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The mother had given us her blessing.
My coven cheered.
“Let’s go home,” Draven said.
CHAPTER 23
Draven
Iris was quiet on the ride to the keep.
I glanced over at her again. She was looking out the side window, Nia’s head in her lap. She had the fingers of one hand buried in her familiar’s fur and the other held her little potted plant. My wolf chuffed at the sight of them, content for the first time in a long fucking time because she was coming home with me. Her bags were in the back of my truck, and she was sitting there in that white dress, flowers still in her hair, looking so beautiful I could barely control myself.
God, waiting on the other side of that arch for her had nearly killed me. But then she’d walked through, she’d taken my hand and smiled up at me with that fucking cute little lopsided grin, and my heart had started beating again.
“What are you thinking?” I asked before I could stop the words. I wanted her to want to be with me so badly. I knew that doing what I had, forcing her hand this way, was fucked up, but it had to be done, for both our sakes. She said herself that she wanted me. I just hoped she didn’t hate me for it for the rest of our lives.
She turned from the window. “A lot of things.”
“Like what?” I shouldn’t push. She didn’t owe me a damned thing, but I couldn’t stop. I wanted to know everything she was thinking and feeling. I wanted to be inside her goddamn head. Obsessed wasn’t strong enough a word for the way I felt about the female beside me. My female.
She ran her hand over Nia’s fur. “Like I’m kind of surprised how well Warrick took this whole thing. He’s usually protective of his new sisters.”
“If you consider threatening to tear my dick off if I hurt you, well? Then I suppose he did.”
“He said that?”
“Yeah, but he also wasn’t going to get in my way. Warrick knows what it’s like to pine for your mate and not be able to claim her.”
She rubbed her lips together, her gaze darting from mine.
I wasn’t letting her retreat. “What else are you thinking?”
She glanced back at me. “How does your pack feel about me coming to live with them? I know a lot of them don’t like me.”
“They will treat you with respect. You’re my mate. They love me, and they’ll grow to love you. What else?”
A small laugh escaped her, surprising me. “You’re the most intense male I have ever met.”
“I’m only this way around you.” And that was the truth.
“I find that hard to believe.”
“You’ll see. Things will calm down now we’re together.”
Her gaze came to mine, then drifted away again. “You say we’re together, what does that mean for you?”
I should hold back everything that welled up inside me at that moment, but she needed to know the truth. The sooner she understood the way things would be between us, the better. “It means you are mine, Iris. I will claim you in every way it’s possible for a being to claim another. I’ll take care of you, protect you, and I’ll always be faithful to you.” I glanced over at her, and she stared at me wide-eyed, her lips slightly parted. I couldn’t read her expression. “And I’ll belong to you,” I added, wanting that so fucking badly. Wanting her to claim me as well, even if it all went to shit, even if this turned out to be a disaster. I still wanted that from her.
I heard her swallow in the now silent cab of the truck. “You can’t just say stuff like that.”
“Why not?” I couldn’t not say stuff like that to her. I needed her to know it, to accept it.
“Because…this whole situation is insane. You just forced me into a relationship with you, Draven. What you just said scares the hell out of me. We barely know each other. It’s too much, too soon.”
I gripped the wheel tighter and tried to slow my breathing. “I’ve been free from my prison for just over a year, Iris. Almost everything I ever wanted is finally within my grasp. I don’t know how to be subtle, I don’t know how to play it cool. I wasn’t born in your time, I feel like I’ve barely lived in it. I’m sorry if my intensity scares you, but I’m your mate, and as long as you’re always honest with me, everything will be fine.” I stared out the windshield, and I felt her watching me. I wanted to ask what she was thinking again but resisted, barely.
“And if I’m not honest with you?”
