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“It’s like an arranged marriage,” Iris replied. “I just don’t like having so much decided for me.”
“Not at all. An arranged marriage can wind up really bad,” Ava contested. “But with a bond, you’re not putting your faith in your parents to know what’s best for you. You’re putting your faith in the universe, or the gods, or your souls, or whatever.”
It went against every fiber of her being to seriously consider any of this.
“Does that mean I have to join the pack?”
Ava chuckled.
“I guess not necessarily,” Ava said. “But you wouldn’t just be ‘joining the pack.’ You’d be co-running the pack.”
Iris thought hard. She rose to her feet and began to pace.
“I know your misgivings about our pack, and I don’t blame you at all,” Ava added. “You’ve been through a lot in this life already. But for what it’s worth, I really miss you.”
“I miss you too!”
“And it could even be a chance to fix everything that went wrong with Cyrus … in a weird way. You could start us over fresh. You could make much better decisions than your last pack, or ours, ever did. Isn’t that a bit therapeutic when you really think about it?”
“I guess that’s fair.”
As much as she was now pulled to accept everything that had happened, she still wasn’t entirely convinced.
“My best advice is just to let everything play out. You’ll see in time that fate has your best interests in mind and that Derek is a really good guy.”
They ended their conversation with Iris excited at the prospect of getting to see her friend again.
During their time on the phone, the rain lightened, and Derek continued to snore in the other room.
FOUR
DEREK
Batting open his tired eyes, Derek didn’t recognize where he was for a moment. The comforting, reassuring scent of Iris served as a reminder, and he slowly rose on the three-seater couch.
The blanket fell from the top of his chest, exposing bare skin to a slight chill that lingered in the air. A muffled singsong of birds pushed its way through the closed window beside him, the surface of which was coated with condensation.
His nose twitched as it picked up on faint hints of last night’s firewood, causing him to glance toward the now fizzled-out fireplace and make a mental note to light it again. Although the cold never bothered him much, he couldn’t say no to more warmth.
“She must still be asleep,” he muttered, looking at the closed door of Iris’s bedroom. He still couldn’t believe his fated mate was resting right through that door and that his attack had led him to her, of all people. Thinking of the fact, he decided it best to cook her a hearty breakfast as a small token of gratitude.
His shifter genes allowed him to recover from most things faster than an ordinary human. However, without her magical intervention, his shifter abilities alone wouldn't have beenenough. It was only thanks to her that he was nearly as good as new so quickly rather than six feet underground.
A puff of fog escaped from his mouth as his hot breath met the chilly air. He felt ten times better than he did when stumbling toward this place yesterday. Quick work was made of rekindling the fireplace, its snapping and crackling perking his ears.
Smacking his dry lips, Derek sauntered into the adjoining kitchen in search of a glass of water. The first drop of liquid on his tongue was a taste of heaven, and so he indulged in a second glass, downing it in an instant. His satisfaction grew upon spotting a jar of coffee in a glass cabinet.
I could do with a cup of that.
His stomach growled when the aroma of the arabica beans hit his nose.
“I need something savory and substantial to go with this.”
Rifling through her cabinets and refrigerator, Derek found everything a shifter would typically eat for a morning’s breakfast, consisting of nothing but animal protein. His mouth salivated as he started preparing a feast for himself and his not-so-gracious host.
For a moment, Derek imagined a future where they woke up in bed together, holding each other after a long night of slumber. The thought of it etched a smile on his face, which only grew as he recalled the mating bond.
Just as the tip of a sharp knife stabbed a slab of bacon, a flurry of movement outside the house caught his eye. He peered through the window in front of him, spotting a familiar face as it approached the front door. Rushing to it, he burst into laughter with the newcomer as they locked eyes.
