He chuckled and some of the tension between us lifted.
“Not even a hint? I just confessed that my wolf would have tracked you down if I’d shifted and I get nothing in return.”
“Nope,” I said again, without even giving it a second thought. There was no way in hell I was going to admit to what I’d been thinking.
There was a part of me that didn’t want to fight this bond between us. I mean, why bother if the outcome was still going to be the same? But there was also a piece of me that wanted to actually know the man I was destined, or maybe even doomed, to share the rest of my life with before making that leap.
To distract myself, I glanced down at my phone. It was nearly three in the morning.
“It’s late. We should just get some sleep. It’s been a crazy enough day.”
Throwing the party between Theta and Delta Omega Gamma and everything necessary to make it happen, meeting my one true mate, choking in front of everyone, running with his wolf, seeing him naked, sneaking out of his bedroom window like a coward, then escaping campus to deal with it all only to find him here too. All of that in one day.
Over three years we’d managed to avoid each other on campus, now I couldn’t even leave town without running into him.
Looking around the room, I suddenly realized there was only one small bed in the room.
My breath caught and made me cough.
“Zoey!” Monte yelled.
I held my hand to signal to him that I didn’t need help.
Sucking in air and trying to recoup, I managed to get a few words out.
“I’m . . . okay . . . air.”
Instead of giving me the space I needed, he grabbed a glass of water and brought it up to my lips.
“Sip slowly,” he ordered.
His free arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me into his hard chest.
“Breathe, Zoey.”
My body trembled. How the hell was I supposed to remember to breathe when he was this close?
Forcing myself to take a few deep breaths and calm down, I started to relax just a little.
For the first time since meeting Monte, my wolf was at peace. She wasn’t growling in my head or causing high levels of aggression, keeping me on edge. Being wrapped up in his arms calmed my beast in ways I wasn’t prepared for. Tears pricked my eyes. My emotions were all over the place.
“It’s okay. You’re okay,” he said, mistakenly thinking I was upset about nearly choking again. That had nothing to do with it whatsoever.
His hand rubbed up and down my back, soothing a part of my soul in the process.
Get it together, Zoey.
What the hell was wrong with me?
“I’m okay. I think I just need some sleep. It’s been a really long and crazy day.”
“Tell me about it,” he agreed. “Let’s just go to bed. I think we could both use a good night’s sleep.”
I gulped hard, suddenly remembering why I had started coughing to begin with.
“But there’s only one bed,” I blurted out.
He appeared confused as he stepped back and looked back and forth between me and the bed.
