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Typical.
Once she was sure he was gone, Shea waved her hand, locking the shop up and engaging her wards at the same time. She walked back into her apartment, closing the door behind her and locking that one, too, for good measure.
The sound that escaped Shea was half laugh, half sob when she saw the dress shoes scattered on the floor. Colton was so determined to get out of there, he ran from her apartment without even stopping to grab his shoes.
How freaking wonderful.
15
Colton Wolfe didn’t run from a fight. Then again, it wasn’t often that he was seconds away from going feral, either.
If he hadn’t left when he had, he might have listened to his wolf and tried to mate her. Hell, even claim her. His control was hanging on by a thread. He had spent way too long trying to pretend like the bond stretching between him and Shea wasn’t growing stronger—more unbreakable—every time he saw her or spoke to her.
Every time she smiled. Every time she gave him a little bit of attitude.
Every time he caught a hint of her scent.
And then something happened.
Colt didn’t think Shea did it on purpose. The look on her face was so surprised, so stunned, that it must have been news to her, too. He was so used to butting up against the shields that kept her scent hidden from him. When they seemed to just vanish… well, that was a fun fucking surprise, wasn’t it?
His cock went rock hard in a heartbeat. Their attraction had never been the problem, though. Colt was willing to admit that Shea was the most gorgeous woman he’d ever seen. Before she started keeping her shields airtight, she hadn’t done that great of a job hiding that she was into him.
And it wasn’t only the delicious musk of her pussy getting ready for him that nearly knocked him on his ass. When her shields were gone, he got blasted with the full strength of her innate essence. The undeniable aroma that was Shea.
She was his mate. Every shifter, from the time they were a pup, was taught that when they found the one person fated for them, that could make them happy and that they could start a family with… they would know. One sniff and that’s all it would take.
Well, Colt finally got his sniff and, like Shea’s shields had vanished, the last of his resistance flew out the damn window. It didn’t help that he could still catch a whiff of the Nightwalkers tainting her otherwise perfect scent.
And then there was the sexy satin clinging to her curves, taunting him with what he could’ve had if he had only accepted the bond—and the idea of their fated mating—from the beginning…
But he was Colton Wolfe. So of course, when faced with the truth in her scent, he had the worst possible reaction.
The same thing had happened when he first woke up from that healing coma. He’d been so shocked at his wolf’s viciousness—its nearly untamable urge to put her beneath him while he rutted like an animal—that his immediate reaction had been to lash out at her like it was her fucking fault he couldn’t control the beast that lived inside of him.
It wasn’t. And, as he bolted from her apartment, he cursed himself as he did the same exact thing.
She kissed him back. That’s all he kept thinking about as he sped Wright’s car back to his Bumptown. She actually let him hold her close while fumbling his way through his first kiss and she kissed him back. No matter how many times he pushed her away, or told her with his words that this could never work while fighting the urge to settle down with her somewhere away from the rest of the world, his sweet, kind Shea responded to his very touch.
He knew—whether it was instinct, or something more—that she would wait for him. If she couldn’t figure a way to break their bond already, Colt had to admit that it wasn’t possible—and that, perhaps, he’d asked her to do so to selfishly prove that he had no way out. That, in the end, he’d have to accept their mating because, well, gee, what else could he do?
And that wasn’t fair to Shea. She deserved a man who could own up to his stunted emotions and hidden feelings, one who could love her because she was amazing and she was worth it, not because his nose and his wolf told him to.
Colt wanted her. He wanted to be with her, too. But, until both halves of him were in total agreement that this was their decision and not a wacky quirk of his shifter nature, he had to back off. It just… it wasn’t fair to Shea.
The next morning was a struggle. His wolf thought the man was being ridiculous; it desired nothing more than to be reunited with its mate. Colt didn’t even dare head out to his work shed in case he lost control and his wolf took off. Instead, he sat at his kitchen table, bent over blueprints, absently working on his computer.
He wasn’t alone while he worked. Ever since he showed up last night, disheveled and gnashing his fangs and fucking barefoot, Dodge found an excuse to haunt Colt’s place instead of going back to Cemetery Row. Sure, he claimed a Rankin & Bass Christmas marathon was running overnight that he wanted to catch. Since his shifter’s nose couldn’t do a damn thing when it came to a phantom, Colt couldn’t say for sure that Dodge was lying—even if he probably was.
Ah. It could be worse. He could’ve bothered Maddox with how bad he’d messed up with Shea, and what a shitshow that would’ve been.
Only out of a desperate need for distraction did he call Maddox while driving home. It had been a last ditch effort, something to keep him focused on so that he wouldn’t give in and turn the car back toward Grayson.
Colt pointedly didn’t mention Shea. He didn’t have to. When Maddox answered, Colt could hear the wind whistling by as his brother was out running in his human form. It was late. Evangeline was already tucked into bed. But Maddox couldn’t sleep so, to please his anxious and protective wolf, he went out to check the perimeter of the cabin.
As he huffed and snarled, Maddox told Colt all about the shit he was dealing with. Evangeline might’ve gone along with the temporary relo
cation to the cabin, but she wasn’t all that happy about it. He was itching to bring a smile to her worried face and thought about giving her this super elaborate Christmas—the first one they would celebrate together as bonded mates.
