Page 16 of Chomp's Challenge

“It feels weird to start over,” I confide. “I don’t have a cent to my name or a piece of furniture. I don’t even have a bed.”

“But it still feels good, doesn’t it? To have the freedom?”

“It’s amazing. I can almost brush all the bad stuff away.” I take a few sips of my coffee before I continue, “But everything is going to be okay. I can believe that now.”

“Good. You deserve it.”

“But there’s some things I wish I had. A few things of my mother’s.”

“Where are they?”

“At my ex’s place.” I shiver with the thought of ever returning to that house. “I won’t go back there, though. I can’t.”

She nods in understanding. “What if I send Kodiak? Chomp can go with him, and they’ll pick up your belongings.”

Thankfully, she’s falling in with the mental plans I made, and I didn’t even have to ask her.

I shake my head. “Chomp has done enough for me. I don’t want to ask him for more.”

“He’ll insist once he learns about it from Kodiak.”

She’s probably right.

“You should make a list of what you want,” Callie suggests, pulling a pad of paper and a pen from her huge purse. It looks more like a tote bag to me, but she’s been calling it a purse, so I’ll go along with her.

Taking the items from her, I lean down and start writing. “Um, Callie? Do you think it’s bad if I list where Perry used to hide his money?” I whisper so no one can hear me.

“Hell no! Jot that shit down,” she advises. “I’ll also tell Kodiak to make sure they search the house thoroughly just in case there are other places you weren’t aware of him having.”

“Good idea,” I muse as I continue writing. “Maybe with that, I’ll be able to get a bed and stuff.”

She starts laughing while shaking her head. “I can already tell you that Chomp has ordered a bedroom set for you based on what Kodiak told him we were doing.”

“Wait, how does Kodiak know where we’re at?” I ask.

“Um, well, with us being mates, we’re able to telepathically talk to each other. It’s the only reason that he and the rest of the club haven’t barged into Beanie’s by now. I let Kodiak know what we were doing and after a brief tussle with Chomp, he got on his phone and placed the furniture order.”

I shake my own head in disbelief. “He really believes I’m his, doesn’t he?” I ask.

“What you have to understand about them,” she says, looking around while carefully choosing her words in case anyone is listening in, “is they can sense when they’ve met their one. It’s built into that side of their genetics, Ariel. While they can choose someone to build a life with, they won’t have the same connection as I have with Kodiak and as you’ll eventually have with Chomp once you complete your bond.”

I open my mouth to respond when I spot Michelle headed our way. We’ll have to finish this conversation later.

Chapter

Seven

CHOMP

“What’s Ariel saying?” I ask, hovering behind Kodiak as he finishes off two of my baked potatoes. When Spike approaches the plate, his fingers already flaming, I glare at him. My house is just starting to clear out from when he made his steak overdone. “Take it outside,” I rumble. “I don’t have any of that shit to help odors.”

Spike chuckles as he grabs one of the remaining baked potatoes, then he goes to the cupboard and grabs a plate before he heads outside to ‘finish’ cooking his snack. Shaking my head, I poke Kodiak in the shoulder.

“Knock it off, I can’t listen with you talking in my ear,” he growls. “She’s making a list of things from the house she wants, but she’s worried because she doesn’t even have a bed.”

“I can fix that,” I retort, pulling out my phone and finding the website for the furniture store in Mercy Falls. I scroll to the bedroom furniture and examine each set because it has to be perfect for my mate. And also, I don’t want my feet to dangle off the end.

It doesn’t occur to me that I won’t be sharing that bed. I’m in no hurry to push Ariel into an intimate relationship after what she’s endured, but I’m going to be there, holding her, until we reach that level. She won’t want me there right away, but I plan to make her fall in love with me, so I’m patient enough to wait for it.

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