47. Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Seven
Raif
H e needs to tell her she’s his mate. It’s a big deal, a very big deal.
Soulmates. Made for one another, a perfect pair.
She will always be it for him, till his last breath, forever and always.
She’s accepted that he’s a bear shifter, accepted that he loves her.
Now he needs to tell her what may be the most important part of all of this.
“Ash?” he says quietly. He’s still stroking her hand, and she’s got a small smile on her face.
“Yeah?” she looks up at him quizzically.
“There’s something else I gotta tell you, baby.”
She pulls her hand back from his.
“What is it?”
Her smile is replaced with weariness, and he doesn’t blame her after all he’s told and shown her.
“There’s a couple of things. First, I want you to know how much I love you. And I do, Ash, I love you so very much.”
“And the second thing?”
He takes a deep breath.
“We...bear shifters, we are only bound to love one person. It’s part of the magic that makes us up. We can only be with our true loves. Being with someone else, sexually, is like getting stabbed in the stomach. It’s physically painful.”
“What about you and that woman, Sandy?”
“We only ever kissed. Even then it was hard. I was lonely, really lonely, and I thought I would never meet my mate. I had given up on finding them, finding you.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you, Ash. You are it for me. You’re the love of my life. You’re my mate.”
He swallows hard and looks at her. She looks confused, eyebrows drawn down, and lips pursed like she’s thinking.
“Mate?”
“Yes. We can only be with our mate, our soulmate. It’s a special thing for bear shifters to have soulmates, to have one perfect person out there for us. One person who completes us in every way. I love you, Ash,” he whispers the last part.
She looks at him for a moment, eyes locked on his.
He can’t tell what she’s thinking or feeling.
She has yet to tell him she loves him. He thinks she does, but this may very well be the straw that broke the camel's back. He’s thrown so much at her all at once, it’s normal for her to feel overwhelmed at this point.
“I don’t expect you to say it back, Ash. I know, I know this is a lot to throw at you. I had to be honest, though, I had to tell you everything. And you can take as much time as you need with all of this. I understand-”
“I’m your soulmate?”
She’s quiet when she speaks, but she doesn’t sound scared or freaked out.
“Yes, baby. You’re it for me. You are my perfect other half. I will never love anyone else but you.”
“Are you my soulmate? I mean...James…”
“I can’t tell you that. You’re human, you can love many people in your lifetime. Am I your soulmate? I don’t know, baby, only you can know that.”
“But there has to be knowledge, stories, right? I mean, this stuff is passed down?”
He looks her over, he doesn’t want to pile it on, wants to give her the ability to choose.
“Yes, it’s passed down. Mates means they are perfect for each other, two souls completed. So yes, Ash, I’m your soulmate.”
She sucks in a breath through her teeth.
“You have a choice, though, you always have a choice. We can break up, you can move away. You don’t have to stay with me, you can leave, move on, date other people. Fall in love with someone else.”
“But you?”
“You will always be the only one for me.”
“I didn’t know what this feeling was, feeling so drawn to you.
It’s overwhelming,” she huffs out a laugh.
“I thought...we haven’t known each other long, and things have moved so fast with us.
I thought maybe I was changing, falling for you so quickly.
With James, it took me years before I had feelings for him.
You, just a number of weeks. I loved him so much, and I don’t want to forget what we had, ever.
But I want to be with you, Raif. I can feel it in my bones that this is something special. ”
“What are you saying, baby?”
“I love you, Raif. I love you so much. I can’t imagine going a single day without seeing you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Oh God,” she buries her head in her hands.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m essentially proposing to you,” she says through muffled hands.
He can’t help but smile.
“I want to spend the rest of my life with you, too, Ash. Every moment of every day. Forever and always.”
She looks up at him with a watery smile, dropping her hands back to her lap.
“Marry me, Ash?”
Her smile is huge, it splits her whole face wide, and she’s practically beaming.
She throws her arms around his neck, and he hauls her into his lap.
He’d never imagined he would get to have this.
He spent years and years thinking he would be alone, that he would never find his mate, let alone deserve one.
Now he has her, his beautiful Ash. The most wonderful person he’s ever met.
He loves her so much it hurts his heart to think about it.
She smells like everything incredible in life.
Citrus and cloves, his perfect scent. Everything he’s ever thought was good in the world, home, family, love.
She completes him, makes his broken self whole.
He can never thank her enough for loving him the way she does, so fully.
He knows it took her a while to say it, but he can feel it inside, he can feel the love she has for him coursing through his body.
It’s real and strong, and he will always have it.
Her accepting him as a mate means their bond will be unbreakable. They will forever be entwined. He will spend every day showing her how much she means to him. Spend every day being the best person he can be, for her, always for her.
“So baby, will you marry me?”
He brushes a strand of hair out of her face. Her eyes are wet with unshed tears.
“Yes, Raif, I’ll marry you.”