Page 56 of Fake It ’Til You Mate It

And that means I’m his.

“Killer is fine.”

“I thought so.” He laughs again, pulling me even closer. “But you are, you know.”

Considering my body is well-pleasured and I’d had his dick inside of me, that’s kind of what it means. “I know.”

“Not just my mate, either. My fated mate. The Luna finally told me.”

My breath catches in my throat. “She.. she did?”

“Some Alphas get her blessing. If you lead your pack well, she whispers our mate’s name in our ear. Last night… in the shower… she whispered yours to me.”

“Honey Morgan,” I murmur.

“For now. You’ll be Honey Lobo come the full moon.”

That’s right. I knew that. Both of those things, actually. The Luna helps her Alphas find their mates because she wants her wolf shifters to mate and procreate and add to her worshippers. However, because a pack Alpha taking a mate affects all the shifters under him, it’s not as simple as mating and marking. There’s a whole Claiming Ceremony, and it only can take place on the night of the full moon.

“So you have until the full moon to change your mind?” I ask into the quiet bedroom.

“Look at me, Honey.”

It’s an order. Max has been very careful not to tell me what to do—and letting me off the hook when he does and I totally disobey—but there’s something about the way he says that.

It’s not an order.

It’s a plea.

I roll over. Instead of being the little spoon, I’m face to face with a predator—and there isn’t anywhere I’d rather be.

He wraps one arm around me. With his other hand, he tips my chin up so that I have nowhere to look at but his gleaming gold shifter eyes.

“I’m not changing my mind.” His eyes shadow over. “Unless you want to change yours.”

Me?

I welcomed him into my body last night. He’s been in my heart for a while now. He’s been in my head since the first time I caught his scent.

I don’t know who I was fooling. Fake it ‘til you mate it, right? Well, I fucking faked it, but from the moment Max growled ‘mine’... I was his.

I shake my head.

“Good. I’m a fair male. I do my best to lead, and I will lay down my life for my pack. There isn’t anything I won’t do for Moonburrow… but if you asked me to let you go? I don’t know if I can.”

I shrug, snuggling close to Max again. “That’s an easy enough solution. I just won’t ask you.”

“So you’ll just run⁠—”

Ah, jeez. Who ever heard of an insecure predator? “No, you goof. I have a good life in

Max holds me close, quiet for so long that I think it finally got through to him that I’m not going anywhere, that it’s safe for him to finally let down his guard long enough that he can sleep.

And that’s when he says, “Does that mean I have an adopted opossum son now?”

I burst out laughing. “Well, I am Gus’s mom, aren’t I?”

“And my mate.”