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He held out a steaming mug to me. “I’d be glad to show you around.”
“Thank you,” I said. “Did you do all of this woodwork? It’s beautiful.”
His rare smile was warmer than the mug in my hand. My heart throbbed helplessly.
“I did,” he said. “I’m glad you like it.”
“How did you make the mantel?” I asked.
“I found that wood after a terrible storm,” he told me. “A big tree had been struck by lightning. I went to make sure no one had been hurt, and as soon as my eyes hit the downed tree, I justsawthat mantel.”
“You saw it?” I echoed.
“That’s how it happens with wood carvings,” he explained. “They seem to leap into my mind fully formed. Then it’s just a matter of removing everything that isn’t part of the picture.”
“You’re making it sound easy,” I teased him.
“Believe me, it isn’t,” he said, eyeing the mantel with a wry smile. “If I didn’t have shifter healing, I might have lost a finger working on that.”
Healing?
“Shifters have special healing?” I asked, all thoughts of woodworking suddenly gone from my mind.
“Yes,” he said. “We can heal quickly from most normal injuries.”
“That’s incredible,” I said, trying hard not to get ahead of myself. “Can you heal someone else?”
“Unfortunately, I can’t,” he said, shaking his head.
“How did you become a shifter?” I asked, my mind racing.
“What do you mean?” he asked me, a crease forming on his brow.
“I mean, can someone else become a shifter?” I asked. “You know, like a human?”
“Ah, like in the movies?” he asked.
I nodded.
“No,” he said. “I’m not going to bite you and turn you into a werewolf.”
“But you could, if you wanted to?” I asked.
“Wolves are born, not made,” he said. “You don’t have to worry about that.”
“Oh,” I said, the disappointment heavy on my heart. The colors in the room seemed to fade a little even though I hadn’t used any magic.
“But our children would be shifters,” he told me. “The male ones at least.”
I nodded, not wanting to speak over the lump in my throat.
“If we accept the mate bond,” he added.
His voice was oddly light. Until now, he had referred to the bond as an inevitable end to our time together.
“Come on, let me show you the kitchen,” he said, before I could dwell on it.
I followed him past the wooden table and chairs and through the rounded archway. His big body blocked my view, but when he stepped inside the kitchen revealed itself.
