Page 25 of The Awakened Wolf

“You will take Evan as your mate, Elyse.” Kiana lifted her chin. “That’s an order from your Alpha.”

“Say what now?” Evan coughed, and his dismay settled the matter for me.

“I can’t do that, Kiana. It’s too weird.”

Yes, he was my best option, and yes, I even found him attractive in an objective kind of way. He was hot. Always had been. And if he’d been straight and somehow just as sweet… well, my silly teenage crush might have caused more problems back in the day. But those days were gone, and this new beefier version of my best friend that was arguably more forbidden romance-cover-worthy? I kinda made him. My stomach lurched like Kiana’s had when she found out Sebastian was like her cousin.

Kiana rolled her eyes. “Don’t be dramatic. Chann’s first bite became his mate. And that was often the case with mated pairs until the bite stopped working.”

Evan tugged at the collar of his loose T-shirt. “You never told me that, Elyse.”

“Because it never occurred to me,” I said through gritted teeth.

He turned to Kiana, eyebrows furrowed. “Why are you doing this? Why can’t she just wait for Sebastian?”

One blonde eyebrow arched as my sister adjusted her sweater. “I know you humans carry on doing whatever comes into your heads when it comes to relationships, but that is not our way. There is no room in the shifter world for a mated female who hasn’t had a ceremony.”

“Aw, come on, you’ve got to be kidding.” Evan waved at the technology surrounding us. “You can bend the rules and modernize to control your image, but marriage is still basically like living a season of Bridgerton?”

“I know this probably comes as a surprise to you,” Kiana said, gripping the back of a chair so hard her nails whitened, “but given your lack of familiarity with our kind, I’ll fill you in. We’ve always done whatever it took to keep ourselves safe, Evan. Call it whatever you want. But the sanctity of mating, and its purpose, has never changed. Rules are rules here, and I can’t make an exception just because Elyse is my sister. Not without risking some older, high-ranking male challenging me. Gods forbid he defeats me, because then Elyse and I would both be nothing more than property.”

She released the chair with a grunt, and it clattered against the glass of the table, causing shifter heads around the room to turn our way and then back to their work.

“Look, if anyone can appreciate how amazing it would be if things were different, it’s me. And Elyse,” she said, turning my way. “All our lives we’ve been told we’re less and had to fight for our birthright. No matter which of us sits on this throne, she will face constant criticism and attack, regardless of the job she does. And whispers will follow us every day until we bear pups, whether we want to or not. The truth is that I hate the way things are, but I can’t change them at all if I’m not in charge.”

My chin damn near hit my chest. She wanted to…?

“I’ll do it then,” Evan said quietly. “I’ll marry Elyse.”

“What?” I whirled on him, eyes wide. “No! Why would you do that?”

He took my hand, his blue eyes burning with devotion. “You save me. I save you. If that’s not marriage, what’s even the point?”

Tears blurred my vision, and I shook my head. I couldn’t do that to him. He didn’t understand how binding this would be. It wasn’t marriage, it was mating. It couldn’t be undone. If Kiana really made us do this, then that would be it. For both of us. Forever.

“I’ll call the Elder Wolf,” Kiana said brusquely. “Let’s get this over with.”

No! We can’t!

My wolf went absolutely bananas. I mean, rocketing off my insides, beating against my ribcage, screaming, yowling, full-on temper tantrum tornado.

I bent double as I struggled to contain her. “No,” I moaned. “You can’t. Sebastian. Could still come back. Cause trouble.”

“Fine,” Kiana sighed. “You have three days.”

“That’s not even enough time to know if I’m with pup,” I blurted, scrambling for excuses.

“Well, if you are…” Kiana shot me a reproachful glare for getting myself into this pickle. “Evan is the father now.”

“Wait, WHAT?!” Evan spun to look at me, his eyes widening to impossible measurements before narrowing to accusing slits. “That bastard said he would use—”

“And he did.” Heat flushed my ears, and I sank them into my shoulders while rolling my eyes at his patronizing expression. “Besides, what are the chances on my first time?”

Evan’s eyes bulged out again. It didn’t seem like a good time to mention it had actually been three times over the course of the night. But we’d been careful each time. I remembered because every time he reached for his nightstand, I thought about how dreamy it was that he’d been prepared to keep his word to my friends in the unlikely event that I showed up in his room and told him to claim me.

“I’m from Georgia, honey! This ain’t the first time I’ve heard that about nine months before a baby popped out!” He dragged his fingers through his stubble. “Ugh! This is Kylie and Cashton all over again! I am going to kill Sebastian.” His fingers closed into fists, and it stopped being funny. “How dare he abandon you like this?”

“There is no like this” I snapped, annoyed, not just at the suggestion that my state might be delicate, but that I agreed with him. I wanted to kill Sebastian. Right after he returned, and I held him to me tight enough that he became a part of me through osmosis and could never leave again.

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