Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 37590 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 188(@200wpm)___ 150(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37590 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 188(@200wpm)___ 150(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
Lucas listened. His father had called last night, and he’d told him about the storm and the accident and how Mabel didn’t appear to be healing.
He didn’t like her foot not healing quick enough.
“It’s been cleaned well and dressed,” the medic said.
“Lucas did it for me,” Mabel said.
The medic turned toward him. “It’s good to know all the scrapes you got into as a boy paid off, huh?”
He smiled. The medic was in his seventies but didn’t look a day over forty. It was a good thing to have a werewolf gene. The aging process slowed down.
With his arms folded, he saw the medic out. There was no sign of how he’d get home, but he had no doubt the man would find his way.
Rather than go and see Mabel, he went to the kitchen to make them some lunch. The fridge had once again been restocked and they had a lot of choices. He settled on a cheese and pickle sandwich.
After laying out the slices of bread, he spread them with butter and sprinkled on some of the cheese he’d grated.
“You didn’t come back up,” Mabel said, entering the kitchen.
“As you can see, I’m making us some lunch.”
“How did the medic know to come?”
He glanced up at her. “I told my dad.”
“You got a call?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh.”
“I’m sure your parents will call the moment they can.”
“But at least your dad was ready to call you.”
Lucas cut the bread into triangles and moved toward the dining room. He wanted to carry Mabel, but he also wanted to keep his distance after the accusations she’d thrown at him last night. There had been no intention of forcing his mark on her, or initiating the proper mating.
They were destined mates. The pull, the lust, the drive were all there, telling them both they were meant to be together. However, they hadn’t truly mated yet.
“I’m sorry,” Mabel said.
“Apology accepted.”
“Then why won’t you look at me?”
He lifted his gaze up as he sat down. “I’m looking at you now.”
“You’re not the same.”
“So you can throw around your insults, and I take it, but you don’t like being on the receiving end when you were wrong about last night.”
“I know. I shouldn’t have—”
“I get that you don’t want to have anything to do with me. I was an asshole, but I’m trying to make it up to you. I’ve given you three years. I didn’t push for this before then and I gave you time and space. This is all on you, Mabel.” He slammed his hand on the table.
“I don’t want to fight with you.”
“Well, maybe I want to fight with you. Have you ever thought about that?” He stood up and started to pace the length of the dining room. “I get it. I fucked up. I was the big fucking bully back in high school. I’m the one to stick my hand in the air and admit I was a giant prick to you. So much so, I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but here’s the thing… I can’t let you go. I don’t want to let you go. You’re my mate. The woman who above everyone else has been destined to me, and I can’t turn my back on that no matter how much I want to.”
“You don’t want to be mated to me.”
“Yes. No, I mean … fuck! Now I’m just getting confused. I’m not the same guy, okay? The dick who was mean to you, he wasn’t taking his role as an Alpha seriously. He was a bastard. He’s the one who would have bit you to get what he wanted. I don’t know what happened to me. All I know is that I’ll do anything for you. I’d never hurt you. I’d never lie to you, and I won’t bite you without your fucking permission.” He ran fingers through his hair, feeling his anger start to abate. “You know, you pretty much accused me of almost raping you.”
“No, I didn’t.” Her voice was so small.
“Even when you want me, crave me, you’re going to fight it, aren’t you?”
She lifted her head and looked at him. “I … this is hard.”
“Yeah, tell me about it.” He dropped down into his chair. All of his appetite was gone. He didn’t want to argue, not really. “I need to go out for a walk.” Getting to his feet, he pushed away from the table and walked toward the doorway.
“Have you ever thought that it’s because of our mating that you’ve changed?” she asked.
He stopped and turned to look at her. “Yes, I do.”
“If you hadn’t gone through the transition, you’d probably still find me fat and ugly.”
“For fuck’s sake, Mabel. I didn’t think you were fat and ugly back then.”
She snorted. “Yeah, right.”
“I said bad shit because … you were always a stuck-up little bitch.”