Page 53 of Mortal Shift
“I’m sorry,” I forced out in a small voice around the lump that seemed to be taking up my entire throat. “I guess maybe yes?”
She was by my side in an instant, covering my hand with hers.
“You don’t have to do this alone,” she said. “Even if no-one else is here for you, I will be. Always. So never doubt that.”
“Except when you’re trying to shove me into Cole’s arms,” I snorted, aiming for levity and probably not quite pulling it off.
“I know you think it’s a bad thing—”
“Think?” I arched a brow.
“Hey, you remember the whole ‘I’ve looked into this’ thing? How about you do the shutting up and listening thing?”
I mimed zipping my lips and throwing away the key, and she perched on the edge of the table.
“So look, yes, the mating bond makes you more attracted to each other, but it doesn’t supersede your free will.”
“Sure feels like it,” I grumbled, and she coughed. “Sorry, shutting up.”
“You’re the perfect match for him, and him for you—genetically speaking, I mean—and that’s part of what causes the bond. When his wolf detects the perfect match, it imprints, and that imprint goes so deep that some theories say even the human can feel it in their soul.”
“Yeah, that’s not a theory. Know how it makes my soul feel? Like a cheap slut. Also horny. Like, all the time.”
“Firstly, you say cheap slut like it’s a bad thing…”
I snorted in amusement, because there was not one single thing that was in the least bit slutty about my secretive friend.
“And second, it’s not about sex.” She took in my expression. “Well, okay, it’s notjustabout sex. I guess physical attraction is a big part of it, to, uh, get things moving along.”
“Ugh.” I raked a hand through my loose hair. “I so do not want to get anything ‘moving along’ with Cole.”
Except maybe everything. Starting with ripping his shirt off with my bare teeth, then exploring every inch of his broad chest with my tongue, and then his rock-hard abs, and…
“See? Now you’ve brought out my inner horny slut again. Thanks.”
She chuckled. “Don’t blame me if you’ve got a one-track mind. Look, the point is, no matter how bad you might have the hots for him, it’s deeper than that. More. Yoursoulsare compatible. You’re his perfect match in every way, and he’s yours. Some people spend their whole lives looking for that.”
“I’m not some people.”
“Evidently. And you’re also missing the point.”
I rolled her words around in my head, and came up blank. I shook my head. “Nope. You’re going to have to spell it out for me.”
“You’re Cole’s perfect match.”
“You already said that.”
“Whichmeans,” she continued, “that his wolf will be driven to protect you.”
“From the roving eyes of anyone I might actually be interested in, yes, I had noticed.”
She slapped me round the back of the head.
“Hey!” I rubbed at the spot she’d hit, and eyeballed her. “What was that for?”
She shrugged unrepentantly. “I was trying to knock some sense into you. Did it work?”
“If I say no, are you going to hit me again?”
