Page 53 of Her Alien Neighbor

But he doesn’t. “I know this is quite a shock to you, but the man you have gotten to know is me. The color and texture of my skin does not change that. It does not change what has happened between us. I am yours, and you would honor me by becoming mine.”

“Is that…are you…proposing to me?”

Axil nods. “Yes, I suppose I am.”

I don’t want to reject him, especially considering that I came over here in the first place to tell him how much he means to me. He’s being incredibly sweet right now, but I have to ask the question that seems to get louder in my head. I give his hands a squeeze, a sign to let him know I’ve heard him. “If I say no right now… If I decide to end this, this thing between us, what will happen to me now that I know the truth?”

Mylo coughs, Kyan rubs his palms anxiously over his thighs, and Axil’s mouth falls open, but nothing comes out. It’s not a comforting reaction, that’s for sure.

“Nothing,” Mylo eventually says. “Nothing will happen to you.”

Kyan looks like he wants to argue that point but changes his mind.

“Admittedly, this is new territory for us, Vanessa,” Mylo continues. “When Luka’s human mate, Harper, learned the truth, she and Luka were already very much in love. Practically mated. It scared her, but she quickly accepted him as he is.”

“Having a human out there who knows what we are and is not one of our mates puts us at risk,” Kyan says. “We cannot be exposed. If the authorities learn about us and what we can do, they will surely apprehend us. I fear we will never again see the light of day.”

I rub my eyes, the stress of tonight starting to weigh on me. “So what does that mean? Are you going to silence me if I refuse to be Axil’s mate?”

“No!” Axil yells, rising to his feet. “Absolutely not. I promise you, Vanessa. I will not force you to become my mate, and I will not say a word, none of us will say a word, should you decide you never wish to see me again.” He looks between his two brothers. “Agree to this.”

They nod enthusiastically as they stand. “Agreed,” Mylo says, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“If Lady Norton had discovered the truth, we would have done nothing to keep her quiet because we trusted her.” Axil’s eyes meet mine. “I trust you, Vanessa. I know you do not wish to hurt me or my family.”

“I don’t,” I agree, the last one to stand. “I would never tell anyone, I swear.” My chin dips. “It’s not like I have a great history with trusting the authorities anyway. Fuck them.” I take a deep breath. “They will never find out about you guys.”

A yawn escapes me, which is odd, considering the ground-breaking discovery I just made. “This is going to sound weird, but can I go home?” I ask shyly. They’ve vowed to let me live my life, whether I end up with Axil, but I’m still outnumbered in a house that belongs to four dragons, so it seemed only appropriate to get permission.

“Of course,” Axil quickly replies. “I shall see you out.”

He masks as he follows me to the door. The two of us step outside, and he follows me down the path toward my house, keeping a respectful distance.

When I reach the back door, I turn to face him. “I’m not saying no,” I tell him. His expression lightens with hope. “But I’m not saying yes either.” Then it falls, just as fast. “With everything that’s happened tonight… it’s a lot to process.”

“I understand,” he mutters, but his voice breaks with emotion.

“Give me some time?” I request. “I just need time to think.”

He leans down, placing a single kiss on my cheek. It’s chaste and quick, but my skin tingles long after his lips leave my skin, making me question why I’m asking for time when what I could be doing is riding him like a prize bull.

“Take all the time you need,” he says with a small smile. “I will wait.”

I melt at his words, knowing he’s telling the truth. I muster the courage to bid him farewell before shuffling inside and locking the door behind me.

He’s willing to wait. But am I?

CHAPTER 14

VANESSA

The sound of rain pelting the roof wakes me far earlier than I care to be awake, especially after tossing and turning most of the night. There’s a lot to think about, and that’s what I’ve been doing: thinking. But this has proven to be a worthless use of brainpower because I still haven’t figured out what to do.

First, there’s the wholealiens are real, and they live among usthing. I find it shocking, and while I know I’d never tell a soul about Axil and his brothers, I still have no clue what to do with the information. It’s not as simple as keeping it to myself. That, I can do.

But this isn’t a tiny secret, like, how Willa steals soy sauce packets from restaurants and empties them into a bottle at home so she never has to buy more, or, how Sam gets her armpit hair lasered off. This is a whopping, monumental, iceberg-sized secret just waiting for the Titanic to hit it and for all hell to break loose. This could, no, thiswouldchange the world if it got out.

How many more aliens are currently living among us? Are there more alien shifters? Do alien wolf shifters exist? What about alien bats? Or cats?

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