Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Dane
“I’m gonna go out and let you two talk,” Rena remarks loudly, a smile pulling at her lips. “Sweetheart, I’ll be back. If you need anything, just call. I’ll be back before your dad and brother.”
I was able to read between the lines on that one. I had time with my mate, but not all the time in the world. The dad and brother were out, and she’s the reason for that.
“You don’t have to leave Mom,” Raine calls out.
Rena doesn’t respond to her daughter, but she does meet my eyes. “I hope you can get her to talk to you. You hurt my daughter, and what my mate and son could do will be nothing compared to what I will.”
“I wouldn’t do anything to intentionally hurt your daughter,” I tell her and leave her to go find my mate where she told me she was. Not that I needed her to tell me. I could smell the sweetness that is Raine from outside the house.
I find Raine sitting on a stool on one side of the counter, a mug clasped in both hands. Her eyes were wide, and they were on the flowers I was holding in one hand.
“You brought me flowers?” she whispers.
It’s a stupid idea, but she’s human, not shifter. My sister told me this morning when I said something about going to check on her, that I should take flowers, do something special.
“Yeah,” I grunt and hold them out for her. When she lifts her gaze but doesn’t take them right away, I cock a brow. “They’re for you.”
Slowly, she puts her mug down and takes them. I watch as she draws them close to her and inhales the scent of the bouquet I had made just for her. The flowers were delicate and beautiful. The florist in town called them Meizorland Drifts. I just thought they looked good. The smell of them wasn’t intolerable either.
“They’re pretty,” she whispers, bringing her gaze up to finally meet mine. “What are you doing here?”
“Wanted to check on you.” I shrug, uncertain of how to handle this situation. Seeing her bruises and sensing the pain she’s trying to hide, doesn’t do anything to ease the anger or rage coiling inside me. My wolf isn’t helping. He wants out. He wants to find those fuckers and rip their hearts out like we should have done last night for what they did to our mate.
“You didn’t have to.”
I don’t miss the apprehensive look on Raine’s face.
“Yeah, dolcezza , I did,” I say, stepping even closer to her, not missing how her eyes flutter close.
I’d never called a woman anything but babe or darlin’, but it felt right calling her dolcezza . It fits.
It’s because we’ve always called her that. She’s our sweetness.
The fuck?
Flashes of memory come at me from my wolf. She’s ours, even in her dreams.
Oh fuck.
Fuck me.
This shit with my wolf isn’t just fucked up, it’s fucked up. I get what my dad explained about the two halves of me now mending, but fuck me, this shit, my wolf was able to be with Raine in her dreams? I didn’t think something like this was possible .
“Well, thank you for the flowers. Is there anything else?” she asks.
“Yeah, I want you to go out to dinner with me tonight.”
“Um, I, uh, I . . . what about . . .”
“It’ll be okay,” I interrupt her, knowing she’s talking about her bruises. Maybe possibly also her brother. I’m not worried about him or the bruises. So long as she agrees to have dinner with me.
“How do you figure it’ll be okay?” she asks, brows furrowing. “You don’t even know me, yet you’re wanting to go to dinner with me. I thought you weren’t one for dating.”
“I’m not one for dating, and before you say anything, yeah, I took Sloane out. It was all in fun. At least for me, that is. I didn’t think about being with any woman. Didn’t even know if I’d ever meet my mate.”
We knew who our mate was all this time. We just had to wait for her.
Shut up. Swear, my wolf since last night and everything shifted inside me is out to not only annoy the piss out of me but also piss me off in general. He’s known this shit, and because of some curse, he couldn’t share about our mate. But could he have anyway ?
There’s still more to this than I know. I’m not even sure my dad knows the full story about the curse. As he said, it was a fucking millennia ago when it was cast upon our family. Maybe I need to look into it myself.
“And if I don’t want to go out with you?” she queries. But we both know she does. The way her heartbeat picks up and her breathing changes slightly speaks volumes.
Smirking, I step into her space, leaving barely any room between us. “Raine, baby, you wanna go out with me. Don’t deny it.”
“Stupid shifters,” she mutters, looking away from me and licking her lips.
“Raine, if you’re uncomfortable with going out somewhere, we can do something else. You’re my mate, I won’t do shit to make you feel that way while with me.”
What the fuck is up with me being gentle? It’s not the type of shifter, person, or wolf I am.
She’s our mate. That’s why. We need her, just like she needs us.
Fucking hell.
“If you want, I’ll even just order up a pizza from in town. We’ll pull up a movie and we can watch it here,” I offer, not that I wanted to do that. I don’t need to have to deal with her dad or brother. Not when I’m trying to get her to know me. Bandit would be all up in my shit because she’s his sister and not my biggest fan.
Raine brings her eyes back to me, and I can see the uncertainty in them. Still, she nods. “Fine, I’ll go to dinner with you, but I don’t want to go out. We also can’t do that here.”
“How about pizza and a movie at my place?” The suggestion comes out before I can stop myself, and her eyes widen. “Not gonna do shit to make you uncomfortable, dolcezza . For one, you’re hurt. You don’t need that shit. I just want you to get to know me. We also have some things we need to talk about. For another, you’re not ready for me. With you being Bandit’s sister, with what he said last night in front of you, you gotta know the man/wolf/shifter that is me. I won’t force myself on you or fuck with you to get you in my bed. You gotta want to do that on your own.”
“Okay,” her answer comes out immediately. Almost like she said it before stopping herself.
“You wanna go now? Or want me to come pick you back up later?”
“I’m not dressed for a date,” she mutters.
Glancing at what she’s wearing, liking the sight of her in shorty shorts that, if she stood, probably would barely cover her ass and the tank top. I already noticed the tank top and the fact she wasn’t wearing a bra. Her hair was in a messy bun on top of her head like she’d just thrown it up and didn’t care what anyone thought.
I didn’t hide my grin as I tell her, “Doesn’t matter. Not like we’re gonna go out. We’ll order in. Have a movie marathon, whatever you want. And you’re dressed to be relaxed, so you’re good with what you got on.”
Her dressed this way will be total torture but so long as she’s comfortable and it’s not hurting her, then so fucking be it. I’ll endure it for her.