12. Reg
12
REG
I wished I’d had time to plan, organize, and come up with the perfect words to say as I explained my wolf side to my mate. But every second that we were together, every second that I didn’t tell him the truth about who I was and who he was to me, felt like a second too long.
When I said we were going to the woods, he didn’t balk. Did he look surprised? Absolutely. But he got into the car without asking too many questions. I chose to believe it was because he trusted me, though it could’ve just been his determination to see this through to the end. Either way, I was grateful.
I drove to my favorite place to shift. It was off the beaten path, with a beautiful spring running through it, and it wasn’t far from my place, so it never felt like a chore to drive there. Today would be the first day I brought anyone along. Even my parents hadn’t been here—they’d stopped by for visits with me, of course, but never long enough to truly share the peace this place offered my beast.
“Where exactly are we going to hike?” he asked. “We passed the state park entrance already.”
“Yeah, we’re not going there.” Nor would I call what we were doing hiking, but that didn’t need to be clarified. He’d see it soon enough. “I want to show you my favorite place.”
He set his hand on my thigh. “Last night, I could’ve sworn your favorite place was inside me.”
I chuckled. “It is. I meant my favorite place before last night.” I intertwined our fingers, loving how comfortable he already felt with me.
It didn’t take long before I turned onto the dirt road that led to the clearing. Even though it was cold, the snow had long melted, leaving the area easily accessible. If there had still been a foot of snow, I’d have had to figure out somewhere else. The big reveal in an apartment didn’t seem right, but if it had come to that, so be it. Thankfully, it hadn’t.
“Let’s do this thing,” I said, lifting our joined hands to my lips and kissing his. “I’m going to give you the keys now. If at any point you feel like you need to leave, go. Just go, okay?” If he was scared, I didn’t want him to feel trapped.
He took the keys and rolled his eyes. “You’re acting weird.”
“Promise.”
“Fine. I promise that you’re acting weird.” He gave me a quick peck, and we got out of the car.
I led him the short distance to the clearing my wolf loved so much and cupped his cheeks, feeling the warmth of his skin against mine as he leaned into my touch.
“Before I do this, I want you to know that no matter what you see here, it’s always me. And I would never in a million years hurt you.”
I kissed him breathless, then stepped back and quickly pulled off my clothes, shifting before I could lose my nerve. Landing on all fours, I looked up at him, not moving, not wanting to scare him. To my complete and utter amazement, he broke into a huge smile.
“No way,” he said, squatting down and meeting my gaze. “You’re… you’re beautiful. Can I?” He reached out a hand. “Is it okay?”
I nudged my head under his hand, encouraging him to pet me. After a few tentative strokes, he hugged me close.
“I always wanted this to be real,” he murmured. “As a kid, I read stories and thought, ‘Wow, how cool would that be?’ But it wasn’t real. Except… it is.” He kissed the top of my head, and my wolf’s tail wagged uncontrollably.
“Can you shift back now? I have so many questions.”
I licked his jawline before shifting back into my human form, shivering as the bitter cold hit me. I hurried to throw on my clothes. “How about we go to the car?”
He nodded, and we walked back. On the way, he asked, “Are you a werewolf?”
It was the perfect first question. I explained how shifters and werewolves weren’t the same, that I wasn’t controlled by the moon, that I’d always been this way, and that it wasn’t contagious. The usual things people wanted to know.
Once we were in the car, the conversation turned to something much more important: us.
“Why did you show me?” he asked. “You didn’t have to.”
“No, I did.” Keeping secrets from him was never going to be okay with me.
“It’s just… are you allowed to tell me? In the movies, they get killed for that.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell him that in some packs, that was true in real life too. Instead, I said, “I’m allowed to tell you. You’re my mate.”
The words spilled out before I could stop them.
“What does that mean?” he asked.
“It means that from the second you walked in and I inhaled your scent, my wolf identified you as ours. He fell in love with you that very moment.”
“And what about you?” he asked softly. “The man? Did you fall in love with me, too.”
“One hundred percent, completely, utterly in love,” I admitted. “I know it’s soon, and humans don’t usually move this fast, but?—”
“I feel it too. I felt it from the start, even if I didn’t understand it. It was like I was pulled to you in a way that didn’t make sense. But now it does. I love you, Reg.”
He leaned across the console and kissed me, slightly awkwardly thanks to the console between us. “So, if you’re my mate, does that mean… because we did the thing, we’re bonded now? Or is that just television nonsense?”
“Sort of, but not really,” I explained. “In order to be truly bonded, I’d have to mark you by clawing your shoulder.”
“Wait, is that why I wanted to scratch you yesterday?” he asked, catching me off guard.
“You wanted to scratch me?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t. I thought it was… weird. But now I realize I knew, even before you told me, before I knew what it was. I just knew.”
I cupped his cheek, and he leaned into my hand. “Yeah, you knew.”
There was nothing I wanted more than to mark him right then, but he still had so much to learn. I couldn’t let him jump into this without understanding everything.
“There’s one thing we need to do first,” I said.
“And what’s that?”
“You need to meet my pack—my family. If you still want this after that, I’ll be 100% there. But this has to be your choice, and I won’t take that away from you.”
He laughed softly. “Oh, silly alpha. I don’t think I had a choice from the moment I saw you. You stole my heart, even if you did put me to work first.”
“Hey!” I protested.
He grinned. “I’m not wrong, and I have the dish hands to prove it.”