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She needed reassurance. She needed her mind at ease. And Maddox, though he’d never been the best with words, struggled to make her understand that—for him—this already was forever.
“I can’t force a bond,” he said when she still hadn’t said a word. “When I claim you—and I hope to Alpha you let me claim you for me and my wolf’s sake—but when I claim you, it’ll be because the bond goes both ways. You have to want me, too. You have to feel the tie between us just like I do. As a Para, it’s easier for me to recognize it. But, before long, when you decide this is what’s right for you, you’ll know it. I promise you that. Until then, I’ll be here. I’ll be waiting. No more lies. You knew I’m a shifter? Then you know everything about me. And I’m not going anywhere, my sweet Evangeline. I love you.”
They were the words he had longed to say since the first moment he drew her scent into his lungs. Fate said that this woman was meant to be his, the one he spent his life with, raised his pups with, and damn if fate didn’t have amazing taste. Because he liked Evangeline as much as he loved her, and he’d wait a lifetime for her to accept him as her mate.
She had the choice now that she knew what he was offering her.
But what would she do?
Maddox held his breath. His wolf got up and padded anxiously around inside of him
Evangeline still didn’t say a thing. At least, not right away.
Instead, she reached out, placing her palm against his chest; her touch immediately calmed his wolf, putting the beast back to sleep. Flesh to flesh, it was as if she was trying to get to his heart. It started to thump wildly, as if trying to beat its way out of his chest so that he could hand it to her already.
Not as if she didn’t already hold it in the palms of her hands.
“Thank you, Maddox. You… I believe you. And it doesn’t matter to me that you’re a Para. I’ve known for months now. The truth about you and your… your wolf won’t changed a thing about what we have between us. ”
“What about being my mate?”
She smiled, one part hopeful, one part wistful. “That changes everything.”
“In a good way?”
“In a very good way.”
He raised his hand, laying it gently over hers, savoring the feel of her soft skin against his coarse palm as he allowed her to feel the thump-thump-thump of his heartbeat.
It wasn’t an I love you in return, but it was good enough for Maddox.
For now.
6
Three months later, and Maddox was beginning to think he’d burst if he didn’t get inside of his mate and soon.
He knew how important it was not to rush Evangeline. She wasn’t so skittish these days, and there was no denying the spark of attraction that existed between them, but she seemed hesitant to take their fledgling relationship any further than sharing a few stolen kisses.
Even after she learned the truth about actually being his fated mate.
It was a good thing that Maddox loved those kisses. Her taste was like coming home to him and, for the first few months, he was content with letting her set the pace. Just being able to touch her, hold her, talk to her… it was enough. Until her scent started to deepen, the hint of vanilla developing a rich musk as his acute shifter senses started to pick up on her undeniable arousal.
She wanted him. Maddox could tell that she did. It was obvious—only Evangeline was continuing to hold back. So he waited and he hoped that she’d take pity on him and finally become his mate in all ways.
And it wasn’t as if sex was the only thing that mattered to him. Claiming her, making her his forever so that no one could ever take her away from him—that was his goal. Everything he did got him one step closer to his forever.
He would wait because it needed to be Evangeline’s decision as much as his, but he was so desperately in love with her that he did everything he could to make her feel the same.
He was making headway. Four months into their relationship, he finally received that elusive “I love you.” Six weeks later, she brought him to meet her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis made no secret that they wanted a nice human husband for their daughter, but Evangeline went home with him that night and that was all that mattered. He was used to humans treating him like a mangy mutt because he was a shifter. So long as Evangeline didn’t care, the rest of the world could go scratch themselves.
She went home with him more often than not lately. His house was more comfortable than hers, she told him, and that worked for him since it soothed his wolf to have her scent lingering even when she was gone.
Before long, he planned on asking her to move in with him; careful as ever, he didn’t want to push her or scare her off. As time passed, his possessive instincts would only grow stronger and he would have a much harder time in letting her out of his sight without the claiming. Moving in together seemed like a logical next step in their mating dance.
An actual mating—the physical act of sex without the claiming bite—would bring some satisfaction, too. He wanted to cement his bond with her, he wanted to claim her, but he’d happily give up his position in the pack for one chance to know what it was like to be with his woman.
Six months into their relationship, he decided he had to bring it up to her. If Evangeline needed more time, he respected that and he would wait. She was worth waiting for all of the time in the world if that’s what she wanted from him. He just… he just wanted to know what she wanted.
