Page 44 of His to Hunt

“Well?” she asks nervously.

I don’t answer immediately. I can’t. My wolf presses against my skin, restless and hungry. I imagine her wearing that dress at my side while every wolf in Silver Pack realizes Mother Fate didn’t forget me after all. She was just hiding my mate behind old magic and human misery.

Taryn shifts her weight. “Bad?”

“No,” I say, my voice rough. “You might as well have wrapped yourself in something that screams dangerous.”

“D-dangerous?” she asks, her voice cracking a little.

“If you wear that, I’m going to fuck you before the night is over,” I say, and it’s no idle threat. I’m already thinking about it.

Her mouth falls open.

“I’m not joking,” I say. “That dress is a promise your body is making to mine.”

“That’s not how dresses work,” she says, looking at me like she’s uncertain.

“That’s how this one works,” I reply.

She looks at herself in the mirror again, and I can tell she likes it. I can also tell she likes what I said, even if she’s trying to pretend she doesn’t. Her scent betrays her. Her thighs betray her. The bond betrays every little tremor she tries to hide.

“I guess we’re getting it then,” she says softly.

“Yes, we are,” I growl.

Her blush returns. I fucking love that blush. I want to see it every day. In every room. In every bed I put her in. I want to see it when she’s shy and when she’s desperate and when she’s trying to act mad because I’ve said something filthy enough to make her wet in public.

I want everything with her. All of her. It settles into my bones like truth. I haven’t been forgotten. My mate is real, and not just the result of a foolish little girl’s magic. This is how it’s meant to be. We’re just catching up, because we’ve been denied. The fate-block kept us apart, but nothing will keep us apart again.

By the time she’s done, there’s a mountain of clothes waiting to be purchased. Taryn looks embarrassed by the size of it, but I hand Jennifer the card before my mate can start arguing.

“All of it,” I say. “And anything else she touched for more than three seconds.”

“Wait, I didn’t want everything,” Taryn gasps.

“Then if you don’t wear it, you can donate it,” I say. “If you touched it long enough to consider it, then we’re taking it home.”

“I was just looking…” Her words trail off.

“Exactly,” I say. “You were looking because you wanted it.”

“It is not the same thing,” she groans.

“It is when I’m paying,” I growl.

She presses her lips together, fighting a smile. “You’re impossible.”

“No, mate. I’m just taking care of you and you’re fighting me on it,” I correct.

“You’re very bossy,” she says.

“That too,” I chuckle.

Jennifer and Susan start ringing everything up, and Taryn drifts closer to me, lowering her voice. “This is too much.”

“No, it isn’t,” I say, looking down at her.

“It feels like too much,” she whispers.