Evangeline rushes to her side. “You what? How? What did you do, Loch?”
“I didn’t—”
Except, I did.
“We were having… sex and suddenly she’s asking me to bite her, and I did but then she bit me too, and I knotted—”
“You knotted?” Xander asks, his typical deep voice an octave higher. He stands from kneeling next to Farrah after inspecting her condition and crosses his arms. “Shit.”
He knows I’ve never knotted for anyone. Ever. Over my thousand years of existence, I’ve neverwantedto knot with a partner. It’s typically done for breeding purposes, but some gargoyles do it for pleasure.
Not me.
Knotting always seemed too intimate, and I’m not known for relationships and commitment.
Yet knotting with Farrah feltright.
“I didn’t intend to… I… it’s like I had no control over it. I swear.”
I’m shaking. My entire body is in shock.
Or it could be the energy of the newly activated fated mate bond.
It doesn’t like that my mate is passed out.
Idon’t like that she’s still hasn’t woken up.
“I felt the bond click into place and seconds later Farrah passed out.”
Evangeline takes her best friend’s hand. “Her body couldn’t handle it.”
Xander shakes his head. “It’s not supposed to happen like this.” He sighs and runs his four-fingered hand down his face.
“Exactly. She didn’t consent to this,” I say to Xander then turn my attention to Evangeline. “You should punish me. Turn me to stone.”
She rolls her eyes. “Don’t be dramatic, Locheran. You’re her mate. Your death would likely be the cause of her own. You know that.”
She stands and takes her phone out of her jeans pocket.
“I need to call my mom. She might have a better explanation.”
While Evangeline makes the call, I kneel next to the couch by Farrah’s side. I take her hand in mine, and the mating bond lights up with excitement. I bring her knuckles to my mouth and press a soft kiss.
Mymate.
I never thought it would happen.
Hell, I wish it hadn’t happened this way.
There’s always a chance that Farrah will reject the bond. It’s rare, but it can happen. She may not have given verbal consent for the bond to lock in place, but she’ll have free will once she wakes. If her heart doesn’t truly want this… want me… the connection will break.
Typically, mates spend anywhere from a few days to weeks together to intensify the bond with pleasure and nearness. It’s the monster version of a human honeymoon.A time when we’re the most vulnerable because we have to hope it’s what our partner truly wants.
I am more scared now than I’ve ever been. Never in the aftermath and losses of battle has my heart ached the way it does now.
What if she rejects me?
I’m used to being on my own. I’ve lived most of my life surrounded by those I love and care for, but it’s not the same as experiencing the love of a mate. And while the only family I have left in this world is Xander and my fellow gargoyle soldiers, I yearn for little spawn of my own.
