“Where?” I finished my coffee. It was rich and dark and would probably keep me up the rest of the night. Worth it.
“There’s a place right outside the city where other shifters go to run as their animals. My wolf wants to meet yours. If you don’t want to or it’s too fast—”
“I want to,” I interrupted in my excitement. “It’s been so long since I went for a run.”
Evander beamed with a big smile. “That’s great. Are you ready to go?”
We drove to the outskirts of the city to a small patch of forest. We stripped and shifted together, and that was when everything changed.
My wolf whined at Evander’s alpha wolf. He came over and licked my muzzle and scented me, all over my body. Scenting his mate, his omega.
I thought shifters had to run together to bond but right there, only seconds after shifting, the bond clicked into place.
He was my mate. My true mate. The one person born to love me and I him.
No question about it. Thank goodness I’d finished my coffee. I would need the energy. Evander nudged me with his wolf nose and took off at a sprint. I ran after him.
His wolf was all black with blue eyes just like his human side. He was beautiful. Thick, shiny fur.
We played for hours. Chasing each other under the cover of the trees. Finally, we tired and lay at a tree’s roots next to each other.
Can you hear me, mate?
I startled, whirling from my side onto my belly. I’d heard of other shifters who were able to speak into each other’s minds when they were bonded, but I wasn’t marked by Evander.
Maybe it didn’t matter.
I hear you, alpha. How is this possible?
Because, Hudson, we’re mates. You’re my omega. I always knew you were. Your wolf likes me.
Smug alpha.
My wolf adored him. Was head over tail in love with him.
And I had to admit, so was I.
Chapter Fifteen
Evander
It was very hard to take things slow. And by human definition, we weren’t. However, by the shifter version, we were moving at a snail’s pace. My alpha dad was visiting another pack when he laid eyes on his mate. By the end of the weekend, my omega dad was riding back home with him, ready to begin their life together.
No extensive dating like humans. They said they’d spent their whole lives getting to know one another with no need to do it from separate places.
But I had no need to rush what I hoped would be rest of our lives. Especially since my omega and I were spending all our free time together. I was prepared to keep to our agreement. My wolf, on the other hand, wanted to close the deal. Mark our mate. Move him into our den where we could keep him safe and warm and well-fed. Hudson had been so traumatized in his previous relationship, it was amazing he wanted as much as we did have together. My wolf was just going to have to chill, and I was going to have to pretend that he was chilling. Because if I pushed him, Hudson was going to close down completely.
From our nights together in bed to our time at the club, I felt as if so much was being left on the table. And it wasn’t just my wolf who wanted more, who wanted it all.
So I took what he offered freely and didn’t insist on more. But I still had other things to deal with, primarily the possibility of accepting the offer to buy into the clubs. My attorney had let me know he saw no issues with the contract, but I needed more than his feedback.
I needed to talk with someone who could help me think it through on a personal level. But I was bound by an NDA and apromise, and until I resolved that, my hands were tied. So, with that in mind, I left the kitchen and went in search of Gatlin.
At this time of day, right before opening, I hoped to find him in his office. The halls were anything but deserted, with employees bustling around, and when I poked my head into the kitchen, you’d have thought I was the health inspector.
“We didn’t expect you tonight, Chef,” Jenna said. “Everything good?”
“Are we doing anything wrong?” a sous chef blurted out. “We can fix it.”
