“Me too.”He kissed the top of her head as he drew the blanket over them.“You’re mine now, Sera, and I’m yours.I promise to always be the male you deserve.”
Her answer was a soft exhale as she fell asleep, and he smiled.
They had things to discuss, but it could all wait.
For now, he was going to enjoy falling asleep with his soulmate.
Nothing else mattered.
Sera stirred the sweet cream with a small metal whisk she’d found in the kitchen drawer, the soft, rhythmic sound soothing in the quiet house.The underground home was still and peaceful, worlds away from the chaos that she’d been feeling for so long.Caesar was still asleep in bed.She’d woken before him, and although being in his arms was her new favorite thing, she was ready for coffee and some semblance of normality that she’d been missing in her life.
As she stared at the pale cream she’d made that swirled into the coffee, her mind swirled right along with it.Her whole life she’d been in the jaguar prowl, never really believing she’d ever find her soulmate.She’d resigned herself to a life alone, the thought that someday she might be pressured into a mating by her alpha hanging over her head like a cloud.Carving happiness out of the day-to-day of making coffee-house-quality coffees and breakfast treats for the prowl with Fallon and Sunny, she had considered her lifeas good as it will get.But what had she really known about happiness?
She’d helped Sunny flee Dario.
And then she’d helped Fallon flee DarioandOtto.
Then she’d had to freaking flee herself.Not once, but twice.
From the prowl and then the stallion shifter farm where Fallon had found her soulmate and was now carrying a half-stallion, half-jaguar baby.
Now, as she fixed a cup of coffee for Caesar, hoping he liked it sweet, she smiled at how fast her life had changed yet again, in the span of a day.They’d only met yesterday, but she was half in love with the strong, proud male and wearing his marks in her neck.
It should have felt like it was all too sudden, too much.
But it didn’t.
She felt like she’d been in a holding pattern her entire life, just waiting for things to fall into place to push her away from thejust-existinglife she’d had in Tennessee with the prowl to New Jersey and the park shifters.
“Something smells amazing,” came a deep voice, rough with sleep.
She turned and saw Caesar in the kitchen doorway, bare-chested, his hair mussed, and his eyes warm and heavy-lidded.The connection between them snapped tight, like an invisible line stretching between their hearts.
She lifted both mugs and crossed the small kitchen, handing him his.
“I hope you like sweet coffee.”
She tilted her face to his and he kissed her.“I do.”
He took a sip and let out a low, satisfied growl.“Shit, Sera, this is amazing.”
Her cheeks heated and she smiled as she walked with him to the family room and the comfortable couch.Settling next to him, she took a drink and said, “I’ve always loved making coffee.When Fallon was little, I read a romance novel about a man who ran a coffee shop and his love interest came to work for him.I was really curious about the coffees they made with the sweet creams and syrups, so I watched online tutorials and got proficient at making them.It quickly became my thing in the prowl, and once I started making breakfast items like wraps, muffins, and scones, I felt like I had a purpose.”
He studied her for a long moment, his expression softening.“I really appreciate you making coffee for me this morning.I’m so happy you’re in my life and my mate.”
The way he looked at her, like he was simultaneously worshipping her and undressing her in his mind, made her heart pound.She cleared her throat and took another drink of coffee, letting the smooth, sweet taste ground her.“I don’t know anything about being a pride alpha female.What if your people don’t want me as their alpha female?”
“We’re not soulmates by mistake, Sera.You and I were born to be together, it just took fate areallylong time to bring us together.The pride will be happy that I’ve finally found my soulmate, and they won’t care one bit that you’re a jaguar.It wouldn’t matter if you could shift or not, only that you cared about me and our people.”
“I do care about you.”
“I care about you too.”
While the words were simple and sweet, his tone was hot enough to scorch her.
“You’re the right person to be alpha female of the pride because you’re my soulmate.You’re perfect for the job anyway.You’re strong and resilient.”
“I don’t feel strong.”
