“You don’t really think I would ever hurt you in a way you haven’t consented to, do you?” Her face flushes, and she quickly averts her gaze by looking out the window. But there’s no hiding the sweet scent of her arousal. Fates, I miss her taste.
“There are some things I need to explain to you,” I say while turning the car off and taking out the keys. “And it’ll be easier if I can show you that I’m not insane.” I grin at her and my wolf is damn near giddy at the thought of telling her the truth.
I never want to keep anything from Maya again.
“Wait there a second.” I jump out and scent the air. Pine and earth, fresh air and old shifter scents.Home.No one has been here for at least the past hour, and there’s no one in rangeof us now. I open Maya’s door and offer her my hand. She takes it tentatively, and her eyes rove over me, searching my face before she steps out.
“Maya, I haven’t been completely honest with you about some things,” I say, and she scoffs out a breath before crossing her arms in front of her body. “I want to change that.”
“I gather you stalked me? Found out I was a member of the club, and joined it to get access to me where you could hide your identity and fuck me. Anything else?”
“Yes,” I admit with a wince. “I did those things. But I want to explain why.”
Maya is back to rubbing circles at her temples as she steps away from me. “I shouldn’t be here. I’m a therapist, and I try not to judge people. I try to understand the reasons why people do what they do. But it doesn’t excuse the behavior. You can’t just stalk people and think it’s okay because I agreed to fuck you when I didn’t know it was you. Being hot and great in bed doesn’t excuse your actions.”
Her breathing comes heavy, and her voice is firm. Her submissive side is all but gone as her eyes bore into mine.
“I know that. And I don’t make a habit of stalking women. But you were different. You are my future. My mate. Myfatedmate. The one female in the world who was made for me. I know this because I’m not human, Maya. And neither are you. Not completely.”
Maya gasps, her skin blanches, and her eyes go wide. Her scent spikes with fear—sharp with adrenaline—as she backsaway from me.
“I… I don’t know what you think—”
“Don’t be afraid, Kitten. I would never hurt you. I promise. Let me show you.”
Maya looks like she wants to run; her eyes dart around and her hands are shaking. She’s close to hyperventilating, and what I’m about to do is probably insane given how afraid she is. But somehow I feel sure that if I show her my wolf, show her he would never hurt her, she will realize thatIwould never hurt her.
I kick off my shoes and pull off my belt while Maya watches on, wide-eyed. I strip completely before calling on my wolf and letting the shift take me. The familiar burn of my muscles stretching, the sharp pain of my bones breaking and reforming, and the sensation of hair pushing through my skin tears my focus away from my mate for the two seconds it takes to transform. Then it’s over, and my vision and sense of smell instantly sharpen.
Maya sinks to the ground, tears streaming down her face as she heaves in harsh, gasping breaths. Fuck, I’ve done this all wrong. She’s terrified. My wolf lets out a low whimper and drops to his belly, crawling toward her. I try to force him to shift back, to give me control, but he won’t relinquish it.
All I can do is watch on as my mate buries her head in her hands and falls apart. Powerless to make it better, powerless to stop myself from making it worse.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Maya
The huge dark brown wolf—Ryan—crawls toward me, his stomach flush with the ground and his ears flat as he lets out low whimpers. I can just about make him out through the haze of my tears. My heart pounds so hard in my chest that it feels like it could break free.
Ryan slowly moves into touching distance, and I throw myself at him, burying my face in his soft fur as loud sobs continue to rack my body. He carefully curls around me, and his warmth soaks into my skin, grounding me and wrapping me in a shroud of safety I thought I would never experience.
I don’t know how much time has elapsed when my tears finally stop and my breathing returns to normal, but I’m exhausted and my head pounds. The voice I have been ignoring since I first heard it rings out loud and clear.
Mate.
Claim.
Mine.
The words it has been telling me for weeks now, the ones I have been trying so hard to ignore. The words I don’t understand. Butfor the first time since they started, I can share them with someone else. I can ask questions and get answers.
A ripple runs through Ryan, and then crunching and cracking noises break the silence in the clearing. I sit up and look down at him as his fur recedes and his body changes from being a wolf back to being a man again. His eyes turn from gold to his usual warm brown. There’s a crease between his eyebrows as he scans my blotchy, tear-stained face. He cups my jaw, and I lean into his hand—into his strength.
“I thought I was the only one,” I whisper. My voice is a hoarse and broken thing I barely recognize. When was the last time I let my feelings out like that? When was the last time I felt safe enough to fall apart, knowing someone would catch me?
“You have an animal? You can shift?” Ryan asks, his voice careful and measured, as if he’s afraid to show his hand too soon. His face is impassive, but his eyes gleam with anticipation. I’ve spent years hiding this part of myself, and now he’s looking at me like I’m a beautiful, magical creature, not the monster I always believed I was.
I nod and Ryan’s face breaks into the most genuine smile I’ve ever witnessed. “I never saw you shift, so I thought maybe you weren’t a full shifter. Can I see her?”
