Chapter 15 Wen
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Wen
I was dancing on clouds.
Literally. Or at least that’s what it felt like as I moved through the bookstore the next morning, restocking shelves and humming under my breath. I couldn’t stop smiling. Couldn’t stop the ridiculous surge of energy flowing through me.
I felt happy. Genuinely, completely happy.
Mal was behind the counter, helping customers with a patience that shouldn’t have been sexy but absolutely was. Every time I glanced over, his eyes were already on me. Tracking my movements. Watching me with this soft, possessive expression that made my stomach flip.
“Someone’s in a good mood,” Mrs. Kerrington observed as I helped her find a cookbook, another for her collection that she’d probably never use.
“Just a good day,” I said, unable to wipe the grin off my face.
“Mmhmm. I’m sure it has nothing to do with that handsome young man at the register.”
I blushed but didn’t deny it.
Throughout the morning, I started noticing weird things.
I could see the dust motes floating in the air by the window with perfect clarity.
Could read the small print on book spines from across the store without squinting.
When I glanced at the clock, I could see the individual ticks of the second hand with startling precision.
How was that possible?
A customer was browsing the mystery section, and I could hear her muttering to herself from across the store. Crystal clear. Like she was standing right next to me.
“Too expensive. Maybe I should wait. But I really want it. Ugh, why is everything so expensive?”
I blinked. That shouldn’t have been possible. She was at least thirty feet away.
And the smells. Oh god, the smells. I could smell everything. The cleaning products from this morning. The perfume the woman in the romance section was wearing. The nervous sweat from the teenager trying to work up the courage to buy an adult fantasy novel.
Wait. Could I actually smell nervousness?
I looked back at Mal, catching his eye. Winked at him because I couldn’t help it. Because he was mine now and I was his and everything felt electric and new.
He smiled back. Full and genuine and devastating. His hair was pulled into a bun at the back of his head, and his eyes were soft. Bright. Completely focused on me for that moment.
Then a customer approached with a book, and he reluctantly broke eye contact to help them.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out to find several messages in the group chat.
Daphne: My neighbor said the bookstore was closed yesterday afternoon? Is everything okay?
Bella: Yeah we were worried!
Krystin: Were you SICK or were you BUSY wink wink
I bit my lip, typing back: Everything’s fine. Better than fine actually.
Krystin: SPILL
Daphne: What happened??
Bella: Are you okay?? Did something happen with Mal??
I hesitated, then typed: We had sex.
My phone immediately exploded with messages.
Krystin: FINALLY
Daphne: OH MY GOD
Bella: WAS IT GOOD?!?!
Krystin: Was he huge? He looks huge. Tell me he was huge.
Daphne: Krystin oh my god
Krystin: WHAT I’m asking the important questions
I laughed, typing: It was amazing. He was amazing. I’m still processing.
Bella: So what happens now?
I stared at the message. What did happen now? Were we dating? Were we together? What exactly had changed besides the incredible sex and the bond that I could now feel humming between us?
I typed back: I don’t know. I have to ask him.
Krystin: Ask him WHAT? You’re mates. You’re bonded. Pretty sure that’s werewolf marriage.
Daphne: She has a point
Bella: This is so romantic I’m dying
I pocketed my phone, trying to ignore the flutter of nerves in my stomach. We needed to talk. Figure out what this meant. What we were. Did I want to be married? To anyone? Ever? I was twenty-three. I’d barely dated. And now I was potentially wolf-married to a king?
What the actual hell was my life?
Every time Mal brushed past me for the rest of the day, it was electric. His hand on my lower back as he moved behind me. His fingers grazing mine when he handed me a book. His breath on my neck when he leaned in to ask a question.
I was hyperaware of him. Could feel him through the bond now, this warm presence in the back of my mind that I was still getting used to.
Finally, during the afternoon lull when the store was empty, I cornered him by the register.
“We need to talk,” I said.
He turned to face me fully, his expression immediately concerned. “Is something wrong, little mate?”
“No. Not wrong. I just... what happens now? With us?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, we had sex. We’re bonded. But what does that mean? What are we?”
He looked genuinely confused. “We are mates.”
“I know that. But like... are we dating? Are we together? What-”
“In wolf culture, we are married.” He said it so simply. So matter-of-factly. “The moment I claimed you and you accepted, we became bound. Mated pairs are the equivalent of your human marriages, though far more permanent.”
I blinked. “Married?”
“Yes. Why do you seem surprised? You accepted the bond. You let me claim you.”
“I thought we were just... I don’t know. Taking the next step?”
He smiled and pulled me closer. “We can discuss our home once we decide if we will stay here or move to a larger space. The apartment is adequate, but once we have pups, we will need more room. And perhaps we should expand the store. Our store is doing quite well.”
I choked on air. “Pups?! Mal. We had sex once!”
“Yes, and now you are mine. We will have many pups. Strong ones.” His eyes went soft. “I hope they have your eyes. Though your stubbornness combined with mine will make them quite the handful.”
“I’m not - we’re not - Mal.” I pressed my hands to my face. “Okay. We need to have a serious conversation about human dating culture. And also about your kingdom. Your family and responsibilities.”
“My kingdom?”
“Yes! You’re a king, Mal. Are you just going to abandon everything? Your people? For me?” The thought made my chest tight. “What if you regret it? What if you resent me for making you give up your throne?”
His expression softened. He cupped my face gently.
“I will follow whatever you decide, little mate. If you wish to see Lytopia, to visit my world, I will take you there. You can see the kingdom, meet my family, and decide if that is a life you wish to live. If you choose to stay there, I will rule with you by my side. If you choose to stay in the human realm, I will find a successor worthy of the throne and move here permanently. The choice is yours.”
I stared at him. “You’d give up being king? For me?”
“I would give up everything for you. The throne. My title and world.” He pressed his forehead to mine. “You are my entire realm. Where you go, I go.”
Through the bond, I felt the absolute truth of his words. The certainty and the love.
“I - I don’t even know what to say,” I whispered.
“No need to answer right now, little mate. You can think about it.” He smiled. “Now, shall we discuss human dating culture? Because I am quite confused about why having sex does not automatically mean marriage and pups.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Okay. So in the human world, having sex doesn’t automatically mean marriage. It doesn’t mean we’re having kids - pups - oh god, I can’t even say it without blushing.”
“But we are mated.”
“I know! But humans don’t just jump from sex to marriage to babies. There are steps. Dating. Moving in together. Getting engaged. Then marriage. Then maybe, MAYBE, we talk about kids. In like five years. Or ten. Or never.”
He frowned. “That seems needlessly complicated.”
“It’s how humans do things!”
“But you are not fully human anymore. Not now that the bond is forming.”
I froze. “What?”
“Your enhanced senses. You have noticed them, yes?”
“The smelling and hearing things? The super vision? Is that... normal?”
He examined me carefully, his eyes roaming over my face. “The bond is forming earlier than I anticipated. Faster.”
“What does that mean?!” Panic surged through me. “Am I turning into a wolf? Is that a thing that can happen?”
“No, no. You will not shift. You lack the wolf spirit for that.” He cupped my face, his thumbs stroking my cheeks. “But the bond wants to be completed. It is trying to tie us together. Your body is adapting quickly, accepting me and what we are together.”
“Adapting how?”
His voice dropped lower. Rougher. “Soon, you will go into heat. The first one is always the strongest. Most intense.”
“HEAT?!” My voice went up an octave. “Like an ANIMAL?!”
“Like a mate ready to be fully claimed.” His eyes flashed red. “It is your body’s way of preparing for pups. For completing the bond. We should finish the bonding before then, or it will be... difficult. For both of us.”
“Difficult how?”
“You will be in pain without my touch. Desperate for mating. I will be driven half-mad trying to ease your suffering while also maintaining enough control not to hurt you.” He pulled me closer. “It is better to complete the bond now. While we are both rational.”
I stared at him. At this werewolf king who’d crashed into my life and turned everything upside down. Who’d made me fall for him. Who’d claimed me and bonded with me and apparently now my body was deciding to go full wolf whether I was ready or not.
“This is insane,” I whispered.
“This is the mate bond.” He pressed his forehead to mine. “I know it is fast. I know you are overwhelmed. But your body has chosen me, Wen. Just as mine has chosen you. We can fight it, make it harder on ourselves. Or we can accept it and move forward together.”
“How do we complete it?” I asked, even though part of me wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer.
“You need to bite me. Mark me as I marked you. Claim me as yours.” His voice was rough with need. “Make me yours in every way that matters.”
“I have to bite you?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Wherever you wish. The neck is traditional. More visible. But anywhere will work.”
I pulled back to look at him. “And then what? We’re fully bonded? Married in wolf terms? I go into heat? We have pups?”
“Eventually, yes. Though we can take precautions against pups if you truly wish to wait. There are herbs. Methods.” He stroked my hair.
“I will not force you into anything you do not want, little mate. But I will not lie to you either. Your body is changing. The bond is forming. Denying it will only cause you pain.”
Through the bond, I could feel his certainty. His love. His absolute conviction that we were meant to be together.
And the terrifying part? I felt it too. The insanity was real. We’d only known each other for a couple weeks. Everything logical in my brain screamed that this was fast, intense, completely ridiculous.
But I felt it. The rightness of being with him. The completeness.
“When?” I asked quietly.
“Whenever you are ready. Tonight. Tomorrow. Next week. I can wait.”
“What if I’m never ready?”
Pain flashed across his face, but he forced a smile. “Then I will love you anyway. Bond or no bond. Heat or no heat. You are mine, Gwendolyn Woods. And I am yours. That will not change.”
I believed him. Through the bond, I knew he meant every word.
“Tonight,” I heard myself say. “I’ll do it tonight.”
His eyes flashed red. Bright and hungry and full of love. “You are certain?”
“No. But I’m doing it anyway.” I pressed my hands to his chest, feeling his heart racing under my palms. “Because you’re right. My body has chosen you. I’m done fighting it, done being scared, done pretending this isn’t exactly what I want.”
He kissed me then. Deep and claiming and full of promise.
When he pulled back, his smile was devastating. “You will not regret this, little mate. I swear it.”
“You better be right, wolfboy. Because if I end up in heat and miserable, I’m blaming you.”
“I will accept full responsibility.” He nuzzled into my neck, right where he’d bitten me. Where I could still feel the mark. “And I will ensure your heat is nothing but pleasurable. That is a promise.”
Heat flooded through me at his words. At the images they conjured.
“Stop that,” I muttered. “We’re in the store. We have customers coming in-”
The bell above the door chimed.
I pulled away from Mal, smoothing my hair and trying to look professional. Trying to ignore the knowing smirk on his face.
Tonight. I’d complete the bond tonight.
And then? Then I’d figure out what the hell it meant to be mated to a werewolf king who casually talked about pups and our store and our home as if we’d been married for years instead of days.
One crisis at a time.
First, I had to survive biting my boyfriend. Mate. Husband? Whatever he was.
God, my life had gotten so weird.
But as I caught Mal’s eye across the store and felt the warmth of the bond between us, I couldn’t quite bring myself to regret it.
Weird was good. Weird was mine.
And I was keeping it.