AllFreeNovel
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He’d been front and center since we first sensed our mate in the woods, and he was going to stay that way for the foreseeable future. I had a feeling I was going to have to learn a whole new level of self-control when it came to my mate and my wolf.
“Same. Where should we go? You know, so other people don’t see us. At least snow is coming so we don’t have to worry about tracks.”
Just the mere fact that he was thinking ahead like that meant the world to me. It was true, shifting left evidence in the snow. But where I had in mind should be fine regardless.
“Remember where we used to go and hang out when we were skipping study hall?” Whoever decided study hall should be the last class of the day deserved us skipping out.
“Down by the river behind the old Fredrick’s barn?”
“That one.” The barn had been falling down since we were in school. No one had done a thing to the place in all those years. I never understood why. It was decent land, and even though you’d have to raze the house, it would make a great place to raise a family one day.
Family. That word kept popping up. Part of it was the season. Christmas equaled family. But it was more than that. Having Christopher asking about condoms had been an eye opener for me. I’d wanted to say no. That we didn’t need them. That we should let nature take its course. We were mates, after all.
But saying no to a human would mean I didn’t want to have sex and my hard cock very much told a different story. Instead I went with “probably”.
I doubted a human condom would work if I knotted Christopher. So if we wanted to use condoms, then we needed to be really careful. Or explore something besides penetrative sex. I would do whatever my mate was comfortable with.
“I haven’t been there since the day before your birthday.” He slowed to stop at the corner. “I almost kissed you that day.” He touched a finger to his lips as if remembering.
“If you had, I’d never have been able to leave.”
“Wait, you could’ve stayed?”
“No. But I’d have had to be dragged away and it wouldn’t have been good.” That likely would have resulted in me being hurt or someone else—possibly Christiopher, and I could never risk that. I’d been playing over the possibilities of how things might’ve been different over and over again, and they always boiled down to they couldn’t have been. Not really.
“Then this is better.” He reached his hand over and squeezed mine. His eyes shined like the snow on the ground even in the darkness of the car.
In so many ways he was right.
The ride to the spot was different than the one we used to take. We’d weave our way through the woods behind the school and around to the backside of the property. This coming in the front was new. Also new was the auction sign.
“They’re auctioning this place off?” I mumbled sadly. “Good thing we came today.”
“Yeah. Good thing.”
I got out and hustled around to his side of the car, opening the door before he had a chance to. I wanted to spoil him in all the ways. Open every door, pull out every chair. I craved taking care of him like it was as important to me as breathing.
He got out of the car and kissed my cheek. The brush of his lips sent a tingle down my spine. Oh, how I craved his touch. I wanted all of him. But first, my wolf needed a proper introduction. He deserved it, and it was necessary to solidify our mating bond.
We held hands as we walked through the yard toward the old barn. The house wasn’t in terrible shape, it just needed someone with funds to take care of it. The barn was probably a lost cause, but some of that barn wood could be salvaged for decor or other projects.
We were quiet as we walked. The moon shined down on us, illuminating our path enough that we could see. When we were kids, we had worried about wild animals, now we didn’t have that concern. Nothing around here was as scary as me.
Would my wolf make Christopher nervous? When we were kids, he hadn’t liked big dogs a lot. His grandmother had a large St. Bernard that was always jumping on him when he was too little to tell it no. My wolf was twice the size of that dog and a lot more dangerous. Not to him though, never to him.
“If you are nervous, we don’t have to do this.” His words surprised me.
“Why did you say that?” I wasn’t being a dick, I just didn’t understand where it came from. “I want to show you my wolf.”
“I can feel an energy flowing off of you. It’s hard to explain. But it’s different.” He stopped walking. “It’s like I get signals into your emotions. I can’t pick them apart completely yet, but for sure I can sense that you’re nervous about this. Did I read that wrong?”
“That’s my wolf. He’s worried you’ll be scared of him while being thrilled to show off.” I reached up and cupped his cheek. “I can’t believe you feel him already. Our bond is so new.”
“Is it? Is it really? I felt it all those years ago. It’s not new to me.” He leaned in and pressed a sweet kiss to my lips. “This is to make up for the one I chickened out of all those years ago.” He stepped back. “Now show me your wolf. I need to thank him for bringing us back together.”
In a way he was right, my beast had done that. But also, I’d like to believe that fate would’ve managed to get us together regardless. They weren’t cruel like that, were they? Technically they had given us our time. I’d been too foolish to see it for what it was. Or maybe too young and—
“Shift for me, mate.”
