He moved closer, studying me with an intensity that made my skin prickle. “You are not a wolf.” It wasn’t a question. He wasprocessing something. Working through an equation that didn’t add up. “What are you?”
“I’m HUMAN!” I practically shouted it. “A regular, normal human person who runs a bookstore and does NOT summon magical creatures on purpose!”
He looked genuinely shocked. Stumbled back a step, hand still pressed to his chest. “Human?” The word came out strangled. “But that is not possible. The bond-” He shook his head, looking at me with wide eyes. “I felt it. The mate bond. From the moment I opened my eyes in this place, I knew. You are my fated mate. But humans cannot be mates to wolves. It has never happened. Not once in all our recorded history.”
He was staring at me the way I’d stare at someone who told me the sky was green and grass was blue.
“How is this possible?” he asked, more to himself than to me.
“You’re asking ME how it’s possible?!” I was still holding the book up between us. My arms were getting tired. “You’re the one from another dimension or whatever! You tell me!”
We stared at each other. Him, looking increasingly distressed and confused. Me, terrified and confused and still feeling that stupid pull in my chest toward him. It was stronger now. So much stronger. Like a rubber band stretched to its limit, desperate to snap us together.
I hated it.
“What are you?” I asked. My voice shook. “What are you really?”
He drew himself up to his full height. Suddenly he didn’t look confused anymore. He looked regal. Dangerous. Every inch the predator I’d suspected he was.
“I am Malachar Ashborne,” he said, and his voice had gone formal. Ancient. “King of Ravenor. Alpha of the Ashborne Pack. First of the Ashborne line to claim Ravenor. I am wolf.” His eyes locked onto mine. “And you are my fated mate. The other half of my soul. The one the Moon Goddess created to match mine. But you are human, which should not be possible, yet here we stand.”
I processed this. Alpha. Wolf. Fated mate. Other half of his soul. Moon Goddess.
My life had officially jumped the shark.
“I’m Wen Woods,” I said weakly. I lowered the book slightly. My arms really were tired. “Owner of a failing bookstore. Member of a book club named after a vampire who sparkles. And apparently I accidentally summoned a wolf from another dimension with a spell book on Halloween. So. That’s where we’re at.”
His eyes went to the ancient tome still sitting on the coffee table. “Spell book?” He moved toward it, blanket shifting dangerously low on his hips. “You used magic? Human magic?”
“I didn’t mean to!” My voice cracked. “We were just joking around. It was Halloween and we found this old book and there was a love spell and we thought it would be funny to try it and-”
I stopped. Took a breath. Tried to find some semblance of calm.
“Look,” I said. “I don’t know what happened. I don’t know how you got here. But you need to leave. You need to go back to your world. Back to your kingdom. You have responsibilities. People who need you. You can’t just-” I gestured helplessly at him. At the bookstore. At the situation. “You can’t just stay here. I can’t - this is too much. All of it. It’s too much.”
Something flashed across his face. Pain. Raw and undeniable. His hand went to his chest again, pressing hard. “You wish me gone?”
The words came out rough. Wounded.
“You reject the bond?” he asked, and there was disbelief in his voice. Horror. “You reject me?”
“I reject the insanity!” I was shaking now. “All of it! Werewolves and mate bonds and other dimensions and magic and - I can’t do this. I just can’t. So please. Just get out.”
He stared at me for a long moment. His eyes had gone darker. Hurt bleeding through the red.
Then, to my absolute shock, he turned toward the door.
This massive, powerful wolf just started to obey. Started to leave. Because I’d told him to.
But he paused at the door. Looked back at me over his shoulder. “As you wish, little mate,” he said quietly.
The back door opened. He stepped through.
I rushed forward and slammed it behind him, engaging the lock with shaking hands. I didn’t look to see where he went. Didn’twatch through the window. Just pressed my back against the door and slid down to sit on the floor.
“What the actual fuck is going on?” I whispered to my empty bookstore.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. Once. Twice. Three times. The girls were definitely panicking.
