Filed to story: The Wolf Prince’s Fated Love
“That good, huh?” She arched an eyebrow up at my silent blush.
“Umm, yeah. I mean, we weren’t actually together that long after you guys left, since Gracelyn was having contractions, and we-well, he, but I wasn’t about to not go check on her-got called over there.” I stopped myself, feeling the urge to ramble building in my chest. If I didn’t stop now, the word vomit would get a lot more personal real quick.
“Was your time together… good?” She kept it polite, but I knew exactly what she meant.
Mate signs.
“We kissed, and it was the best kiss of my life,” I gushed, unable to stop the flood of words after all. Leigh’s head popped out of the bathroom, flat iron in one hand, toothbrush in the other.
“Did I hear someone say there was a life-changing kiss? Please, do go on. Don’t skip a single detail.” She waggled her eyebrows salaciously, and I ducked my head into my hands. These two were yin and yang, but I wouldn’t trade them for all the other besties in the world.
Dropping my hands and shoving them into my back pockets where they couldn’t betray my embarrassment any further, I nodded. Leigh’s excited squeal was so loud, I’m pretty sure a mirror somewhere shattered. She abandoned the flat iron and frantically scrubbed at her teeth while she sank onto the foot of Shay’s bed next to her, gesturing for me to hurry up and spill.
“Okay, okay. So, you guys left, and we talked a little. I really didn’t intend for anything else to happen, you know? I mean, you guys know about my parents. I never really expected to find a mate, but even if I did, it’s too risky.” I sucked in a deep breath, not needing to tell them what was at stake. “But he didn’t care. In fact, he pushed even harder after I told him. I never expected that, and when he started kissing me, well, I just couldn’t say no. It was like he lit my whole body up from the inside, and I’ve never felt anything like it. The pull toward him is unreal.”
Leigh grinned around her toothbrush, and Shay’s warm expression told me they were both happy for me. I was too, except…
“What is it? Where’d that happy glow just skip off to?” Leigh’s words were mostly intelligible around her toothpaste.
“I- He-he stopped. Stopped kissing me. I was a hundred-percent onboard, right there with him, and then he just stopped and curled up behind me like that was that.”
“And that’s a bad thing?” Shay asked, her voice gentle.
Leigh waved frantically toward her face and the bathroom, ducked inside, and back out a moment later. “Okay, listen. I can practically see the freak out exploding out of your chest, but it doesn’t have to be. There are about eight million reasons why a guy might not go straight for the gold, so to speak. None of them being that he’s not into you. He was raised by Kosta, who, by all accounts, is a traditionalist. You guys just met a few days ago. Even for fated mates, there’s no expectation that you jump straight into bed, okay? He probably wants to take it a little, tiny bit slower, so he can get to know you first. And finally-and I cannot stress this enough as the one with the most relationship experience-guys are not mind readers. If you want more, it’s okay to tell him. You’re shy and studious and hot as hell, lest we forget that very important puzzle piece. But you’re also allowed to let go, get wild, and ride that stud pony whenever you’re both ready, mm’kay?”
I about choked on my tongue at ride that stud pony, but her point was spot-on. I was shy and not the type to ask for what I wanted, especially not with someone as intimidatingly gorgeous as Kane. But, could I?
I thought back over the kiss and how patient he’d been, how determined to get my consent every single step of the way. Did he stop because he thought I wanted him to?
Au contraire. My dry spell had been running a long damn time, and I had never felt anything for a man with one-tenth the intensity the new mate bond had coursing through my veins. Did I know him like my longtime besties? Well, no. Did I know enough to take it to the next step?
My perpetually needy lady bits said hell yes.
“There she is! Look at that face! She’s going to get some tonight.” Leigh elbowed Shay, who just rolled her eyes and gave me a knowing look.
Leigh was a little loco, but she was ours. And we loved her for it.
Besides, she wasn’t wrong. If I had any say in the matter, I would be getting some. Because I wanted him, and unless I was way off base, he wanted me too.
It was time to go out and get it.
TWENTY
Kane
Istalked up the hallway to my father’s temporary corner office to tell him about my newly minted mate bond. It used to be a large storage room, but we’d cleared it out and furnished it for the great pack gathering. Otherwise, he’d have taken over my office, and that wouldn’t have worked for me. He was high alpha, but I was dominant, and even for my father, I couldn’t concede my territory anymore. My wolf wouldn’t have it.
I didn’t even make it to the office, though, because his third and fourth were standing watch just outside the door, arms crossed over their chests, eyes assessing as I approached.
“I need to speak with Alpha Kosta.”
“He’s unavailable. He’s meeting at present with Alphas Jose, Dominic, and Stephan,” Andrei said, bored.
I let out a low growl, but wasn’t truly surprised. My father was a prominent male who didn’t bother coming to this side of the world often. I’m sure many of the alphas here for the gathering intended to make use of his proximity to try to garner some favor or another.
Hopefully, they weren’t all trying to pitch their daughters as a match for me. My wolf snarled at the thought of any mate but our Brielle. Her creamy, smooth skin and that way she gasped with a hitch in her breath when I’d run my tongue- I cut off the thought, not wanting to get an erection standing three feet from my father’s men.
“Let him know I need to speak with him at the earliest break in his schedule.”
Andrei nodded, and I turned on my heel to go find Gracelyn. Reed had already touched base this morning, and she was stubbornly refusing to let one of her assistants take over today, so Adam was once again parked at her side in the oversized recliner. I wanted to make sure that my men and I were in every single group with Brielle today, and I had the mate marks to prove my claim. Not that she’d argue. Gracelyn might get a little dictatorial with an event to run, but she was a sweet she-wolf and a solid member of my pack.
Maybe soon, it would be Brielle with her belly rounded with our pup, bossing me around. My wolf rumbled low in his chest at the thought, a contented feeling washing through me. He wanted our mate pregnant as quickly as possible, and the realization that I agreed with him nearly knocked me on my ass. I stopped midstep, letting myself delve into the fantasy.
Her in my cabin, tucked into the corner reading nook I was mentally designing just for her, a book propped up on her big, rounded belly, and her glasses sliding down her nose as she smiled over at me. She wiggled her finger at me to come over, and I sank to my knees, spreading her thighs. As I delved into her sweetness, the book fell to the rug with a thud as she moaned my name…
I’d never considered myself much of a family man-running a whole damn pack was plenty, thank you. I didn’t need rug rats underfoot any time soon-but Brielle… One whiff of her scent, and I’d give her anything she wanted. That had to be pups, right?
I started walking again, shaking the tantalizing fantasy from my thoughts. I couldn’t afford to be distracted yet. I had too much to do.
“I am not shuffling the entire day’s roster for you, Kane.”
Adam grunted uneasily at her side, and she rolled her eyes at him.
“Excuse me,
Alpha Kane. You may be Alpha, but you entrusted me with these activities, and I’m not going to juggle-” The words died in her throat as I tugged down the collar of my shirt, exposing the deep-blue ink sprawling there.
Tattoos weren’t at all uncommon among wolves-some were pain junkies, and we healed quickly-but there was no mistaking a fated mate mark.
“That’s… oh. My. Goddess. You found a mate!” She squealed so loudly, Adam and two of her assistants jumped practically out of their skin.
“Shhh, yes. Yes, I did, but I want to keep that between us until I’ve got time to pull my father aside and tell him. But… I also don’t want her out of my sight.”