unbreakable.”

My heart hammered in my chest, and the warmth in its center exploded with love as the strange presence inside me jostled. Between that and the fullness in my chest, I’d never felt so happy and secure. His proclamation should’ve petrified me, but instead, it gave me peace.

No one would come between us.

Not only that, but his admission also feltright. This was how things should’ve always been between us. “I love you,” I said, the words bursting from my throat.

---