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“I’m sorry…” Was all that I could say.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Roman spoke up, for the first time in a while.
“If there is anything I can do —”
The two men looked at each other with such fierceness that I stopped mid-sentence. They seemed to be communicating with one another but I couldn’t hear a word that they said.
We reached a door that seemed a little more ornate than the others. It opened with a groan, like it hadn’t been touched in a long, long time. Beyond it was a big open space, in the form of a circle. Dug into the wall were dome-like structures that appeared to function as fire pits. “This is where my bloodline would gather,” explained Landon. “Instead of having individual rooms, we wanted this communal area, so that we could all be together in our time of need.”
“Oh…” The emptiness here was real. It permeated through the space and became something tangible, like an object I could hold in my hand. Landon and Roman had lost their entire family in one fell swoop. I couldn’t even come to imagine how heartbreaking it must have been for them to go through such an ordeal.
Sure, I’ve had some shitty boyfriends in the past, who had abandoned me and left me feeling broken but it really was nothing by comparison. I had thought my life so miserable but now, I realized, I needed to count my blessings because it could have been much, much worse.
Landon had finished collecting up all the furs and gathering them into a pile. The result was a makeshift bed that looked softer than a cluster of clouds.
Roman eased me onto the soft bed of pelts and the luxury of it surpassed my expectations. “Mmm.” I fell back and melted into the softness.
When I next opened my eyes, both Roman and Landon had knelt down beside me. They took my hands and held them in theirs, like I was the most precious person in their entire universe. “You asked how you could help us,” started Landon. “And there is a way but I need you to understand the ramifications of choosing such a path. Once you choose it, you may not revoke your decision.”
Roman squeezed my hand and it garnered my attention. I looked over and found myself trapped within the depths of his eyes. “What Landon is trying to say is that you could help us by becoming our mate. You’d bring our pups into the world and help rebuild our numbers.”
“So… essentially the fate of the pack is in my hands?”
“No pressure,” Roman attempted a chuckle but it sounded strange. There was a jittery sort of nervousness in the way that he sat there, waiting for my response.
“So, how does this mating thing work exactly?”
“We form a bond and it is something that can never be broken,” said Landon. “You will, forever, be ours. And we will be, forever, yours.”
Forever. The word echoed inside my head. I had thought that happily ever after was so
mething I could only dream about but, with these men, I had a chance of actually making it happen. I just had to believe that they meant what they said.
“Oh, and there’s one more thing.” Roman rubbed the back of his neck. “And try not to freak out.”
His words only worked to make me apprehensive. What was he about to tell me?
“Spit it out,” I demanded.
“If you mate with us then you will become one of us.”
“One of you?” I repeated. “What do you mean?”
He looked over at Landon who nodded his head and in the blink of an eye, he had returned to his wolf form. He was so big that he took up most of the communal space. His head nearly brushed the ceiling.
I stared in awe at the massive creature now standing in front of me.
During the fight, I had been too caught up in the action to really admire what Landon had become. And while I knew he was a potential killing machine, I didn’t fear him, for I knew he would do nothing to harm me.
I stepped forward and reached out my hand. He responded by pressing his snout to my palm.
“Are you not afraid?” asked Roman.
“No,” I answered without a moment’s hesitation. “I am not.”
Landon howled and it shook the entire room and filled me with adrenaline. Perhaps, it was crazy of me to think that this would work but I wanted nothing less than to shed the mundanity of my old life and adopt one of glory and wonder. I wanted to become a shifter, just like them and experience the world through fresh eyes.
“I want this,” I said at last. “This is much too beautiful. I cannot let it end here, so I will do whatever it takes to help you rebuild your pack.”
