“Forgive the mess,” she said as she reached out to flip the light switch in the guest room. “I usually use this space for my workshop, but the bed is pretty comfy.”
Hannah glanced around, her gaze settling on the sculptures along the wall, lingering on the most recent one of Trevor in mid-transformation. Jenna thought her sister would say something about them, but instead, she kept scanning the room, stopping on Trevor’s weekender bag that was still sitting unzipped in the corner.
“I hope I’m not putting anyone else out,” Hannah said, turning to regard her with a curious—albeit downright knowing—expression. “I could sleep on the couch.”
“No, that’s not necessary,” Jenna said quickly. “Trevor was sleeping in here when he first arrived, but he doesn’t use the room now.”
“Because he’s sleeping in yours?” Hannah prompted, brow lifted to go with the matching smile. “And don’t bother denying it. It’s obvious there’s something serious going on between the two of you.”
Jenna laughed. Hannah may have been missing for a decade, but they were still sisters. There was nothing they couldn’t share. There never had been.
“Yeah, it’s serious,” she admitted. “But it’s kind of new, so we’re still figuring everything out.”
“Well, I want to hear all the details in themorning. Just to make sure this guy is good enough for my little sister,” Hannah said, giving her a grin. “I wish I could hear the story right now, but if we sit down and start talking, I’d probably be asleep in five minutes, I’m so wiped out. I’m definitely looking forward to sleeping in the first real bed I’ve seen in a long time.”
Jenna hugged her sister again, even more tightly this time, hating the reminder of the life Hannah had been forced to live. But never again, that was a solemn promise. From this moment on, Jenna would make sure that her sister had whatever she needed.
She walked back into the living room to find Trevor sitting on the couch again. He looked so exhausted that she wondered whether it was the fighting that had worn him out so much or shifting into a full wolf, something that still amazed her.
“Hannah get settled in okay?” he asked softly as Jenna sat beside him.
Jenna rested her head on his strong shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her. “Yeah. She’s absolutely exhausted.”
It was so warm and comforting snuggling against Trevor’s body that Jenna thought she might fall asleep herself until she felt him turn toward her a little and clear his throat.
“I don’t think I ever got around to mentioning this, but one of the abilities that comes with being a werewolf is enhanced hearing,” he said. “Soeven though I wasn’t eavesdropping or anything, I was still able hear you and Connor talking in the kitchen earlier. I heard when he mentioned the soul mate thing.”
She sat up straighter. “Yeah, my brother mentioned that term to me. But he didn’t explain what it meant, other than that it had something to do with the way I feel about you. He said I should talk to you about it, then ran off like a big ol’ chicken.”
Trevor chuckled. “Yeah, that sounds like how Connor would choose to handle the situation.”
“So soul mate?” she prompted when Trevor didn’t say anything else after a while. “I’m assuming it means what I think it means?”
Trevor appeared at a loss for words for a moment before simply nodding. “There’s this legend among werewolves saying that for each of our kind, there’s one and only one person out there who we are meant to be with—The Onewho can accept us for what we truly are. For years, everyone in our pack assumed the legend was just that—a legend. A desperate folktale kept alive by lonely werewolves who could never find someone they trusted enough to tell their biggest secret.”
“Being alone with that kind of secret sounds horrible,” Jenna said softly, knowing exactly what it was like to have a secret she’d never been able to share. “What changed to make you think the legend might be more than that?”
Trevor smiled. “Two and a half years ago, Gage Dixon, the commander of the SWAT team and the alpha of our pack of alpha werewolves, met this extremely nosy journalist who was investigating us and intended to expose our identities as werewolves. Long story short, she and Gage fell in love—extremely fast and extremely hard. It nearly broke the Pack apart, but in the end, we had the first confirmed soul mate connection that any of us had ever witnessed firsthand.”
“How can you know for sure they’re soul mates?” Jenna asked. “Maybe the two of them simply have good chemistry and are great in bed.”
Trevor chuckled softly. “Oh, I expect there was good chemistry and sex, but findingThe Oneis more than that. The second you meet that person, there’s this immediate sense of knowing you’ve found someone special…someone who’s perfect for you. You get this excited feeling in your gut, like you’re on the world’s biggest roller coaster. It’s terrifying but exhilarating at the same time. And that person’s scent—which is impossible to explain to anyone not having a werewolf’s nose—but trust me, that scent is unforgettable.”
Jenna felt a quiver in her stomach, realizing she’d experienced many of those same phenomena herself. Okay, maybe not the whole scent thing, but definitely everything else.
“So I have a distinctive scent that’s unforgettable to you?” Jenna asked.
She felt her face grow warm as she realized it probably sounded like she was fishing for compliments.
“Honeysuckles,” Trevor said without a moment’s hesitation. “Sweet, fruity, and warm with hints of honey and a touch of citrus and vanilla. It makes me think of the hottest part of summer back in Virginia. When you just sit out on the porch and relax with a big glass of Grandma’s homemade lemonade.”
“That’s oddly specific,” she murmured. “It makes me wonder how much time you spent thinking about how I smell.”
His mouth curved. “A lot. Hours and hours actually, especially right after we met, when I still wasn’t sure this was really happening.”
“But you’re sure now?” Jenna asked, though she suspected she already knew the answer to that question. That didn’t mean she didn’t want to hear him say it out loud.
“Yeah. I’ve known for a while that you’reThe Onefor me,” he said. “You’re the person I’m meant to spend the rest of my life with.”
