Chapter Four
Edon
Finding my mate is the purest thing I have ever known. Holding her in my arms, feeling her heartbeat, tasting her sweet skin, I am vibrating with joy. My wolf is whining inside of me, barking his own joy, so thrilled we have found her at last.
This soft, sweet, gentle little creature is mine. As I am hers. Once I tell her everything, once I explain who I am, who my wolf is, I will have to mate her. Not just take her as mine, but mate her with my mark. I must put a mark on her neck that brands her as mine.
“Lord you smell so good,” I moan the words as I scent her, smelling her skin, her sweet blood, even her wetness between her thighs. I want to taste it. To lick it up and swallow it down. I want to eat her whole, taste every inch of her glorious skin.
“Like muffins?” she mutters, tilting her head so I can kiss her throat, bite at her flesh, my fingers closing on her slender throat.
“No, sweetheart you smell like you. Like mine. You’re going to smell so good once we mate. I’m going to have your sweet scent on me for days.”
“Do you mean...mate as in... have babies?”
I almost laugh. Because yes, we’re going to have babies. As many pups as my sweet girl can carry. I’ve thought about nothing but her since last night. I never should have let her go. I cannot stand the idea of her not being close, not being where I can protect her.
If she had not come back tonight, I would have gone to her. I would have been able to follow her sweet scent. It has intoxicated me since last night. I almost left my campers to go to her, to be sure she was safe before I found her today. I am pleased my mate came to me.
“Yes, babies. But I mean everything else you think I do, sweetheart. Am I scaring you yet?”
Humming the words against her throat, her pulse jumps against my lips. I smile, squeezing her tighter to me. No, she is not scared. Hell, part of me thinks she ought to be. It was scary for me to find out about this other world, one living right alongside the rest of the world.
“No. Is this you trying to scare me?” Her voice hitches with humor and I swear my heart flutters as if she just gave it wings. How could I have gotten this lucky?
“Never. Just want to prepare you. Lots of change is coming our way. First things first, don’t you ever bring sweets out here for anyone else but me, sunshine,” I tease her, pressing a kiss to her jaw.
Turning in my arms, she smirks at me. My chest swells because goddess above, she is beautiful. Those eyes of hers, they’re a color unlike I’ve ever seen. Mossy green, but clear, warm. They crinkle at the edges as she smiles, and I decide I want to keep her smiling for the rest of my damn life.
“Who said I was bringing them to anyone else?”
Growling, I almost claim her mouth in a kiss. Not yet. I am excited, my wolf is wild inside of me, but she is lying. Well, not about those muffins—she brought those just for me, I can tell. No, she is scared. Not that I will hurt her or that I would ever let anyone else hurt her. My sweet baker girl is afraid of what she is feeling.
Letting my arms drop, I take a step back. I almost laugh again. That move does not sit right with her. We both prefer her nestled against my chest. Soon. Reaching out, I cup the side of her face, our gaze locked as I take a calming breath.
“Tell me your name, sunshine.”
“Bessi. You said this is not magic. I think magic exists,” she lowers her voice, as if we’re sharing a secret. I guess in a way, we are. “Luci found some magic with someone. I love all the stories about magic here in Moon Haven. Witches or wizards. Wild animals. You said this is not magic.... why does it feel as if it is?”
Cupping her face in gentle hands, I note the shimmer in her eyes. Those beautiful eyes show everything. Bessi believes in magic. Because she can sense it inside of me. Inside of herself. There is a reason she was drawn out here. It was not her getting lost, as I said to her just last night. No, it was her finding her way to me.
“It is a little magic. You will understand soon. Bessi, let me take you home. I do not want you out here in the wild.”
“I like it out here in the wild,” she shoots back as she beams up at me.
“So do I. Be a good girl and let me take you home, yeah?”
“Yes,” she answers before I even finish asking. I smile and rub my thumb softly over her soft lips. Praising her with touch. “What do I call you? I told you my name now tell me yours.”
“You may call me whatever you wish. Edon is what the rest of the world calls me.”
Bessi’s face flushes warm beneath my touch, the prettiest pink touching her cheeks. God, she’s beautiful. How am I just finding her? How has she hidden somewhere right here in the open? Moon Haven is small enough I should know of her, of this other woman she calls Luci—her sister, I sense from the fondness of her tone—and yet I have never seen her. I would have known the moment I laid eyes on her that she was what I’ve been searching for all my life.
“Edon,” she tests it out, squinting her eyes as if checking her own reaction to the ancient name. Smiling up at me, she nods. Yes, she likes it. I celebrate a little inside, not that I got to choose my name. “It is an old name, yes?”
“Yes, it is indeed. One good thing my mother gave me. Come on, let me try one of those muffins while I walk you home.”
“Why don’t you want me out here? That meadow I found last night...you don’t want me to know about that place.”
Shaking my head as I take her basket, folding her arm around my bicep, I let out a little sigh. “At first yes, I did not want you to know. It is a private place, sweetheart. I will explain it all very soon. I won’t hide anything from you. There is nothing you won’t know about me. We’re mates, after all, we will know everything about each other.”
“You said this is not magic. You’re not magic. Yet you talk the way Gareth does. He is my sister Luci’s husband. Did you know they got married two months after meeting? It was so romantic. He is older than her,” her voice trails off as her eyes circle the clearing before she lowers her voice to share another of her secrets with me. “I would bet he is hundreds of years old. Magic.”
Bessi says this so matter-of-factly, so without concern I have to pause on the dirt path leading from the woods. Could it be so simple? Can I just tell her that I am a shifter, and she will be too, once we mate properly? Will she accept it as truth, the way she seems to accept the witch she speaks of?
Inside me, my wolf is going mad. He wants me to mate her. To bind her to us in the ceremony we will share that unites us forever. And the dirty dog wants his chance to mate her wolf, once she shifts. He is roaring inside my head, drowning out any clear thoughts.
“I am an old soul, sweetheart,” I answer at last, starting us on the path again.
Taking one of her muffins, I take a huge bite, not even trying to suppress my moan as it melts in my mouth. It's chocolate and fluffy and so damn good, I demolish it in just a few bites. Glancing her way as I grab another, I grin at her as I take another big bite.
“Yeah, you don’t make these for anyone else.”
Bessi laughs and my heart sings along. We walk quietly, her steps matching mine, her body leaning against me the further we go. We do not talk but we don’t need to. I hold her close as I finish off two more muffins. I would share them with my campers but no, these are just for me.
We slow down as we reach an overgrown yard fenced in by wrought iron fence. I hesitate for a moment. That silver bullet thing is a myth, but iron can hurt like a bitch. Bessi leads the way through the fence, ducking beneath flowers and shrubs I suspect she has nurtured.
Guess my little spot of sunshine does love the wild.
“I am home. Safe and sound, Edon,” she whispers as she turns to face me, beaming a beautiful smile up at me.
Behind her, the moon shines down in a silver halo. In this light, hell I think in any light, she is breathtaking. Reaching out, I brush her dark hair back from her face, tangling a curl in my fingers. Bending my head, I scent her, inhaling her sweetness. I need to keep it with me, to calm my beast for just a little while longer.
“Even if you feel the need to come back to that clearing, don’t. I could not stand it if someone hurt you. I will come here, Bessi. Where it is safe. Can you promise me that?”
“Yes,” she breathes, nodding her head as I move closer.
“Good girl,” I husk, rubbing my nose against hers. Then, at last, I brush my mouth over hers, tasting her sigh, savoring her little moan. I lick her mouth before I pull back as my beast roars inside of me.
We both have to wait—she and her little wolf will be ours soon.