Chapter 25
Wyatt
My frustration mounted as one day turned to two, then turned to three. All of the leads I’d been chasing had been nothing but dead ends—a baker’s dozen of failed attempts to root out the threat. When I found whoever it was, I was going to murder them slowly for keeping me from my mate for so long.
I wasn’t the only one suffering either. I could tell Eloise was going stir-crazy at the café based on her ever-shortening message replies.
When I wasn’t prowling the streets at night and visiting every pack member, I was artfully avoiding the matchmaking mother wolves trying to push their daughters on me.
And then, of course, there was the little problem of marriage. In three weeks, no less.
I’d promised Willow we could take things slow, set our own pace, but the pack was expecting a queen.
Of course, it didn’t have to be legal, just a wolf marriage . . .
Yeah, Wyatt, I’m sure Willow will swoon after that caveat. Nothing more romantic than semantics.
It had only been a few days since I’d seen her, but I felt Willow’s absence like a missing limb.
In all the time I’d known her, I hadn’t gone a single day without seeing her.
She probably didn’t know that. I always tried to make it subtle.
Dropping off orders each morning was the easiest way, but even on her days off, I’d find myself at the market at the same time she was or I’d run into her while she was on a walk, as if fate had intervened on my behalf.
Even after the briefest hello, I’d feel an easy calm for the rest of my day.
Just knowing she was nearby was all I’d needed.
But now that the sigil had been broken, I needed so much more.
The breeze against my face carried her scent—cinnamon, honey, and spice. I thought I was losing my mind, but then I turned the corner and spied her at the end of the alley. She was already looking in my direction as if she, too, knew that I was there. I wondered if she sensed me just as keenly.
“Willow,” I whispered, closing the distance between us. “What are you doing out here?”
I frowned at the swirling mug of tea cradled in her grip, her shoulders bunched around her ears to brace against the autumnal breeze. I shrugged off my jacket and wrapped it around her. She let out a hum, and it flooded me with desire.
I shouldn’t be here. She shouldn’t be here.
“It was getting too crowded in my apartment,” she mused up to the night sky. “I needed some time away from the three other people who have decided to move into my place for the week.”
“Our family is there to protect you,” I gritted out, frustrated at how flippantly she put herself in harm’s way.
“I needed a break. Just for one cup of tea and then I’ll head back in.”
I frowned down at the half-full mug. “You couldn’t have drunk it on the back stoop?” I asked, shaking my head and fighting back a grin that bled through my stern expression. I couldn’t deny that I loved how stubborn she was. “You just had to come to the haunted wood to drink your tea?”
“We’re one block away from the haunted wood,” she protested. “It’s not like I hiked through the night to get here. And I like looking at the swirling astral projections in the crystal shop window at night.”
“Of course you do,” I said with a sigh.
“Any leads?” she asked.
I shook my head, and she let out a weary exhale. “Let me walk you home.”
She swigged back a big gulp of tea. “One walk around the block,” she insisted. “Then home.”
I should have said no. People could see us and all our well-laid plans would fall to pieces. But I could see her wits fraying at the edges and knew she needed a distraction.
We strolled along the row of shops, the night quiet with a misting of rain that coated my skin. All the tourists had long since turned in, and all of the creatures had enough good sense to hunt on a clearer night.
As we wandered past the haunted wood, I finally bit the bullet. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
“Besides the fact that we’re mates?” she offered with a light chuckle, and I grinned at the way she so easily said it. “Why do all of our conversations end with you saying these ominous things?”
“Because a lot of things have been happening during the past few days. It feels like we were frozen in time for years, and now everything is hurtling toward us all at once.”
She paused, concern etching her face. “What happened?”
“My grandfather announced to the pack that I will be taking over on the next full moon.”
Willow studied my expression. “But that’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “It is. I think I’m ready, but . . .”
“Jeez, Wyatt, just tell me,” she pushed. “I’m freaking out now. Again. Are you breaking up with me? Is that it? You need to pick a wolf and—”
I stepped into her, closing the distance, and kissed her. My whole body panged with need at the feeling of her mouth against my own. But I couldn’t bear for her to doubt my feelings for her, not even for the second it would take to explain.
“I’ve missed you.” She hummed against my mouth, her hands roving up my T-shirt.
I let out a growl. “Willow,” I warned. “You don’t know what that’s doing to me.”
“I think I have an idea.”
“You don’t understand the extent of it.”
“Then tell me,” she whispered between my kisses. “What do you need?”
I broke our kiss to search her face. “What?”
“I know what Wyatt needs. What does your wolf need?” she asked again, a purr to her voice that made my cock harden. I clenched my jaw. “What does he desire from me?”
It took everything in me not to move, but she already seemed to know.
She cocked her head, eyes piercing straight into my soul. “Does he want to chase me?”
“Yes,” I gritted out, barely able to contain myself. I had another warning prepared, a million reasons at the tip of my tongue to explain why this was a terrible idea, especially now, but then Willow arched her brow and looked at me defiantly.
That wickedly sexy defiance. A pure, headstrong goddess.
I already knew the words before they fell from her lips.
With one last grin, she said, “Then chase me.”
Ceramic shards shattered across the wet pavement as she dropped her mug . . . and ran.