Page 13 of Delivered to My Shadow Unicorn Alphas

“I think you got one of almost everything.”

“If you want beer or wine, they have that too,” he said. “But the tray was too full.”

“No, really.” I reached for an amber bottle. “I don’t drink much, and I love root beer. How thoughtful of you to pick up all these for us. I’m not sure where we’ll put the food, though.”

“Oh.” He looked abashed for a moment then brightened. “I guess we can put some of them on the ledge behind us.”

“Good idea.” I held up my hand for a high five, which they both gave me. It tingled more than usual. “They aren’t as fast as you might think around here, so if we want to eat in the next half hour, we’d better order.”

“I don’t see any menus,” Juven said. “Do we go ask for one?”

“No, there’s a chalkboard with today’s offerings near the window where you got the drinks. Every day is different, so we should go up and choose.” It was one of the best things aboutthis place. The chef was totally in control. I slid out of the booth. “Let’s see what they have.”

There were always fresh seasonal foods here, and we made our selections then went back to the booth with a buzzer that would let us know when our meals were ready.

When we sat down again, I was afraid I might feel uncomfortable or we wouldn’t find anything to talk about, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Our texts had just touched on our lives, and they wanted to hear all about my work and my likes and dislikes and about my childhood. Everything I had to say seemed to interest them to the point I had a hard time finding out about them.

That was until toward the end of the evening. After we finished our meals and split a slice of mulberry cheesecake, Shaman reached for my hand and grew serious. “I like you a lot, Amber, and I wish I could offer you all the time in the world, but in my line, we have to mate by thirty, or we don’t do it at all. And I am the last in my line. And I’m closing in on that birthday soon.”

“No pressure,” I said through a nervous giggle. “Can I think about where we go from here?”

We said good night at my car, and I drove home, torn. I’d never met anyone like them, and I was intrigued. I wanted to know more about them, spend more time together, but I didn’t like to feel rushed.

I was used to the idea of dating for a long time before marrying, but mating was different, in the fiction I read and, apparently, in shadow unicorn life. These guys were hot, they were sweet, they were tall, and they wanted to know if I was interested in considering mating with them. Soon.

Just wow.

The rush factor scared me.

Chapter Thirteen

Juven

The drive home was more silent than the one into the city. My brain was hazy. My skin tingled from her grazing touch on my hand over a half hour ago. My body buzzed with knowing. She was our mate. Our mate.

Ours. All ours. Go back and get her.

She was human, of course. Her instincts weren’t like ours. There was no beast or other half inside her shouting truths our human minds disputed. It would take time for her to get to know us, and I couldn’t refute the way she paled when we told her time was running out for us. Mostly for Shaman.

Humans didn’t rush love or even like.

We would have to meet somewhere in the middle if this was to work.

It had to work. After seeing my mate, I knew I wouldn’t survive a lonely life without her.

“We need to talk,” I said as Shaman reached for the handle on the truck door.

“I think so too. Let’s go inside.”

We strolled into the living room and sat down in our usual spots, me in my chair and him at the corner of the couch. He flicked the lamp on but neither of us said anything. At first.

Finally, I blurted, “I’m a goner.”

Not the most eloquent way to tell him I’d completely fallen for Amber, but there it was.

“Yeah, me too.”

I sighed. “I think…before this goes too far…we need to talk about how this will work.”

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