Page 14 of Knot Quite Ready

He shakes his head and chuckles as if recalling the moment they met. “The entire time, her focus was single-mindedly on him, while mine was on her.”

My head tilts as I look at him, taking note of his absolute confidence. He’s poetic. I’ll give him that. As for Storm? She is a force of gravity for anyone who comes into contact with her so that part is pretty damn accurate.

I sigh internally as a server runs up to clean the table, fill our wine glasses, and leave a basket of breadsticks, which I rabidly descend on. Double-fisting two breadsticks, I take a bite and chew thoughtfully, okay ferociously, as I try to ignore the ache building between my eyes as my mind whirls a million miles a second.

Only Storm would go out to a club, try to hookmeup with a Cougar, and end up finding someone as powerful as Calian to claim her as a mate. Figures. Storm loves a good romance book, and this was a recipe for a great one. Lone Stallion finds a mate within a crowd of people. It was gold. And, she could do worse…I suppose that someone legitimately ‘hung like a horse’ wouldn’t necessarily be a bad choice.If he was right, that is.

I swallow the mouth full of bread in my mouth and point my half-chewed bread stick at him, “She isn’t a shifter…I would have scented it ages ago….”

“Ahh, well. Horse shifters come into their change later than most others. Have you ever asked her about her family history?” He looks at me, a knowing smile playing on his lips that I want to smack off as he sits back comfortably.

I open my mouth to respond, but instead stuff more bread in my mouth because while I want to say, ‘Of course, we discussed her family,’ we hadn’t. Not really. But I think she would have told me if she had a shifter background unless she didn’t know. Her grandparents raised her, and they definitely were not shifters. Doesn’t mean much, though, in this world. They could have had recessive genes somewhere down their line. Storm also didn’t mention her parents much either, both of them having passed away when she was young.

I slump back in my chair while he continues to look at me curiously as if I have the answers. Unfortunately, I don’t have shit but an unwanted, missing mate and an upcoming heat that is going to knock me on my ass. Especially now that I am certainly not leaving here with a hookup.

This was a lot to digest. And I’m not just talking about the bread I was inhaling. BecauseifStorm is due to emerge as a horse shifter, which, I begrudgingly admit, was likely if Calian could sense her at all, then she needed to know, and I needed to be there for her. First shifts were painful enough when you knew they were coming, but a random ass shift into a horse?Moon Goddess take the wheel.

“Okay,” I lean forward, placing my elbows on the table. “Let’s say you were right, and to be very clear, I still don’t think you are; why not go to her? How do I know this isn’t an elaborate plan for you to get your Spirit on with my best friend,” he glares at me, and I chuckle. “Calm down, you Galloping Gigolo.” I snort with laughter at his darkening look, and I temporarily forget where I am going with my rant as he glares at me and takes a deep drink of his wine.

“Well, I certainly wouldn’t find the time to come into town to meet with her best friend at a well-known shifter restaurant for a hook-up. Even you know that is quite a far-fetched assumption,” He tsks at me disapprovingly.

“Fair point,” I admit. “Hmm, here I was, thinking tonight I would stop the abuse of my vibrators,” I say with a deep sigh.

“Sorry, I can’t be of service with that,” he says wryly. Not sorry at all, I bet.

I bite back a smile and wave my empty hands as I reach for more bread. “Regardless. How sure can you be? I mean, think about it…How do you know she didn’t decide to go prairie that day and then accidentally rubbed across yourrealmate and brought her scent along with her,” I say this with a straight face, maintaining my eye contact even when his gaze sharpens with a glint of anger, that makes me want to squirm in my seat. If he is Storm’s mate, he will have to get used to more than just my quips. Storm’s arsenal of word vomit is impressive.

He leans forward on the table, bracing his thick arms, “How do you know a quick trip to the dog pound won’t take the edge off your heat?” I stare at him for a beat and then burst out laughing, tears streaming out of my eyes.

After a beat, he joins in, and the shock on his face at his own laughter sends me into another fit of giggles, and we start to laugh even harder as I feel the stares from the people in the restaurant. Then, wiping my eyes, I catch my breath and smile brightly at him, “Touche, Calian. Touche,” I say breathlessly.

He glances at his watch before speaking again, his voice under control. “I can understand your hesitation Aneira, but I wouldn’t have wasted your time or mine if I wasn’t sure. So all I ask for is a chance to court your friend and, if I am right, which I know I am, offer her a place in my heart and my herd,” he holds his hands up in supplication, and the earnest look on my face tugs at my ‘I-don’t-want-a-mate heartstrings.

I clear my throat and resist the urge to rub my chest as it twinges with a pain that I am growing too familiar with these past few days.Want.

“Fine, but I still have to know; why use your friend to get to me? Why not just ask Storm out yourself?”

“Well, the Swiftwater pack are a formal people. We respect and honor the old ways of courtship, and despite who she may be to me, Storm, from what I was able to find, has no family other than you. And for the past several years, you two have been very close. Your wolf has deemed her as ‘pack,’ it is only right to come to you to ask for your advice, guidance, and permission,” he says softly, looking into my eyes with respect.Damnit, he’s smooth.

I point a breadstick at him and say as much, “You are smooth as fuck. I’ll give you that.”

“Thank you,” he chuckles.

I smile, “I approve of you,” and Moon help me, I did. I hope Storm approved of him as well; she needed love just as much as my hussy vagina did. Although if she was his true mate, it wouldn’t matter. Storm doesn’t like casual boyfriends; she hates the idea of wasting time on relationships that won’t mean anything. But a true, fated mate? Yeah, she would fall hard and fast. Even while I ran far and long, she wouldn’t do the same.

Because Storm understands that you cannot fight against the lure of a fated mate, if only you would see the same,Agatha growls at me. I ignore her.

I take in Calians pleased expression and add, “You are going to have to get to her yourself. You know where to find her. Court her, do all the flowery shit she deserves, and if she accepts, then I won’t stand in your way. But hurt her….” I don’t finish my sentence, taking the butter knife from my place setting, reach for a breadstick from the basket on the table, and cut the tip off with a smile.

He shakes his head, “duly noted.” His eyes go from my face to a point behind me, and a slow smile melts across his face. Suddenly I feel pinpricks of awareness on the back of my neck, and heat flares through my body. Before I can turn around, Calian stands up from his chair and gives me a slight bow before coming around to drop a kiss on my cheek, “It looks like your batteries may catch a break after-all little wolf. Don’t fight destiny,” with those parting words he straightens up to his full height, six feet WTF inches, and strides away and out of the restaurant.

I cock my head at his words, and abrupt departure and my confusion temporarily dampens the heat coursing through my body. That is, until a body hits the vacated seat in front of me, and the delicious scent haunting my dreams hits me like a runaway truck. Then, my eyes snap up to meet the eyes of the wolf that has been plaguing my every moment for four days.

“Hello, Little Wolf,” Casimir says with a smirk, his glowing eyes and clenching hands belying his calm, cool words. I feel Agatha perk up furiously, throwing herself across the bars of my mental cage.Mate.Fuck.

Fuck.

ChapterNine

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