Page 13 of Chomp's Challenge

“Says the dragon,” I snort. Glaring at Kodiak, I ask, “How do you know she didn’t reject me?”

He smirks while Spike grabs the last steak from the plate, flicks his fingers until they light, then he proceeds to burn the steak before he ingests it. “Because, Chomp,” Kodiak retorts, tapping his temple, “I’m chatting with my mate. Ariel is understandably distraught. She was brutally attacked then she witnessed you brutally decimating those fuckers.”

“So, there’s still hope?” I ask, my emotions bouncing all over the place. “Dammit, Spike, when you do that shit, it smokes up the whole fucking house.” I stomp my way over to the windows and jerk them open to air out the smell of the burned meat.

“It’s going to take time,” Spike says.

“And patience,” Kodiak interjects. “I want you to think about it objectively, Chomp. For at least a year or longer, she’s been under that fuckwad’s thumb, being abused in every way possible. Now, thanks to you, she’s free. She hasn’t been allowed to make any decisions of her own, so she won’t fully understand how fated mates work and you’re going to want her to choose you on her own. Yes, I know y’all are mates. I get that completely. But in this, you have to let her decide.”

“I might as well go ahead and build my exile sanctuary,” I mumble, causing both of them to start laughing hysterically. “Shut it, assholes,” I hiss, my gator taking over just a little.

“You can do this, Chomp,” Spike encourages. “It’s your mate.”

Kodiak grins. “The only one you got so don’t fuck it up anymore.”

“You know, I think I’m banning you from my fucking house, Kodiak.”

He doesn’t appear to care. It’s not a threat and he knows it.

I hear another vehicle approach and groan when I realize more of my club brothers have arrived. Great. What did Kodiak do? Call them all over to watch me make one mistake after another?

The fucking bear begins whistling a tune like this is fucking entertainment. “Kodiak,” I warn.

He lifts his hands. “You don’t wanna distract me. I’m focusing on my mate’s conversation.”

My gator chumpfs. He’s done with all this. I return to the table before somebody rips off the rest of my steak sitting on my plate and finish my meal, ignoring the house as it fills. It seems like a bad idea to invite all these shifters over at once, especially with Ariel’s reaction to my gator.

Spike senses my distress. “Hey, we’re not gonna complicate shit more for you. This is just support, brother.”

As much as I’m riled up and hating the situation, I also realize he’s right. They’re here for me. Every brother in the club, regardless of what type of shifter we are or our roots. That doesn’t matter and never has, not since we all patched in. Spike brought us together and gave us a home. A brotherhood. And more than that, a family.

When I think of it that way, I’m not nearly as agitated.

But the biggest part of this, now that I found Ariel, is that I want to share this family and the club with her. I can’t imagine my life from here on out without her in it. It’s like I’ve been walking in a daze, and nothing made sense. It’s been a fog that never lifted. But once she entered my life, that fog lifted, the sun shined on me, and my heart beat for her alone.

Wow. Intense. But I fucking love this feeling. I don’t want it to end. And that means that I have to fight for her, for us, even if we don’t exist as a couple yet. I’ll do everything in my power to convince Ariel we belong together, and if that means I take it slow, that’s what I’ll do.

And the part about my gator? We can come back to that later when she’s ready.

If we have to wait, we’ll wait, my gator grudgingly agrees.

Kodiak sinks onto the chair beside me. “It’s worth it, Chomp.”

I know. He doesn’t have to tell me that, but I nod, grateful he’s here even if he is a furry asshole.

“It’ll work out.”

“Because she’s my mate?” I guess.

“Yeah. Life has fucking been cruel enough to all of us. Our mates are the reward if you wanna look at it like that. They’re our soulmates. Worth fighting for, no matter what we have to go through.”

“I agree.” One hundred percent.

No matter what, I was all in.

Chapter

Six

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