Hunt Me! (I Crave The Chase) - Page 208

My tail.

My fucking tail.

Because I was a wolf now—and maybe that’s why talking to Mutt’s dad made me feel like I was wrapped in a warm blanket. Why that empty ache that had sat hollow inside me all my life was full. It was my pack. The bond I had with Mutt—but more than that too.

Mutt’s dad only confirmed that when he finally pulled back, turning his attention back to me. And then he dipped down, his forehead brushing mine and warm-happy-family-belonging burned so hot and visceral through my body for a moment I could hardly breathe.

“Welcome to the family,” Mutt’s dad spoke, breaking the silence.

And then he pulled back and offered us both a sunny smile.

“Dad—” Mutt’s voice cracked. “I know it’s not custom, but I—” Mutt sucked in a breath, chest puffing up as he stood to his full height. “I would like to bond with Jeffrey now. Officially. Please.”

“Go ahead,” he laughed. “With my blessing.”

And then he twisted back around and headed over to his other children to do more of his alpha-werewolf-voodoo. I sagged, skin still buzzing as I tipped my head up to look at Mutt. “Bond with me?” I asked, voice low.

“Yes,” Mutt murmured.

“Wolves only mate once,” I echoed his earlier words, my heart thumping as erratically as my tail.

“Yes.”

“And you?—”

“You are my mate,” Mutt’s eyes were bright. His expression was solid, sure. He may not have been Pack Alpha, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t feel the strength behind his frame. The warmth that buzzed beneath my skin just looking at him. “You have always been my mate. And I would like to keep you. If you would let me. I know I have messed up. That I have lied, that I have been stupid and reckless, but I?—”

I kissed him.

I kissed him till his words fizzled out. And when I pulled back I hoped he could see the promises in my eyes. Inside my wolf—the wolf I’d never had before, a foreign entity that felt as natural as breathing—preened.

I felt bubbly and bright.

Happy.

In a way I hadn’t known I could be.

Maybe it was reckless, but I’d spent my life carefully living by a plan. I’d been meticulous. Terrified. Paranoid. There’d been an anvil over my head and chains around my ankles, pulling me deeper, deeper, deeper.

But for the first time in my life, I felt no hesitation. I felt no anxiety. Not about this. Not about Mutt.

“Forever,” I murmured, voice low and soft. “This is forever isn’t it?”

“It is,” he agreed.

“Till the day we die.” My skin felt tight, and my tail kept wagging. Wagging, wagging, wagging. Mutt’s eyes danced. His scent was happy-love-love. I was glad then, that I’d learned to trust him before I’d had these new senses. Because there was trust between us now. Trust that never could’ve been built without some uncertainty first.

But that didn’t mean I wasn’t soothed as his scent told me exactly what I needed to know.

Mutt grabbed my hand. He pulled it over his chest, his lovely squishy pec flexing beneath my touch. His heart skipped and danced, throbbing beneath my palm. With his other hand he grabbed my chin, forcing my face up so we were staring at each other all over again.

“I love you,” he said, like he thought I needed to hear it.

I’d never said it back.

And I’d regretted that, so much.

Only now I was grateful, because I couldn’t think of a better time to lay my heart on the line than right now. With the snow falling in a blanket behind his head, sliding in through the open door, the crisp scent of winter in the air.