AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Before you ask, no, I’m not a virgin,” I mutter. “But it’s just never really been a good time. I was sixteen when the Convergence happened, and after that, I was with the Heavenly Host. My first time was with another soldier, every time after that was quick and dirty. It was always more to get things out of the way and work off tension than it was to feel anything.”
“I get it,” she says. “And it ain’t nothin’ to be ashamed about, even if you were. I mean…I’m a virgin.”
I look at her seriously. “But you’re, what—twenty?” I say. “Barely older than my sister. I’m thirty-four.”
“And you’ve never been in love?”
“Like I said, there wasn’t ever time,” I say. “I was always taking care of my sister.”
Peaches chews on her lip with a thoughtful expression. “On that note—I guess that means you’re staying, huh?”
I nod. “I think I am.”
“And Enid?”
It strikes me that she remembers my little sister’s name. God—in the past two weeks, I feel like I’ve barely thought of Enid myself, even though I came here to protect her.
She’ll almost be out of insulin at this point. She needs itnow.
“She’ll come to live here with us,” I say. “Reyes is talking to the others about it right now. I think the only person that really needs convincing is Arden.”
“She’ll come around,” Peaches says. “Arden is…complicated. But I think the two of you will find that you’re not actually all that different. She’s been through a lot, just like you.”
“She hates me,” I say.
“Not hate,” she says. “Caution. Just like you had with us at first. And she’ll come around…after all, you’re the Prime’s mate.”
She’s right, I guess.
Iamthe Prime’s mate.
Now I have to just figure out what that means.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
?
REYES
Now for the hard part: telling the rest of the pack.
I presume most everyone has figured out what happened, since Tilda wasn’t exactly quiet. But I’ll still need to get their approval, and their acceptance that their Prime has taken a mate.
The first person I see outside of my room is Will—sober as usual—a treasured, small cup of coffee in his hand with a thermos beside it. We rarely get the stuff now that we’ve left the city, and the fact that he has a cup is a testament to his ability to make friends outside of the den. He raises his hand in a small wave, letting me know that he’s available to talk, and I make my way over to him as soon as I enter the common room.
“So…” he starts. The big guy pours me a cup of coffee in the lid to his thermos, his eyes falling to my bite mark, then passes it over to me. “You gave in.”
I simply nod. “It feels like it was inevitable, doesn’t it?”
He shrugs. “I still want to believe that we aren’t slaves to our inner monsters, but maybe I was wrong.”
“It wasn’t my wolf that decided,” I say. “It was all me. Full, human consent.”
I can tell he doesn’t believe me, and that hurts. Will is one of the only others here who’s steadfastly chosen not to take a mate, and I know it’s partially because he doesn’t trust his wolf. I don’t know a lot about the man, but from what I understand, he spent most of his human life trying to convince people hewasn’ta monster.
Now, he fights the monster inside every day.
“Out of everyone here, I always believedyouwould be the one to resist,” he says. “It makes me wonder if this is all pointless…if we’ll all be animals in the end, no matter what.”
