“It’s what got me through the shit over the years. After a while I thought I’d just made it up to escape the hell I was in,” I said.
The bed jostled as he shifted, moving to sit up on his knees, still straddling my legs. He seemed more intimidating at this distance. Devon was huge and eclipsed the small amount of light coming from the lantern.
“You didn’t make it up. I’ve lived through the memory over and over. It’s why I held out so long on mating anyone. It took me years to realize you were never walking through that door,” he said.
I sucked in a breath. He was waiting for me? Waiting for me to come to him?
“I never really knew where I would run to, I just always thought you would be whatever direction my wolf took me. We just never got far. Maybe my luck is finally changing,” I said.
I reached for him, wrapping my hand around his neck and tried to pull him down. He reached for my forearm and wrapped his fingers clear around it.
“Why were you in the woods alone that night? You never told me,” he said.
I shrugged and released his neck but his hand still remained on my arm. He hadn’t asked much of anything since I’d arrived and I hadn’t known to trust him. I had wanted to tell him so many things the moment I saw him, and yet? My trust issues ran pretty damn deep.
“You never asked.”
I watched the muscle twitch at his temple.
“You were on my lands. I assumed you were here for my birthday. It was the night that I would first shift. There were a lot of packs here.”
The room was colder than it was a second ago.
“Yeah, well that would have been some birthday present to you. Wouldn’t it?” I tried to pull away, but he wasn’t letting me go. “That was the night my father sold me. My father brought me to your pack lands for that gathering only because that was where all the larger packs would be. I don’t know much else. I just know that I thought I was going to your party and then-“ I didn’t want to finish. I didn’t want to relive it anymore.
“Right out from under my nose. On my lands,” he said but he wasn’t looking at me anymore. He wasn’t even here anymore.
He released my arm, but I reached for him.
“Hey. Are you with me now?”
I missed the heat of him over me. My wolf whimpered and I smiled.
“My wolf is here, almost fully healed. She’s stronger than she’s been in years. Maybe you’re what she’s been waiting for.”
I know that wasn’t entirely true. Wolfsbane was my biggest problem. But right now? Maybe I hadn’t been the only one suffering all this time. The far off expression changed and his features softened.
“Is she the only one waiting for me?”
His eyes flashed between wolf and human and I smirked. Devon bent lower, forcing me to lay back onto the bed.
“I just told you that I was suffering all those years,” I said.
He pressed his lips to mine and pulled away.
“So, when you said mine, who was speaking?” he asked.
The heat of his body scorched me, bringing my body to life.
“Both of us. I promise you, both of us want you.”
He shifted and propped himself up on his elbows. He was so close I could feel every breath he took, every rise and fall of his chest.
“Do you know what it is to belong to me?”
Belong to him? Belong? I wanted to belong somewhere, but not as property. I let the words wrap around me and oddly, they didn’t strike fear in me. My wolf was panting to let him have us. He’d said he wanted me, but only if I were truly only his.
My fingers traced over his shoulder, touching his skin.