“Can I admit something?”
I just squinted my eyes and didn’t say anything and waited for her to continue.
“I don’t have a boyfriend. I never had one. I just said it so I won’t look like a loser there in the middle of nowhere.”
“What do you mean?”
“I had a fight with Darvin that night, so I snuck off. I know it’s stupid, but you will never understand.”
“Try me.”
Her hands clutched the jacket I covered her back with. She slipped her arms onto it before crossing them across her chest and leaning her back against the tree behind us. “Darvin wanted me to find my mate once I turned eighteen.”
“Isn’t that what everyone is supposed to do once they reach the age of eighteen?”
“Yes, except he’s giving me three months and if I can’t find him, he will send me to the Claiming like what he wants to do to Katarina.”
“Wow!” I shook my head as my chest constricted. I was hurting for Sofia. “Do you know who he wants to mate you with?”
“No. But I think he was targeting you,” she replied back nonchalantly.
My body jolted in shock. I didn’t see that coming. I opened my mouth to say something, but no words came out.
And then she started giggling as my eyes zeroed in on her. I swallowed hard. My ears started to burn. Her words caught me off guard, and for some unknown reason, it was like I was seeing her for the first time. She didn’t look like a kid to me at the moment, and the carefree way she was laughing was sucking me in.
She was giggling heartily. Her laughter was contagious, and before I knew it, I was laughing with her.
“It’s not that bad to be claimed by me, you know.” I chuckled at my own words. “You’ll get the best of both worlds.”
Her eyebrows hiked up, a wide smile curled on her lips, and damn it, those lips looked fucking delicious.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“It’s a secret. It’s for you to find out.” I winked at her.
“If I don’t get mated with you, then I will never find out.”
“Yeah, I feel sorry for you then. But who knows, maybe I will end up claiming you.”
“You know I was just joking when I said Darvin was targeting you?”
“I know. Because who wants to be claimed by a Beta when this world is swarmed by Alphas with big territories and big egos?”
“I surely don’t want to be claimed by Alphas with big egos.” She giggled and laid her hand out to me. My gaze dropped to her hand and then back to her face.
“Take my hand.” She said it like she was bossing me around. “I want to see if I will be comfortable holding yours. Maybe I can make Darvin force you to claim me instead.” A teasing smile was still on her lips, and I was wondering if she was serious or playing games with me.
I shook my head, a grin plastered on my face as I took her hand, clasping it with mine before resting our entwined hands on my knee. She didn’t say a word but just held on to my hand tightly and I had no fucking idea what I was doing or what I was feeling. But it felt comfortable, like I’d been holding her hands forever.
The grin on my face disappeared as my forehead creased. I don’t know why, all of a sudden, I was entertaining the thoughts of claiming her instead of Janna. Maybe because I was sure Janna didn’t want me. At least with Sofia, she laughed at my jokes. I could live with that. And her hands were soft. And I wondered if her body felt the same way.
“Is it that bad that you are frowning?” Her voice sounded sad.
“No. It’s not. I was wondering, maybe it wasn’t a bad idea.”
“What do you mean?” She tugged her hand away, but I didn’t let go.
“Nothing.”
