“Yes.”
“Do you accept entwining Dakota to your wolf bond?”
“Yes.”
“Dakota, do you confirm that Hunter is your mate?” King asks as he looks over at me, and at this moment, I have no doubts at all that the naked man before me is the man I am meant to be with.
“Yes.”
“You have both agreed that you are mates; therefore, the wolf bond will be welcomed by you and by your pack.” He throws back his head and howls, which in turn has all the men following through and howling. Standing here between these impressive men howling just like wolves has the hair on my body standing on end. I know they are shifters, but it’s still unreal to me.
Suddenly, King stops. “Kneel,” he says in a low, hoarse voice, his eyes shining a bright amber colour. Hunter nods and then kneels before him, his head bowing down in respect. King steps up to him. Placing a hand on the back of his head, he bends over and bites Hunter on the back of his neck. Hunter’s hands are fisted on the ground, and I can see how white his knuckles are, which tells me that the bite must be painful. If it’s anything like the one I got from Hunter, then it means it will bruise.
After a minute, King stands up straight and then steps back. “Stand,” he orders.
Once Hunter is standing once again, his eyes fully on me, I see that his two are shining that same ungodly amber colour. I feel a twinge on the back of my neck, and wince. Lifting my hand, I rub at it and then gasp as my neck starts to burn just as Hunter throws back his head and howls. His veins seem to be glowing as the blood rushes through them. Is this possible? I take a step forward to go to him but am stopped by Hawk’s arm that shoots out before me.
Looking over at him, he shakes his head at me in warning. It is really difficult not to ignore him and go try to help Hunter. How can I just stand here when he is clearly in pain? The burn on my neck is becoming painful. Shit, what the hell? Is it possible that I’m feeling his bite? That’s not possible, is it? And then everything goes quiet as Hunter closes his eyes. The only sound is his harsh breathing, as if he’s been running.
“Dakota, come,” King calls, and just a minute ago, I wanted to run over to Hunter. Now, I’m wary of what might happen, but I take the steps needed until I’m standing close to both. “Calm him,” he says, and inclines his head towards Hunter. I don’t know how he expects me to calm him when he’s the one who has just bitten him, but I lift my hand and place it over his heart, feeling the heat radiating from him. He is so hot, it feels like he has a fever. In reality, I think he needs some water to cool him down.
“Hunter,” I whisper, feeling awkward standing here before all these men, touching Hunter who is naked. Hunter’s breathing and his heartbeat under my hand seems to be calming. Is it possible that I am calming him? “Hunter, look at me.” His eyes open, and he looks straight at me. His eyes are still a golden amber, but not as bright as earlier. “Are you okay?”
“Dakota.” My name comes out in a growl, and then his arms slide around my waist and he pulls me against him as his lips swoop down over mine. This kiss is possessive and all consuming. It has me wanting to shed my clothes right here, right now, and be as wild as these men surely are. I can hear someone talking, but for the life of me, I can’t concentrate when Hunter is taking over all my senses.
When he finally pulls away, I am breathing just as rapidly as him. “Well, I must say that is the strangest way I have seen of calming someone, but hey, I hope my mate will calm me like that one day.” At Goliath’s comment, the others start laughing.
“To be honest, I can vouch that Hunter isn’t calm,” Hawk quips.
“I agree. He seems quite excited, wouldn’t you say?” Fang joins in.
“Yeah, yeah.” Hunter leans down to pick up his jeans before sliding them on. “The show is over,” he states when he’s fully dressed again, and his arm is firmly around my shoulders.
“Okay, guys, food awaits. I’ve had the Blossoms preparing a feast. Back to the house,” King says, which has the men hurrying away. Well, looks like men are men no matter what they are. Speak of food and they are there like the Flash.
I see Hunter wince as he rubs his fingers over his neck. “That was different,” I say as we both start walking up towards the house, Hunter holding my hand as he guides me through the trees. He looks down at me, his eyes intense.
“It had to be done. My wolf and you are truly one with me now.”
I frown. “What does that mean, that we are one with you?”
“I won’t need to fight my wolf any longer, as we are now one. Our bond is interlinked, which will help me sense you no matter where you are. You are truly mine, Dakota, in every sense of the word,” he says just as we see the house coming into view. The lights are all on and there is music blaring. Two bikers are riding up to the house as we near.
“Who’s that?” I ask.
“These two are nomads. Don’t really belong to any club.”
“Are they like you?” One of them seems slightly overweight, with long white hair. Nothing like the men I have met recently.
“No, they’re human and don’t know about us,” Hunter says warningly. “Stay close to me, as you’re not wearing my kutte. They might think you’re a Blossom and will try their luck with you. Then I would have to kill them.” I start to laugh at Hunter’s comment until I see the serious look on his face.
“You can’t kill a man for hitting on me,” I state, which has him raising his brow, but he doesn’t answer, as one of the men who just arrived calls out to us. The man is younger than the other one, with dark-brown hair and brown eyes, so very plain compared to Hunter.
“Tom, haven’t seen you in a while, brother. What brings you this way?” Hunter says as we stop before the two men.
“Had an accident a while back, have been mending.” He pulls up his T-shirt to show us a scar that crosses from his chest down to his waist.
“Jeepers, that must have been some accident,” Hunter states. “Are you okay now?”