Page 43 of Huntress and the Thorn Court
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The nightstill covered the sky when I woke. I smiled, pleased Gideon was beside me.
“Your bed is uncomfortable,” he whispered against my neck, placing a soft peck against my nape.
I chuckled rolling over in his arms to face him. “I don’t think you can complain when it’s in your house.”
“Hmm,” he grumbled brushing his hand down my side. “I need to know something.” My brow knitted noting the seriousness in his tone. “Why didn’t you leave, Isabel?”
His question surprised me. I hadn’t really given it much thought. Even while it was happening, I simply reacted. “I don’t know.”
His fingers traced over the bite on my neck. “Yes, you do. Stop trying to make sense and just tell me.”
“I don’t—”
“Stop thinking. Just say it.”
“I don’t—” I was getting frustrated as he badgered me.
“Just say it!” he insisted.
“Because I’m yours!” I yelled and the room fell quiet. My fingers quickly covered my mouth, but it was too late. I’d said the words, but they struck true. I was his. I was risking everything for him. That wasn’t something you just did aimlessly for good sex.
“Again,” he demanded after a minute of silence.
“Because I’m yours,” I said gentler, unsure how my statement would be met by him.
He nodded. “Mine,” he confirmed gripping me tighter against him.
“Does that mean you’re mine?” I was teasing. Gideon was an Alpha. Claiming ownership over things came naturally to him, but to give power like that to someone else was unexpected.
“If you’re mine then I’m yours.” I must have looked stunned because he smiled. “Do you really not know what you are to me?” His fingers continued to dance over my scar.
“You marked me,” I stated remembering Trey saying as much.
Gideon shook his head. “I claimed you. You’re mine, Isabel.” His eyes flashed amber as his wolf rushed to the surface. “My mate.”
The term was familiar to me. There was only one true mate for each wolf. Some werewolves could go all their lives and never find that one perfect match. Even after they found one another, unless they both accepted the bond, a true mating could never happen. Gideon had to be mistaken. We were completely wrong for each other. Both of us were stubborn and controlling. Plus, I wasn’t a wolf.
“I can’t be,” I stated feeling confused.
“Did you not feel what happened between us when we made love? Our souls connected. That couldn’t have happened if you weren’t. My wolf knew the moment we saw you. It’s why I was so hostile in the beginning. He knew but didn’t let me in on it. Those first full moons, he’d linger upstairs to keep an eye on you. The mornings after were the worst. He fought me to go to you. Sleeping with Carla was difficult and it made me hate you a little for it.”
I wanted his words to be true, but it wasn’t possible. “Gideon, I’m not a wolf.”
“It doesn’t matter. You just told me you’re mine, so I know if you got outside your head and stopped thinking of the reasons why it’s not possible, you’d see that you know it to be true.”
Was he right? Was I getting too in my head? The idea of leaving him had me going crazy. Thinking of him with another woman caused me physical pain. The piece that had been replaced inside me, felt oddly like Gideon.
“How long have you suspected?”
“Since I saw the bite on your neck. He wouldn’t have done that if he hadn’t known and Isabel, since then, you smell like me.”
“The pack?”
“Knows that you’re mine.”
“Gideon,” I groaned mortified, burying my head into his shoulder. If what he said was true, then the staring and whispering IthoughtI noticed made a lot more sense.
