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“I do. It’s the shadow wolves. Something about their venom slows down the healing process.”
“How do you know that?”
A smile widened across Flora’s face, and she handed Draven the journal she’d been reading. “You didn’t heal right away. But even without witnessing that, the journals outlined it. I think it was Dominic who first discovered it.”
“Dominic?”
“One of the occupants of the cabin. I’m not sure when he came through since the dates are smudged. But each one after Oliver, who built the cabin, recounted their experiences here. It’s incredible really how much they overcame. I still have no idea where we are or how we get out of here, but there is a ton of information to sift through…”
“Flora—” Draven whispered softly, but she kept talking. She was so damn excited to finally have someone to talk to. And she was more than a little proud that she could explain something supernatural to him instead of the other way around.
“—Jackson was the latest of the occupants. Or Bonesy. It’s just more fun to call him that.”
“Flora.” Draven raised his voice, and Flora stopped mid-sentence. Startled, her eyes widened and locked onto Draven’s almost pained expression.
His eyes softened and searched hers, but for what she wasn’t sure. Draven was an enigma she didn’t pretend to understand, despite how badly she’d wanted to. Flora had to keep reminding herself that he hadn’t chosen her; that he was going to be with someone else instead. He reached out and yanked her toward him, and Flora tumbled forward until she was pressed against his bare chest. His heat enveloped her, and Flora froze.
Draven released a great sigh and somehow she knew exactly what he needed. It was the same thing she’d longed for the last two days.
Flora wrapped her arms around him, and gave him a tight squeeze. She waited a few moments and pulled her head back, tipping it up so she could meet his gaze. “Are you okay?”
He closed his eyes, and his lips pulled into a tight line. “I need to tell you something.”
“Draven, you're kind of scaring me. Are you okay?” She pressed her hands against his chest and felt the erratic beat of his heart. He was never out of sorts. Not like this.
“You’re….You and I…” His voice drifted off.
“We're what?”
He swallowed hard and opened his eyes, allowing her to get lost in the green depths that brought her so much comfort. “You’re my Goddess-given moon mate. My Luna.”
Her arms dropped at the same time her mouth did. “You’ve gotta be shitting me.”
He tucked his chin and jerked his head back, his brows reaching his hairline. “Well that wasn’t the reaction I was hoping for.”
“That was the last thing I expected you were going to say.” Her mind raced with the ramifications of his words. She was his fucking moon mate? As in, the same thing his parents were. Destined for each other. Fated. Her brow furrowed, and she pulled away from him. “How the hell does that even happen?”
Draven reached for her, but Flora backed up further, needing space to process the words he was saying. With each backward crawl, the need to run rose within her. She should be ecstatic. Being mates meant they could explore whatever the hell it was between them… but how could that happen when he was literally engaged to someone else? He had chosen that woman over Flora. He chose pack. She didn’t blame him, not really, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t hurt.
Draven balled his hands into fists and let them fall to his sides. “When we came through, I gained full access to my wolf. The instant we laid eyes on you, I knew. Something clicked. Every inclination I’ve had to protect you, to please you and keep you near has been the underlying need of my wolf. It all makes sense now. The inherent need given to me by the Goddess to claim you as my mate. Usually I wouldn’t have known until the full moon, but seeing as it’s always a full moon here, it makes sense that it happened in that instant.”
Flora stared at him, eyes wide and mouth catching flies.
She was his mate.
It didn’t matter how much it made sense. How much her heart wanted to believe he was sincere and there were no ulterior motives. There was a part of her that didn’t quite believe him. He was an unstoppable force that had crashed into her life when she’d needed him most, but he'd played with her heart, tossing it aside despite the connection they’d shared.
She might want him with every fiber of her being, but she wasn’t sure she could trust him with her heart let alone her future. She got the idea that mates were forever. And forever for them meant two very different things at the moment.
Mates.
They were fucking mates.
It was a foreign concept and not something vampires had been faced with until August and Emery, and even that wasn’t a tried and tested theory. Just the ramblings of a Scottish vampire who was trying to fix a supernatural world no one knew was broken.
The lost puppy expression plastered on Draven’s face threatened to break her. He really didn’t see anything wrong with his declaration. It was so simple for him. Mates meant forever. Mates were the only thing wolves lived for.
But she wasn’t a wolf.
