Chapter 12 Wen
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Wen
He lifted me into his arms before I could protest. Just scooped me up bridal-style and carried me toward the bedroom.
“I can walk,” I muttered.
“I know.” His voice was quiet. “But I need to do this. Please.”
I didn’t argue. Couldn’t, really. My legs felt like jelly anyway.
He laid me down on my bed with a gentleness that seemed impossible for someone who’d just beaten a man half to death. He tucked the blanket around me, smoothing it with careful hands, then stepped back and started to leave.
My hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. “Stay.”
He froze. Looked down at where my fingers wrapped around his arm. “Little mate-”
“Please.” The word came out smaller than I intended. “I just... I feel safer when you’re here.”
I felt like an idiot saying it out loud. I was a grown woman. Independent. Self-sufficient. I’d survived my parents abandoning me, my grandparents dying, running a failing business. I didn’t need anyone.
But right now? Right now I really wanted him to stay.
My bed was definitely too small for a six-foot-nine werewolf. This was probably a terrible idea for about seventeen different reasons. But I didn’t care.
He didn’t hesitate. Just climbed into bed behind me and pulled me against his chest. His arms wrapped around me, one hand splayed across my stomach, the other tucked under my head. Our bodies melted together as if we’d been doing this for years instead of never.
The bed was ridiculously cramped. His legs hung off the edge. We were pressed together with zero personal space. It should have been uncomfortable.
Instead, it felt perfect. A cocoon of warmth and safety and him.
I closed my eyes and tried not to think about the break-in. Tried not to see that man’s face. The gun he’d been holding. How close I’d come to-
“You are safe now,” Mal murmured against my hair. “I promise. No one will harm you while I draw breath.”
I believed him. That was the scary part. I actually believed him.
The man who broke in. I’d recognized him eventually. It was the guy from the bookstore. The one who’d tried to flirt with me. The one Mal had growled at in his wolf form until he’d run away.
Apparently my newly successful bookstore meant people thought I had cash worth stealing. He must have watched me all day. Seen the line of customers. Assumed I was raking in money hand over fist.
Which I was, technically. But it was all going back into the business. Into inventory and repairs and keeping the lights on.
I’d been so fucking terrified. Not just of being robbed or getting hurt, but of losing everything I’d worked for.
Everything my grandparents had built. Having it all taken away just when I’d finally started to turn things around.
I’d been terrified that this was how I died at twenty-three - alone in my apartment before I’d done any of the things I wanted to do, before I’d lived, before I’d even lost my virginity to a werewolf who looked at me like I was the moon and stars.
That thought had crossed my mind while I’d been holding that knife with shaking hands. If I died tonight, I’d die a virgin. Die without knowing what it felt like to be with Mal.
Things had really come into perspective after that. How long was I going to keep resisting? How long was I going to pretend I didn’t want him?
How much time was I willing to waste being scared?
“Thank you,” I whispered as my eyes grew heavy. “For coming back.”
His arms tightened around me. Pulled me impossibly closer. “Always, little mate. Always.”
***
I woke up wrapped around Mal like a koala bear.
My leg was thrown over his hip. My arm was across his chest. My face was pressed against his pec. And I was drooling on him.
Oh god.
I tried to extract myself without waking him, carefully peeling myself off his body and pretending this never happened. In the process, I got a clear view of his wounds in the morning light streaming through my window.
I froze.
They looked better. Actually, significantly better. The angry red had faded to pink. The edges were clean, the tissue knitting together properly. They were starting to scar.
He was healing.
My stomach twisted. Would he leave once he was fully healed? Once he could cross back through the portal without risking his life?
“Good morning, little mate.”
I jerked my gaze up to his face. “You’re awake.”
“I have been awake for quite some time.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “You are very affectionate in your sleep.”
My face burned. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to-”
“Do not apologize.” His arms tightened around me, preventing my escape. “I have greatly enjoyed being your body pillow.”
“I was drooling on you.”
“Yes. It was adorable.”
“That’s not adorable, that’s mortifying.”
“I disagree.” He finally loosened his grip enough for me to pull back and look at him. His hair was messy. His eyes were warm. He looked absolutely content. “You may drool on me whenever you wish.”
“That’s not a thing people wish for.”
“I do.”
“You’re weird.”
“I am mated to you. I find everything you do fascinating.”
I groaned and buried my face back in his chest. “It’s too early for you to be charming.”
“It is past nine in the morning.”
“Exactly. Too early.”
He laughed, the sound rumbling through his chest and into me. It was warm and genuine and I wanted to bottle it up and keep it forever.
We eventually got out of bed. Showered separately, unfortunately. Had breakfast. Opened the bookstore.
And that’s when I realized things had changed.
Mal was always protective. Always hovering. But today? Today he was on another level entirely.
He wouldn’t let me out of his sight. If I moved, he moved. If I walked to the back room, he followed. If I climbed the ladder to reach a high shelf, he stood at the bottom with his hands out, ready to catch me.
And the touching. There was so much touching.
His hand on the small of my back as I helped a customer. His fingers brushing mine when I handed him a stack of books. His presence at my side constantly, close enough that I could feel his warmth.
We spent all day attached at the hip. Practically joined. And the weird part? I didn’t mind. Actually found comfort in it.
Customers definitely noticed. I got several knowing smiles. Mrs. Kerrington came in for a cookbook and winked at me when Mal’s arm wrapped around my waist while I was ringing her up.
“You two are adorable,” she’d said.
I hadn’t bothered correcting her.
By closing time, I was exhausted. Emotionally drained. Ready to collapse.
That’s when my friends burst through the door.
“Bitch, what the fuck happened?!” Krystin’s screech could probably be heard in the next county.
Daphne walked in behind her, holding up a bottle of wine. “We come bearing alcohol and emotional support.”
Bella brought up the rear with a bag of snacks. “And carbs. Lots of carbs.”
My heart twisted. These three idiots. My family.
“How did you-”
“Small town,” Krystin said. “Mrs. Santos called Mrs. Kerrington who called my mom who called me. The gossip chain is faster than the speed of light. Now spill. Someone broke into your apartment?”
We migrated to the reading nook even though it wasn’t Sunday. Even though this wasn’t an official book club meeting. They settled onto the couches while I tried to figure out where to start.
I told them everything. The man breaking in. The gun. The knife. Mal appearing out of nowhere and beating the guy half to death. The police. The lies about self-defense classes.
They listened in silence. Their expressions growing more and more concerned.
“Jesus,” Krystin said when I finished. “Are you okay? Like genuinely okay?”
“I’m fine. Shaken, but fine.”
Bella’s eyes were shiny with tears. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I’m so glad he was there.”
“Me too,” I admitted.
“Okay, new topic before we all start crying,” Daphne announced, pulling out a book. “We need to discuss our current read because I have questions.”
“We’re doing book club right now?” I asked.
“Emotional processing through fictional romance. It’s healthy.” She held up the book. A dragon shifter romance with a shirtless man and a woman wrapped in wings on the cover. “Specifically, I need to discuss chapter thirty-two.”
Krystin perked up. “Oh god, the wall scene?”
“The wall scene,” Daphne confirmed. “I’m just saying, I don’t think it’s physically possible. The angle alone-”
“It’s totally possible,” Krystin argued. “You just need upper body strength and the right leverage.”
“But she’s described as being fully vertical while he’s-”
“It is realistic. I could demonstrate if needed.”
We all screamed.
All four of us. Jumped about a foot in the air and spun around to find Mal sitting in the corner of the reading nook, half-hidden in shadows, reading our book club book. The dragon one. The one with the explicit wall sex we’d been debating.
“What the fuck!” Krystin clutched her chest. “How long have you been there?!”
“Since you arrived.” He turned a page calmly. “I did not wish to interrupt your discussion. It was quite enlightening.”
“You were just... sitting there? In the dark? Reading our book?” My voice had gone up an octave.
“Yes. It is quite good. Though I have notes on the male lead’s courting techniques. He is far too indirect.”
Daphne’s mouth was hanging open. “You’re reading our book club book?”
“I have read all of your book club books.” He said it like it was obvious.
“The vampire one was decent, though the political intrigue was lacking. The demon one had excellent world-building. The werewolf one was anatomically questionable in several places. And this dragon one-” He held up the book.
“This one understands the emotional beats of courtship quite well.”
I stared at him. “You’ve been reading all of our books?”