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Chapter Twelve
Orion
“Let me take that from you.” I reached out to take her bag as she resettled it on her shoulder. Our hands brushed and it was over.
No more wondering.
No more hoping.
Druscilla was my mate, and that meant she was Koa’s mate. I stood there, probably looking like the biggest doofus on the planet.
“You okay, Orion?” Koa asked, but I was in the throes of the joy and elation of finding my mate.
No, I wasn’t okay.
And hell yeah, I was okay.
Druscilla’s mouth opened, and she blinked a few times, staring at me. She was a human, so it was impossible that she knew what was happening to me. Unless—unless this sensation could be felt by a human?
“I, um, I need to use the restroom.” She walked away but in the direction of the baggage carousels.
Koa stopped her, but his hand touched her shirt. “Druscilla, the restrooms are over there.”
My Bigfoot felt the waves of confusion fizzling from her to me. “Oh. Of course. I’m all…I’ll be back.”
She sprinted toward the bathroom. She felt something. I was sure of it.
“What the hell was that?” he asked as we made our way to the roundabout where all of the luggage was rolling out.
“She’s our mate.”
Koa stopped dead in his tracks. “You’re sure? You touched her?’
I choked getting the words out. This was a big deal. The biggest deal of my life. “I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life. Our fingers simply grazed.” Everyone around us was going about their business. Getting their luggage. Checking their flights. Hugging each other goodbye or hello, and here I was, having the most profound moment of a shifter’s life.
“Do you think…she ran off. You think she knew?” Koa spoke to me, but his gaze was on the bathroom door where Druscilla had fled. Where our mate had fled. But unless there was another door, she couldn’t have actually left. And I didn’t see any way there could be a second exit.
“I don’t know. She maybe just had to pee.”
Minutes later, Druscilla emerged from the bathroom. We already had her bags in hand since she’d texted us pictures of them before the flight. She’d tied some bandanas on the handles, thinking that would make them stand out. She was right. “I can roll them myself,” she murmured.
“What kind of gentlemen would we be if we let you do that?” Koa said, but a line formed on his forehead. He was worried. About what, I didn’t know. Maybe the interview. Maybe this entire situation.
“Are you sure you don’t need anything?” I asked once more for good measure.
“No. I’m fine. I think the day just took it out of me.” Her eyes were puffier than I remembered from the video chats, and my Bigfoot felt the unease and the exhaustion seeping through the new, paper-thin bond that would thicken with time.
“Let’s get you home, then. I mean, to our home.” Koa led the way through the airport and into the parking garage. He insisted on Druscilla sitting in the front seat with me and, while we drove off, he looked out the window. He did that when he was upset.
“From the video chat, it looked like you live in a log cabin,” Druscilla muttered, turning her head to look at me. Her scent was intoxicating and was almost its own pulse the way it moved through the cab of the truck. This had to be handled delicately. I didn’t know of any Bigfoot mating with a human, but I’d assumed it had happened over the centuries of our existence. It had to have.
Humans took time to fall in love. Question that love and their feelings and then decide if it’s all worth it. We were different as shifters, of course. Once we found our mate, there was no question as to whether they were the ones for us.
It simply was, and we accepted it as a gift from Fate.
“We do. We actually built it ourselves. It’s up on a mountain, and the views are spectacular. I hope you’ll love it while you’re here,” I answered and ticked my gaze to Koa who had his nose pressed against the window. I wished I could ask him what was wrong, but I wouldn’t do that in front of Druscilla. It would take Koa a minute to warm up.
Especially since he hadn’t had the honor of touching her yet.
