“I know. But has your bear saidanythingto you?”
Yes, actually. Happily rising up on his hind legs, the bear in Elliott’s chest did a little dance that set his human heart to racing. Choking out the words, he admitted, “He said something that sounded like ‘mate’ yesterday.”
The grins greeting him were fucking blinding.
“When you were with Fern?” Liv double-checked.
“Yes.”
Chaos erupted on the front porch. “I knew it! I knew it!” Olivia shouted, leaping to her feet.
Noa met her energy, and the two women clasped hands while hopping in a circle, shaking the floorboards and rattling his front windows.
Elliott bounced his knee, sending a spray of coffee flying, marring hiswhite T-shirt as he awaited the words he feared. “Feared” may have been too strong; perhaps “anticipated” was a better choice.
He hadn’t even considered the option, not because he didn’t believe it was possible at all; he never believed it was possible forhim. It was too rare.
Celebrations brought Noa to a stop in front of Elliott. Leaning down, she grabbed his chair’s arms and beamed. “You know what this means, right?” Then she pushed off, setting him rocking back and spilling more coffee on his shirt.
He nodded dumbly.
“Gonna need to hear you say it,” Olivia goaded.
It made too much sense to deny. The way her scent overpowered him, the way he was compelled to care for her without starting a bond, the way he couldn’t get enough of her and was letting her plow right through his shoddy walls. He’d been insane since Friday because she wasit.
“She’s my true mate.”
Noa’s squeal and Liv’s loud claps sent birds fleeing the trees.
“Took you long enough, my god!” Noa cheered.
“I didn’t even consider it. Not after Ben and Liv met.” Swallowing thickly, he scrubbed his fingers through his hair, forgetting it was up in a bun. “Fuck.” He set to work fixing it, mind racing.
Was it possible all his fears were unfounded? Was it possible they wereperfectfor one another on a molecular level, in a magical sense? His anxiety spiked as he realized the implications of such a thing: He’d have to be worthy of her.
And really, what did he bring to the table?
Retaking her seat, Olivia got serious. “You’vegotto tell her. Your bear clearly knows, and if you don’t want him to fuck things up, tell her yourself.”
“How do you tell someone all of this?” He flung his arms wide, splashing what remained of his coffee over the railing and into the grass. “I grew up knowing how it is with mates. Dude, how am I supposed to explain this to a human?”
Liv shrugged, and he was reminded she’dneverbeen human, even though she’d turned up in town pretending to be one.
“I’m willing to give it a shot,” Noa offered.
Relief had him stretching his neck like a meerkat, bringing him up to Noa’s height even though he sat and she stood. “Really?”
“Sure. We already told her about mate bonds—loosely. I have an appointment this afternoon. It’s theperfecttime to talk to her about it. I’m getting a big chop at the Big Chop and a consult for color.” She flicked her long hair over one shoulder.
“Okay?Whatare you going to talk to Fern about? You’re not going to tell her the true mate thing, are you?”
Noa smirked.
“Don’t!” Elliott shouted.
“I won’t!” Noa laughed. “I’ll tell her about theexistenceof potential mates and true mates and how bonding works.”
“And the sickness?” Elliott asked. “Will you explain that?”
