Chapter Twenty-One
Hazel
“Where are you taking me?” Our hands swung between us.
Shiloh, I’d discovered, wasn’t shy about touching.
Every chance he got, he found a way to touch my fingers or kiss my temple.
My omega soaked it up and so did my wolf.
We were so touch-starved. Not just from an alpha either.
From everyone. I shielded myself from others for protection, but the more I got to know these three, the more those shields faded.
A good thing.
Lindon was out of town, handling some loose ends. True was back at the inn, giving us some privacy. Even though I had Shiloh here, I missed the others.
“There’s a gazebo and a pier out by the Blackbird Pond. Have you ever been there?”
I shook my head. “No. Belladonna has so many secret places. Every time I think I’ve explored them all, someone tells me about another. I didn’t even know there was a pond.”
He chuckled. “I take long walks at night. It clears my head. The only reason I know about it is because I was thinking too hard and nearly stepped right into the murky water. It gets warm still during the day and, at night, there’s a beautiful fog that lays like a blanket over the top.
I thought you might enjoy it. And there are some flowers, ones I’ve never seen before, that grow along the edge. Maybe it is something you can use.”
“So you brought me out here to work?” I joked, tugging on our hands.
“No. I did not bring you out here to work. I…well, you’ll see.”
In the distance, I saw some blurry lights and knew he’d gone all out. Goddess, they were going to a lot of trouble for me. I dreamed about this kind of affection and adoration from an alpha but from three? My mind and heart were both overwhelmed with it.
“What did you do?”
“I dressed things up. That’s all. The candles are battery operated. I didn’t want to burn down the whole gazebo.”
It was magical. Candles of all shapes and sizes danced with their artificial glow on the handrails and up the stairs of the gazebo.
Bigger ones lined the bottom and stood in the middle and, while I was in awe of his intentions and attention to detail, I saw him walk over to a tree and grab something from the branches.
My wolf’s hackles went up. My stomach tightened. Instinct. Fear. It was more natural to me than trust. It would take time to learn.
But these were my mates. Yes, there were stories of mates who betrayed and turned their backs on what Fate had in store for them, but that was rare.
My wolf and I relaxed. Shiloh was our mate, and we had to start trusting in what that meant.
“It’s a picnic basket,” he explained, standing a few steps away. He turned it around and lifted the lid, showing me some things inside it. “You can unload it yourself if you like.”
I pursed my lips, avoiding a smile. He was so adorable in the sexiest way possible. “How did you know?”
“Your scent changed, omega. It soured. I figured it was either anger or fear. I’ll learn to tell the difference in time. Learn how your scent changes. What it means.”
I flushed with thoughts about him knowing my scent. One day, I would go into heat and this alpha would be there for me. Seeing me through it. Fucking me and knotting me until I couldn’t remember my name or his.
“Hazel,” he whispered and dropped the basket onto the closest bench.
He closed in and cupped my face in his hands.
Bending at the waist, he pressed his nose into my scent gland at the side of my neck and inhaled and then breathed over it.
I shuddered as his warm breath fanned me.
It was him marking me. A light one. Scent only.
“I don’t have to learn that scent, sweetheart. It tells a story all its own.”
“And what story is that?” I asked, fisting my fingers into the front of his shirt.
“The story of an omega who has found that she desires her alpha. Badly.”
“And what is that alpha going to do about it?”
One minute, I was standing and the next, I was on his lap. He sat on the bench off to the side after pushing several candles to their fates on the floor. Good thing they weren’t real, or we’d be on fire. Even more than we already were.
I moved my knees to straddle his hips and rocked into his hardness. “Shiloh, if you don’t kiss me—” I didn’t get to finish the sentence.
He kissed me like a starved man. His full lips explored mine until I opened for him. I moaned so loudly, I was sure the pond monsters were disturbed. “Make that sound again, omega.”
We kissed, and I encouraged his hands to explore, moving them to my breasts.
My wolf’s instincts presented next to mine, and I pulled back, eyeing his neck. “Can I mark you tonight, Shiloh?”
He hung his head. “You didn’t even feed me dinner, omega.” I almost shriveled up with embarrassment until he started laughing. “That was a terrible joke.”
I hung my head. I’d let myself believe.
“Hey, look at me, Hazel.”
I did. Hesitantly. “What?”
“If I had my way, you would’ve mated me and marked me the first time I saw you in the meadow.
Right there. With my pack and Divina as witnesses.
But if you mark me tonight, there’s no going back for me.
You’re the woman I’ve been searching for my whole life and I don’t give up what’s mine. To anyone.”
I sighed. I never felt like I belonged. Not even to my own family. To have a place in this pack would fix a broken part of me I’d pretended to make peace with a long time ago. “I’m never letting you go either. Are you sure? Without mating? Without… It’s our first date.”
He chuckled. “First of many. Go on. Let that instinct run wild, baby. Make me yours.”
I pushed aside all my resistance and leaned forward, letting my mouth graze his skin before my teeth did. He sucked in a breath, and his scent wrapped around us both, trapping me in a cloud of want and need and love like I’d never felt before.
My canines extended and I bit down, tearing the skin. Marking Shiloh as mine forever.