Page 40 of Savagely Mated

I look at myself in the mirror, and I swear my skin is clearer, cheeks rosy, eyes sparkling. I see a very beautiful young woman. I don’t know why I never saw that before. I used to look and see frizzy hair or a spot somewhere it shouldn’t be, or the odd set of my nose.

“You’re awake.”

I turn to see Einar standing in the room. I don’t know where he came from, if he was watching me sleep and I somehow didn’t notice, or what. The man moves like a ghost sometimes.

“Morning,” I smile.

“Good morning,” Einar says, wrapping his arms around me. “How are you feeling?”

I’m not used to being hugged. I wasn’t used to being pinned down and fucked either, but this feels strangely more intimate. In the light of day, he feels like a stranger again. This is not the man who fucked me in the garden. His energy is entirely different. He is softer, more tender. He’s concerned, if I am reading his expression correctly.

“Fine, I guess?”

Not the most romantic of responses, but I don’t know if what we did was romantic. It was feral, and not much else. I feel a little shy, and a little… I don’t know, disconnected?

“Fine, you guess,” he responds, repeating my words in a slightly incredulous tone. “Darcy, we need to talk.”

“You might need to talk. I need to eat.”

My stomach is growling more than he was when he fucked me. I’m absolutely ravenous.

“I’ll make you pancakes,” he says. “Come to the kitchen.”

I follow him to the picturesque kitchen where I met my fate last night. It looks even nicer in the morning light, with the old iron-style stove with all the trimmings and bits, leadlight windows, and a big homey table with marks here and there where someone put something that was too hot down on the surfacewithout thinking about it. It feels like stepping into a storybook, or a place from long ago.

“So Kirin is rich, huh? Is that why you hang out with him?”

“That is not why we hang out,” Einar says. “But yes, he is well off.”

“Maybe he can buy you another van,” I quip cheekily.

Quick as lightning, Einar spins me around and smacks my ass. It is just one slap, but it is hard and stinging enough to jolt me out of my amusement.

“Ow! Asshole!” I curse at him, only to earn another one of those slaps before I pull away.

“I’m going to adjust that attitude of yours,” he says. “There’s no place for it in our pack.”

“Our pack?” I rub my rear and glower at him. I don’t know what the hell he is talking about, but I know I don’t like it.

“Myself, Kirin, Rafe, and you. We’re a pack now, Darcy.”

“Are we?”

“Yes,” he says firmly as he sets about making pancakes.

Maybe we are. Maybe we aren’t. I know my animal side probably thinks of us that way. I know I’m drawn to these men. But I also have a normal brain on top of all that animal instinct and that part of me thinks that these are older strangers who want something from me.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were wolves?”

“Pancakes!” Rafe announces them loudly, as he strides into the kitchen. He, too, smacks my ass on the way past, but his slap is more friendly. “Tell me you’re making your famous pancakes, Einar.”

“Did you not smell us? Did you not feel drawn to mate with us?” Einar ignores Rafe and answers me with questions that frankly feel more accusatory than anything, like I was just supposed to know.

“Yes, but I assumed I was being stupid,” I snap back. “I’ve never met a male wolf I connected with before. I didn’t know what any of it meant. Besides, they told me the only shifters were in the King’s Guard.”

“They lied. You were bound for the king’s harem, Darcy.”

“No, I wasn’t,” I snort. “I was never going to be chosen for castle duties.”

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