5

Kace

I’d found Larissa less than an hour ago, and she already wanted to leave. This wasn’t how I expected my mating to go, and my wolf was demanding to be let out to mark her as ours before she got away. I ground my teeth together and clenched my jaw. Fur rippled against my skin, and I took a few deep breaths to get myself under control. I got where he was coming from, but I wasn’t about to let him do something she wasn’t ready for. He only backed down when I promised I wouldn't let her out of our sight. “Do you have a

class or something?”

“No, I had my last one for the day before I tracked Allegra down. I just”—she paused and twisted her hands together —“need to be in my own space.”

My compulsion to be with Larissa warred with my desire to give her whatever she needed. I understood her wanting to be surrounded by the familiar while she came to terms with how meeting me was going to change her world, but that didn’t mean she had to be alone while doing it. “No problem.” I shoved my feet into my boots. “I'll take you back.”

I felt a burst of satisfaction at her reaction to my quick agreement as her plump lips curved down at the edges and she mumbled, “Okay.”

Stalking toward her, I pressed a finger under her chin and tilted her head back until my gaze met hers. “Give me a minute while I grab some stu so I can spend the night with you.”

“What? No way.” Her blue eyes went wide, and she shook her head. “I live in an all-girls dorm. Any male visitors have to check in at the front desk, and there are rules about how long they can be there. It's the only dorm on campus that's super strict, but Allegra's parents insisted we pick that one because it meant her mom wouldn’t worry quite as much.”

I was relieved to hear no males were allowed in her building—not that I planned on her being there without me —but I wasn’t about to let the rules apply to me. I wasn’t accustomed to taking orders from anyone else since I was the one who gave them in Timber Ridge. And I wasn’t just some guy. I was Larissa’s mate, even if she didn’t fully grasp what that meant yet. “You might not be feeling the pull at the same level as me because you're human, but the early days in a mating are the most intense. Having you near without claiming you is already pushing my wolf to his limits, and leaving you alone on campus will send him over the edge.”

“Oh.” Her plump lips formed a perfect circle, making my dick push against the zipper of my jeans as I pictured them wrapped around me. “Look, I’m no good at this relationship stu . I don't really know how it works with regular couples, let alone shifters with fated mates. I've never had a boyfriend, and the only happy marriage I saw growing up was between Allegra's parents. My mom walked out right after I was born. She didn’t want kids, and I haven’t had contact with her since she left.”

I was happy as fuck to know there hadn’t been any men in her life before me, but I hated seeing the faint sheen of tears in her eyes. Knowing the woman who’d given birth to her—I refused to call her Larissa’s mom because she sure as hell hadn’t earned the privilege—had hurt her so badly had my wolf ready to hunt her down. “I’m sorry you went through all that.”

“It’s okay.” She shrugged and sni ed. “My dad is beyond awesome, so I didn’t really feel like I was missing out on anything while growing up. And Hannah, Allegra’s mom, was always there if I had questions about girl stu .”

“My mom will be happy as fuck to help you with women shit.” I had no doubt she was going to be on my dad’s ass to come back earlier than planned. “She and my dad left for a two-month long road trip a few weeks ago, but it was mostly an excuse to visit my brother at college. My dad is going to razz her so hard for not being here when I met you. She’s been dying for one of us to finally find our mates and give her grandbabies.”

“Grandbabies?” she echoed, eyes going wide. “I feel like I should remind you—again—that we met maybe an hour ago.”

“I know down to the minute when I first laid eyes on you, baby.” I grinned at the dreamy sigh that nickname pu ed from her lips. “I wish like fuck that there were a lot more of them, but I can’t change that. All I can do is make the most of the time we have now, while keeping in mind that this is all new to you. We’ll move at whatever pace works for you”—even if it fucking killed me—“and I’ll warn my mom to lay o on talking about babies until you’re ready for it.”

“I—What—Ugh!” She let out a growl that was worthy of any she-wolf and whirled away from me. “Are matings always like this?”

I wasn’t sure what about my promise had set her o when I’d thought it was going to help. “Like what?”

She threw her hands up in the air. “I was freaking out about you mentioning babies so soon. Then you o ered to let our relationship go at my speed and have your mom back o , and I felt the strangest sense of disappointment. As though going slow was somehow...wrong.”

I prowled over to her and slid a palm down her back, pressing her chest against mine. “What you’re feeling is the power of fated mates. There’s bound to be some inner conflict when your soul knows you were born to be mine, and your mind is trying to catch up because it's outside your realm of experience.”

“I guess that makes sense.” She wrapped her arms around my body and dropped her head against my chest. “Maybe it’ll help if I knew more about what usually happens with fated mates.”

“Sure, baby. Whatever you need.” I led her back over to the couch and got us comfortable again with her on my lap. “Shifters can recognize their mate at first sight or smell.”

She turned her head to sni her shoulder. “Is that your subtle way of trying to tell me I smell?”

“Only like the best thing I’ve ever smelled.” I buried my nose in her neck and inhaled deeply, her delicious scent filling my lungs and giving my wolf the first sense of peace he’d had since she talked about going back to her campus. “It’s the biggest fucking turn-on for me.”

Larissa wiggled on my lap, gasping when my cock pressed against her ass. A pretty pink blush filled her cheeks. “Yeah, I kind of noticed.”

“Only kind of?” I growled, shifting my hips up. “Definitely more than kind of,” she confirmed with a giggle. “Since that would be di cult to miss.”

I maneuvered her to the left when she started to wiggle again. When my cock nestled between her thighs, she went still, and her scent deepened and turned sweeter. “Fated mates feel a fierce desire for each other. The need is more intense when they first meet, but it never wavers over the years. I’ll always want you. That will never change.”

She tilted her head to the side and smiled shyly at me. “I like the sound of that.”

“I’m glad, baby.” I brushed my lips across her cheek. “Because there are other aspects of mating that are probably going to be more di cult for you to accept.”

Her eyes went wide again. “Like what?”

“A part of the process involves me marking you.” I brushed my fingers down her neck to her shoulder. “While we’re still connected after sex, I’ll bite you here, and it will solidify our connection, making you mine forever.”

“It won’t turn me into a shifter, right?” she asked.

“No, you’ll still be human,” I assured her, “but you’ll age slower and heal faster.”

Her eyes narrowed, but they gleamed with humor. “No super strength, huh?”

“Nope.” I grinned. “But you’ll have me around to kick ass if you ever need it.”

“That works for me.” She winked, and she was so fucking adorable, I almost spread her out on the couch so I could taste every inch of her body. But then she turned serious again. “Will it hurt?”

I shook my head. “I’ve been told it enhances the sexual experience, taking our pleasure to another level.”

“Wow,” she breathed, the scent of her desire filling the room again.

I lowered my head, intending to claim her sweet lips in our first kiss, and wanted to howl in frustration when there was a knock on my door. I wanted nothing more than to ignore the world outside of this room, but my responsibilities as alpha made that impossible. “Sorry, baby,” I whispered before stalking over to the door to flip the lock. I waited until I returned to Larissa before I called out, “Come in!”

The door opened, and two members of my pack walked in. Luke had been working his way up the ranks of the pack ever since he turned eighteen, but his sister was a di erent story. Her parents had given her pretty much anything she wanted, and she’d grown to expect everyone else to treat her the same. Neither my wolf nor I respected her much, but it wasn’t her presence that bothered me at the moment.

It was a damn good thing my wolf had rubbed up against Larissa and I’d held her on my lap while we talked. Having my scent all over my mate was the only thing stopping me from attacking the unattached male who was too damn close to her even though he’d quickly taken in the situation and remained by the door.