Series: Willow Winters
Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 51151 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51151 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
But I’m her family now. My wolf howls in agony. The feeling of loss and rejection is undeniable.
My throat dries and I struggle with what to do. Finally, after a moment of my heart racing and far too many old wounds reopening, I do what feels right.
I walk quietly across the room and gently peel the covers from around her body. I lift her arm from around her niece and tuck the blanket under the little girl. I slide my hands under my mate’s soft, warm body and gently lift her. At the movement, her eyelids pop open and stare back at me in fear. It fucking kills me. It’s a dagger to my already wounded heart. It takes everything in me to ignore the look and lean down to give her a small kiss on the tip of her nose as I carry her away from the room. Her body shifts in my arms as she reaches back for her son.
“He’ll be fine.” I whisper the words and shift her weight onto one arm and cup her ass in my hand while I brace her back with my arm. Carefully, I gently close the door and glance down at my little mate. The feel of her plump ass in my hand and her warm body against my chest has my dick hardening with need. But the expression on her face makes me second guess my lust for her. Her eyes stare blankly across the hall, shining with fear. I can feel her heart beating frantically and my wolf hates everything about this.
Her shoulders hunch with her arms crossed, shielding herself from me. She’s wearing a nightgown that must belong to either Lizzie or Grace The thin cloth does nothing to offer her warmth. My pace quickens to get her to bed, to the privacy of our room, so we can talk and I can explain. So I can just have a chance to repair what’s been done. She must feel my eyes on her. Her teeth sink into her bottom lip as she tilts her head down and slightly leans into me. Her entire body is tense and I fucking hate it.
This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be. Can’t she feel this pull? This need? My entire being feels as if it’s shattering. I don’t know how I’m even standing with the pain that runs through me.
A knot grows and twists in my chest as I carry her to the bedroom. Our bedroom. We need to have a talk. I need to make it very clear that she’s my mate. I’m slow to place her on the bed, a part of me fearing what she’ll say when I tell her she’s my mate, and that I was made to love her and she was made to love me. Because it’s far too obvious, she doesn’t love me in the least.
I watch as she slowly lifts her knees to her chest, still looking away from me. For the first time I realize she has absolutely no feelings toward me but fear. I can tell she’s on the verge of tears and she doesn’t know what to do and it fucking kills me. My chest rises as I take a heavy breath. My hands tremble, I’ve never felt this way. Not since I was a pup when everything happened back then…
I grind my teeth thinking of that fucking bastard Shadow and the fact that his bite has taken that away from me.
She really can’t feel a pull to me. Not at all.
The bitter absolution makes my chest collapse. I close my eyes and try to gather my thoughts. I have my mate. I told her she belongs to me. She should know what that means. She should know what she means to me. The bed groans as I sit on the edge of it and wrap an arm around her waist to bring her closer to me.
“I expected you to be here when I came home.” Her large hazel eyes finally meet mine as my low voice breaks the silence. “I wanted to hold you.” Her eyes stay on mine as she nods slightly.
“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” I stare at her, wishing I’d spoken differently. I’m not admonishing her. I soften my voice even more.
“It’s all right, baby. I have you now.” I lean down to kiss her lips and she pulls away slightly before tilting her chin up so I can take her lips with mine. I nip her bottom lip and cup her chin in my large hand. Warmth wraps its way around me. Can she feel this? My heart stutters praying that she can.
As I pull away, I rub my thumb across her bottom lip. Her lips are so soft and plump. I lick my own wanting more, but I’m worried she isn’t ready. Her eyes are still closed and her body leans toward me. Please, please, feel this. The spark that ignites inside of me is everything. Her breath comes in shallow pants, making her breasts rise slightly in the white cotton nightgown. My eyes travel down her body and I stroke my hardening dick.