Chapter 15

Rhett

He was coming home with us!

Our mate was finally coming home.

My wolf preened inside my chest, happiness emanating off him. To him, everything was fine now. He obviously didn't get the concept of visiting someone. At least not one's mate. Nope. He was under the firm impression that once our mate entered our home, he'd stay .

Not in a prisoner kind of way, mind you, but definitely in a moving-in kind of way.

I knew better; of course I did, and yet I didn't tell my wolf. Maybe because a small, foolish part of me hoped my wolf would be right after all. Hell, Levi felt so much more of our connection than he was supposed to he might just… what?

Throw his life away to move into a small, two-bedroom cabin on the outskirts of town without even discussing it?

Yes! my wolf shouted. Mate. Ours.

I ignored my wolf and focused on the road ahead of us instead. We were almost there; it would take maybe another minute or two until my house would come into view. As it was, we were driving past Gray's home, past Teagan's, and Carl and Anna's homes, which meant there was only Jonny's house left and then…

"Here we are," I said, turning into the short driveway to my house. There was a fluttering sensation in my chest and I started sweating profusely, even though I wasn't hot.

What would Levi think about my home? Would he find it lacking? I didn't know much about his life in the city. Just that he was from Vancouver and some kind of influencer who had a manager.

Did that mean he was a millionaire? That he was used to a life of luxury?

We should probably talk about that—soon.

Doesn't matter , my wolf supplied. He's ours.

I wanted to agree, but the fact was that it might matter. And that thought sat like lead in my stomach.

"Wow," Levi said, pressing a hand against the window. I couldn't see his face, but his voice was filled with child-like wonder that made my stomach unclench.

"You… like it?" I asked.

"I love it." He turned his head to me and gave me a huge grin. "It's so cute, and I bet it's even more beautiful in spring when everything starts to grow."

The fluttering sensation inside of me changed tunes, the nervous vibrations turning into a swirl of happiness.

"It really does. And I have quite a big garden; I grow my own fruit and vegetables. Oh… and there's a flower garden for the bees in the back."

"And there's a greenhouse!" Levi exclaimed, jumping in his seat. "I know it probably sounds ridiculous to you, but… I've never been in a greenhouse, you know? I—to be honest, I haven't left the city much. I've basically spent my whole life in Vancouver. My parents didn't have much money and all my relatives lived in the city, so we never went on vacation to visit someone."

I furrowed my brows. "But… aren't you some kind of rich social media star?"

A snort-giggle escaped Levi, and he slapped his hands on his mouth, scrunching up his nose at the sound. "Who told you that?"

"I assumed…"

Laughing, Levi shook his head and turned towards me. He placed a hand on my thigh and leaned into me, as if he craved the touch, just like I did.

"Rhett, I'm a barista. The whole influencer thing, that's… I call it a side hustle even though that always sounds like some kind of pyramid scheme. I'm a small fish. A couple of my reels went viral, and I got a decent following out of it. In my videos, I basically talk about my work as a barista and share funny or weird stories. Occasionally, I post recipes for drinks I came up with, but that's it."

Oh.

That was…

"Are you disappointed?" Levi asked, biting his lip. The smell of his anxiety soured the air.

"What?"

My wolf yowled in my chest, demanding we make it okay and to put our mate at ease, to assure him we could never be disappointed in him because—to us—he was perfect.

"I mean…" Levi started, wringing his hands in his lap. "You obviously thought I was rich. And I'm not. I'm a probably unemployed human with no survival skills."

"But that's not true," I said forcefully, grabbing Levi's hands. "You're amazing. You got thrown into an incredibly dangerous situation, and you survived . You're resilient as fuck."

Levi scoffed, but there was a flash in his eyes, so maybe my words were getting through to him.

Good , my wolf said, satisfied. Truth.

"Without you, I'd have died out there." Doubt still clouded his features, and he averted his eyes.

"So what?" My wolf howled loudly in protest. "Do you have any idea how many hikers we have to save every year because they get lost in the wilderness? The number's in the double digits. And those folks know the dangers. They prepare for it, they usually go hiking in summer when the weather's good—and they still get lost." I shook my head and held Levi's hands a little tighter. "You knew what you had to do. Yes, I helped you find the way, but you knew you had to find water and shelter. Even though you were royally screwed over, you kept a cool head and utilised your resources—one of those resources being me."

Levi snorted, a small smile tugging at his lips. "I knew right from the beginning something was off with that wolf."

My wolf chuffed.

"And during the storm?" I continued, because I wanted to get it all out there. To really make him see how incredible he was. "You held up so well . You'd been out in the woods for four fucking days. You were starving, you were probably on the verge of hypothermia, but you still hiked through the woods, in the dark, during one of the worst storms I've seen in the past years."

Levi chuckled. "The way I remember it, I merely held onto you and you basically dragged me along."

"Semantics," I said and winked at him. "And don't forget everything that came afterwards. You bounced back so quickly and took the whole finding out about shifters thing in a stride."

Had it sucked that he'd needed time to process?

Yes.

Had being patient been hard for me?

Yes. It'd been the hardest thing I'd had to do in my whole life.

But it'd been worth it.

Because now he was here, at my house. Well, sitting in my truck in front of my house. A fact I needed to rectify.

"Do you want to head inside?" I asked, smiling at him. "I have a couch that's infinitely more comfortable than these car seats."

Levi laughed, and the sour stench of anxiety faded from his scent. Letting go of me, he reached for the door handle and climbed outside. I watched him as he tilted his head to the sun, closed his eyes and drew in a big breath as if he was savoring the air.

Something inside me unfurled upon seeing him like that, and the tugging sensation inside of me that always appeared to be drawing me closer to Levi grew even stronger.

I needed my mate inside my arms.

My incredible mate, who was human and from an entirely different world than I was, still appreciated the same things I did.

Egged on by my wolf, I climbed out of the car and walked up to Levi, who was still standing there with his eyes closed, letting the sun shine on his face. His features were relaxed, his lips tilted into a small, content smile, and his hair gleamed golden in the sun.

"I love the air out here," he murmured, smile widening a fraction. "Every time I step outside, I'm amazed at how clean the air is. It's like I can taste the nature just by breathing."

I put my arm around him and drew him close, the faint bond in my chest humming, my wolf yipping happily. Tingling spread through my whole body, and heat pooled in my groin.

The scent of petrichor and apples mixing with the scent of my home was an aphrodisiac so powerful it made me a little tipsy—and taking a deep breath did nothing to clear my mind. Quite the contrary.

My cock hardened inside my pants, and anticipation raced through my veins.

This is it , my wolf said. Mate !

It was as forceful a command as he could manage, and if my control wasn't as ironclad, I might've just given in.

Levi shuddered against me, his scent intensifying as he pressed his body up against me. I barely managed to bite back a groan, my cock jerking inside its confines.

"Let's head inside," I said, my voice rough and raw, even to my own ears. "I'll make us popcorn and then we can watch a movie."

I desperately needed a little distance between us, so I could clear my head. Just because he was here didn't mean we had to mate right now. That was not what Levi had agreed to when he'd climbed into my truck.

Yes, usually mates would have already been mated at this point. But Levi was human. Matings between a human and a shifter usually took a little longer.

I. Would. Be. Patient.

Even if it was the last thing I did.

My chest ached as I let go of my mate to walk up to the door. Even those couple of steps between us felt like a mile. My heart hammered in my chest, anxiety rising, the feeling of loss threatening to overwhelm me.

Fuck, the patience thing was getting harder and harder with our bond growing stronger and stronger, but I wouldn't give in.

Not until Levi was ready.

His soft steps sounded behind me, and my whole body relaxed as I felt him coming closer, stopping right behind me.

I fumbled with my keys, my hands shaking so bad it was hard to get the damn thing into the lock, but I managed on the third try, pushed my door open, and walked into a small hallway.

"You can take off your shoes and put them there," I said, nodding towards the shoe rack standing on a rubber mat. "The living room is right up ahead. Make yourself comfortable while I get the popcorn, okay?"

I wanted to add a sweetheart to the sentence, wanted to reach out and tug that stray strand of hair behind his ear, wanted to caress his cheek as a goodbye, even though I'd only be gone for a minute. But I did none of those things, too afraid my control might slip.

My wolf yowled, almost in pain, as we left our mate behind.

Taking a turn to the right, I entered the small kitchen and firmly shut the door behind me. I'd been wanting to open up the kitchen to the living room for ages now, but right in this moment I was glad I hadn't gotten to it yet because as much as I loathed it, I needed the space. Grabbing the counter, I let my head fall forwards, closed my eyes, and focused on my breathing, all the while ignoring the furious protests of my wolf. He was angry. Livid. He didn't want the reprieve; he wanted to bask in Levi's scent and feel his body pressed against us again.

There was nothing in this world I wanted more, too. My body was yearning for it, my mind screaming at me to just head over to the living room.

Gripping the counter harder, I let out a groan.

My cock was so hard inside my pants it was aching, and my whole body was strumming with need.

"You feel it too, don't you?" Levi whispered, but he might as well have been shouting from the top of his lungs. His words ripped through the silence, and I whirled around to face him.

He shivered under my gaze, wrapping his arms around himself. I could smell his arousal, could see the erection straining his pants.

"Dumb question," he mumbled, shaking his hand, his hair whipping through the air, "You probably feel it ten times more intensely than I do, even though I can't imagine how you can even bear that. I feel like I might literally die if I don't touch you. I don't understand it, but this thing between us, this bond, it's getting so much stronger every time I see you."

"It's supposed to," I said, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath that did nothing but spur on my need as I filled my lungs with the scent of Levi and home. "We don't know exactly how it works, but most people think the bond is some form of magic. Nothing someone can consciously will into existence, but something that just is. Waiting dormant until we find our other half and it activates. The bond yearns to be completed."

Levi nodded. "And it's completed by having sex?"

My cock jerked, precum seeping from the tip into my boxers. Him saying the word sex was enough to almost make me come in my pants; I was that desperate.

I saw it in my mind, him beneath me, writhing, his face lax with pleasure, as I pushed inside him for the last time and buried my teeth in his shoulder.

A shiver wracked through me, and I gripped the counter so hard, I was almost sure my fingers would leave dents in the solid wood.

"Sex alone won't complete the bond. It'll strengthen it, yes, but the thing that binds us together will be the mating bite."

Levi raised his eyebrows. "You want to bite me? Or do you want me to bite you? Isn't biting more like a vampire thing?"

I chuckled.

"I don't know how vampires mate, but biting is very much a shifter thing. So no, as a human, you don't have to reciprocate the bite for the bond to be completed. I will have to bite you, though, and I'll bite hard enough to draw blood."

Levi swallowed audibly, paling a little, but his cock jerked, nonetheless. A part of him liked the idea. Probably the part of him affected by the bond.

"Soo… we could have sex without mating?" he asked tentatively, pulling his lip between his teeth.

I groaned. Fuck. I wanted to cross the distance and kiss him. I wanted to claim him as my mate. Complete the bond between us.

"In theory, yes," I said, my voice straining. "But to be honest, I'm not sure if I'd be able to hold myself or my wolf back. So I won't sleep with you until you're ready to be my mate. I couldn't live with myself if I forced the mating bond on you without your consent."

"But the bond is already there," Levi whispered, placing a hand on his chest. "I can feel it right there, pulling at me."

"I don't know why you feel it as intensely as you do. Usually, humans only feel a strong attraction towards their mates. But no matter how much of our bond you can feel already, you're still able to leave as long as the bond is not completed. When I've claimed you, there's no going back; we'll be tied to each other for as long as we live. But if you leave now, the bond will weaken, and you…" I swallowed, balling my hands into fists, every fiber of my body screaming at me to shut up. "You'd eventually be able to have another relationship."

Levi shuddered, shaking his head vigorously.

Relief flooded my system, and I unclenched my fist.

"I don't want that," he said quietly, a myriad of expression flickering over his face, until determination settled in. His jaw hardened, and a fire ignited in his steely-grey eyes.

I watched with fascination as he crossed the distance between us. I was rooted to the floor, unable to move as he tipped up to his toes and wrapped his arms around my neck. Looking deep into my eyes, he took a steadying breath, his muscles tightening against me. "I'm ready. I don't want to wait any longer. Hell, I can't wait any longer. It's… being away from you is eating me up from the inside."

I cleared my throat, swallowing against the lump in my throat that didn't want to budge. "Are you sure?"

My wolf howled in protest, clawing at my chest.

Levi nodded, his eyes never losing contact with mine. "When I think about Vancouver, it feels like a distant memory. A life that no longer fits. Even if we weren't mates and the thought of leaving you wouldn't make me sick to my stomach, I don't think I'd want to go back. I like it here. The people, the town, hell, I even like the nature—even though I almost died out there."

His voice was steady, his pulse quick but even, and the determined set on his jaw left no doubt: he was serious.

I felt light in a way I never had before. Like I weighed nothing. Like I was walking on clouds.

My mate was ready. I would finally get to make him mine.