The driver’s car door opened and closed, and she swallowed hard.Henry…
“Maia, I’m still the same person who loves you.Perhaps I should’ve explained earlier, but selfishly, I wanted you to know me better.Don’t get me wrong.I’ve always known you’re my mate, but the age difference worked against us until now.You’re a strong woman with goals and aspirations.It’s taken this stubborn male a bit longer than you to understand that we might have years between us, but we’re equals.We care for each other, and that is all that matters.”
Mate?
Maia’s brain seized on that info and refused to go further.She wrote about mates, read about them in other authors’ books.She glanced at Henry and knew that her gaze was probing.But damn it, she wanted details.
More information.
Was this why she felt compelled to get closer each time she spotted Henry?Even as a child?
“Tell me about mates.”
Henry started his vehicle.“In the shifter world, when a couple is perfect for each other, they’re called mates.One completes the other, and no one else will do.To cement the bond, they’ll bite each other here.”He tapped a spot at the base of his neck.“In our case, because you’re a human, I would do the biting.The wound will heal, leaving a slight scar and sensitivity to touch.It lets other shifters know you’re claimed.”
Maia pondered this.Caveman, much?“Do you howl and need to shift at full moon?”
“We all shift frequently, which means the full moon doesn’t create problems.And yes, sometimes I howl to celebrate life.”
Maia thought of the kids.“Are there lots of shifters in Middlemarch?”
“Yes,” Henry said, glancing at her.“Right now, you need rest, but I’ll answer any further questions tomorrow.You can also talk to London.”
“London?”Maia asked.
“She’s human.Also, Laura and Charlie.They have shifter mates, and you can speak freely to them.They’ve gone through this.”
“What’s that?”Maia asked, her tone sharp.She felt as if someone had pulled the ground from under her feet, and she’d fallen on her arse.
“Learning the person in their bed has dual forms,” Henry said.
And with that, he backed out of the driveway.
Maia leaned back and closed her eyes.Discombobulated.A fantastic word to describe exactly what she felt.It wasn’t disbelief because she’d seen the wolf and black leopard.She’d watched Henry and the kids transform.
“I’m out of sorts because I can’t believe Amanda attacked me,” she blurted into the heavy silence.“It’s not that you turn into a wolf or that I’m living with animals.”A giggle burst from her, a hairsbreadth from hysteria.Maybe she was worried about this discovery.She shouldn’t be because they’d saved her, but she was shocked.“Sorry, that sounded insulting.I don’t mean to offend anyone.”
Henry gently squeezed her knee.“You have a right to your anger.”
“I’ll have to call Rose tonight,” Maia said, cringing inside.
“What are you going to tell her?”
Maia frowned at the tension in Henry, slow to understand.“Oh!”she said when the truth slammed her sluggish brain.“I’ll tell the coach the local police arrested Amanda for attacking and stalking me since my arrival in Middlemarch.Nothing else.”
“Good,” Henry said.
They lapsed into silence.Maia thought about the locals with dual forms, many of them kids.There was no way she’d place them in danger.No way.The kids had saved her.If they hadn’t summoned help, anything might’ve happened.
Finally, Henry pulled up in front of his home.She hadn’t considered demanding that he take her to her house, and that told her everything.She didn’t fear Henry or the others and would never break their confidence.Never.
Henry mightn’t openly display his emotions, but she loved him.With every small action, he showed he cared for her.Apart from the stalking aspect, moving to Middlemarch was an excellent decision she didn’t regret.
Knowing Henry was a wolf shifter shed light on Levi’s perplexing comments, propensity to howl, and other things that had struck her as odd.Yeah, none of this truth changed her everyday life.It was Amanda’s actions that had Maia gritting her teeth.The betrayal.
“If I contact the Black Fern selectors and tell them Amanda attacked me and I’m uncertain if I’ll be fit to take part in the trials, do you think they’ll tell me not to bother?”Her biggest fear.Amanda might’ve scuttled her chances of obtaining her dream.
“My advice is to wait for two days.The worst bruising will appear by then, and the swelling should decrease.You’ll know if you’re capable of a hard training session.”
