Rejection flared so bright and sudden in Reid’s eyes that it was like someone had stabbed me. “What? I thought you loved me.”
“I do.” I dragged him a few feet away, not wanting an audience for this. We didn’t go far, staying in sight but giving ourselves the illusion of privacy. “Sweetheart, Idolove you. That’s why I’m saying no. I don’t want you to do this because you feel like you don’t have another choice, but because you want it. We’ll find another way around this, Reid. Don’t worry. You don’t need to do this.”
To my surprise, Reid started to chuckle.
I frowned. “What?”
“This is one of those times when we need to communicate better.” He settled his hand over my heart as he smiled shyly up at me. “Evan, Iwantto be your mate. I think I’ve wanted it for a while now, I just didn’t realise. I want to belong to your clan. To your family. To you.”
“You’d always be mine, but you’d never be my possession.”
“I know.” He rose on tiptoes to brush a kiss over my lips. “That’s what makes this decision so easy. I love you, and you’ll always let me be me. That’s all I want in a partner. And the only partner I’ll ever want is you, so let’s make it official. Right now. I want to flick both middle fingers up at fuckface over there before we go to the fishing cabin and you try to fuck me through something solid again.”
Logan chuffed; the wolf equivalent of a laugh. Even Finn looked like he was fighting to keep a straight face.
Guess we hadn’t gone far enough away.
Calan, however, was still locked in. From how he was watching Neil, he was intending on making him his next meal.
“Are ye sure?” I said, searching Reid’s face.
“Areyousure?”
“About you? Always.”
“Good.” He grinned. “Then I’m sure too.”
“No,” Neil blustered, wheeling around on Benji. “You must be mistaken. That law can’t be superseded.”
“The mating bond is respected above everything,” Benji replied. “Plus, I never make mistakes about the law.”
“No. This has to happen. It must.” Neil’s whole form was vibrating. “I can’t fail.”
Several things happened in quick succession.
Neil shifted.
The Clarksons waiting behind him shifted too.
Followed quickly by Finn.
The angels threw up shields.
Finn, Logan and Calan drew closer to us, dropping to their haunches with deadly growls.
I didn’t know who moved first, but suddenly the clearing was a mass of brawling shifters. Jaws were snapping, blood spraying, bright light flaring, illuminating the chaos.
“Quickly,” Reid said, yanking his hoody to the side and exposing his neck.
He was right. We didn’t have time to make this romantic, or do it the way it should be done. But that was okay.
We’d have the rest of eternity for romance. This bond would ensure that.
“I love you,” I said before letting my jaws elongate.
My fangs slipped through Reid’s skin like it was butter. The bridge was built, and I felt Reid across the divide.
Then in my chest. In my head. Wrapped around my heart. Tucked inside my soul.
