“Have you thought about what you want to do here? With your days, I mean.”
“Not really, not yet. I want to get a better feel for the place, for the pack. After I get a few good feels of my mate.”
She smiled, enjoying him immensely.
“I wonder how the others are doing. How many are hoping to stay and how many are already on their way back home.”
“Do you need to check in with anybody for your work?”
“Nah, it can all wait until tomorrow. One of the beautiful things about being the boss, although I can be more demanding on myself than others.”
“I’ll help keep you in line.”
“Yeah, right, that will be interesting to see.”
“If I think you’re overdoing it, I’ll just wander around the house naked.”
“Hmm, you may have a workable strategy there, I’m not gonna lie.”
They made their way back into the cabin when the light had fully gone. She switched on a lamp while he lit a fire under the wood already prepared in the fireplace. She poured them more wine and looked in the fridge. There were two steaks marinating in a dish and a bowl of green beans, already trimmed. She found garlic, spices, olive oil and sliced almonds.
“I really like this place. Do they do this for everyone or did you make specific instructions?”
“I made specific instructions, but they seemed prepared for the requests.”
They worked together as if they’d done it a hundred times, this time using her phone for music. He sang along to several of the songs, so she figured they had at least some compatibility in that department. Hell, it seemed they had compatibility in every department. She’d known, believed in, the magic of a mate, but had never comprehended the true perfection and beauty of it.
“You know, Myra had a mate before Adam.”
Jonas paused in his task of stirring the sautéing beans. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, he died before I moved out there. I think they were together for two or three years.”
“Holy shit.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring this down. I just was thinking how amazing it is, and I always knew it was awful for her to lose her mate, but now—”
He put the wooden spoon down and drew her into his arms. “I know, baby. I can’t imagine. Don’t want to imagine it. I’m glad she’s got Adam, now.”
“Me, too.” She reached up to give him a kiss. “I’m okay, don’t let the beans burn. I’m just…happy. And that made me sad,” she laughed. “But I’ll go back to being happy.”
“I’m happy, too. I knew I would be. But this…this is indescribable.”
She turned the steaks and searched out the plates. He lit the candles already waiting on the table and poured the last of the wine into their glasses. She plated the beans and topped them with the almond slivers while he pulled the steaks to rest. When they had everything together and sat, he offered his glass in a toast. Touched, she held hers up.
“To our forever.”
Her throat got so tight she couldn’t say anything for a long moment. “To our forever,” she managed to repeat. She took a tiny sip then met him for a kiss. Long and slow, just like their first date. The idea made her giggle, and she pulled back, waggled her eyebrows at him.
“Fuel up, big man.”
Grinning at her, he took a large bite.
Chapter Five
Since neither of them were morning people, Jonas was surprised that they did wake up early enough to go for a morning run at dawn. Her naked body wrapped around his had him re-thinking the plan, but she gave him a cheeky grin and climbed out of bed. He was mesmerized by the view as she stretched up on tiptoes, arms pulled tight over her head. Then she transformed and led the way out of the room to the cabin door.
He opened it up and pulled it closed behind them, before calling on his wolf. He wouldn’t have thought it possible for the intensity of his feelings for his mate, for the bond that had formed so solidly, to increase, but when they touched as wolves, muzzle to muzzle, her scent filling him up, he was nearly overwhelmed. She licked at him and twined her body around his, marking him with her scent.
