I closed my eyes, shook my head, and headed out to start my long shift in the medical bay. If I made sure to avoid any place Fen might be, well, who could blame me?
I’d never been one for cowardice, but I owed him a hell of an apology, and I wasn’t sure when I’d get the words or the courage to own up to it.
CHAPTER 8
Fenris
I’d gotten up before her to make breakfast, but one glance around her kitchen reminded me just how much time she spent in the infirmary. She ran on coffee and whatever she could scrounge up from the cafeteria.
Shocker.
Short of the leftovers I’d brought the night before and a jug of milk with a science experiment growing on top of it, she didn’t have anything substantial, certainly not enough for me to make her a feast deserving of the morning after a mark.
She’d marked me.
She’d fucking marked me.
Slipping on my boots, I thought about leaving her a note to let her know I’d be back, but if I hurried, I could get there and return before she even realized I was gone. Wyn might act like she preferred to plan years in advance, but she secretly liked surprises, especially when food was involved.
So I stuffed my hands in my coat pockets and shuffled through the snow, grinning like an idiot as the bite on my neck twinged. Maybe I should have been more upset about it. She hadn’t asked. Hell, we’d only been doing whatever this was for five days.
But my inner beast howled with delight. It confirmed what he’d known all this time, and the human had taken years to figure out. She was my mate. There was no other explanation. And she’d claimed me.
Yeah, maybe she’d done it in the heat of the moment, perhaps compelled by some unknown magic that only our animals understood. But she’d done it. And there was no taking it back.
Technically, I could reject it. I could refuse to mark her and let the bond fizzle out over the course of the next few months. But I wouldn’t. I’d get her food and hand-feed her in bed, and only once I’d forced her to admit this was a good thing, I’d lean over her beautiful naked body and sink my teeth into that creamy skin.
I practically shook at the thought.
I didn’t expect to be ambushed by a group of six-year-olds fresh out of arts and crafts.
“Fenris!” Jessi shouted, her face covered in glitter and paint. “Look!”
She held up a piece of construction paper covered in the same stuff. By the looks of her, she’d gotten more on her fingers and cheeks than the paper itself, but nuance.
“What cha got there, huh?” I scooped her up and balanced her on my hip while she explained her artistic masterpiece.
“That’s momma and papa, and that’s our dog,” she said.
“Dog?” I raised my eyebrows. “You finally broken them down?”
“Well, not yet,” she admitted as I put her back on her feet. “But when they see the picture, they’ll know I’ll be so happy if they say yes.”
I laughed and rubbed a hand over her head. “Sounds like a good plan.”
“Where’s Wyn?” She glanced around with her bright eyes and grinned.
“She’s still sleeping,” I said. “I’m on a mission for breakfast.”
She scrunched her nose and giggled. “You smell like her.”
“Do I?” Of course, I did. I had her teeth marks in my neck and her magic in my veins.
“Yeah,” she said, but that didn’t seem to faze her. “Don’t forget the snickerdoodles.” She turned and scampered over to her teacher, who was currently wiping the hands of one of Jessi’s classmates.
“Fen!” called another pup. “Come see mine!”
Despite my time-sensitive covert operation, I couldn’t very well ignore the pleas of children. So I set my spoils on a nearby table and walked over to admire each one, making sure they knew how much their families would cherish their work. It reminded me of Lyra at this age, all gap-toothed smiles and wide-eyed innocence.
