Chapter 8

8

Kane

T ami stands out as strong-willed and self-sufficient. Her feistiness makes it clear she’ll provide healthy and strong pups. Her olive eyes captivate me, making this thousand-year wait worth it. My desire to breed her is overpowering; my body aches to release my seed into her.

I run a hand over my face and sigh. Acting on instinct won’t make her a happy mate. I need to know her better first. Times have changed; supernaturals now strive to assimilate with humanity.

Questions flood my mind, but I don’t want to overwhelm her. What was her life like before Wintermoon?

Does she have family to contact? Eventually, I’ll need to take her into town to register at the sheriff’s station. Registration will keep her off the missing persons database. Wintermoon is her home now. She’ll spend the rest of her days here with me.

She’s devouring her food, clearly starving. Has she been skipping meals? Not under my watch. I want to tell her to slow down but hold back.

“I’m sorry,” she says, her scent satisfied. “I didn’t mean to scarf down my food like that.”

“There’s nothing to apologize for,” I tell her. She should be scolding me for not finding her sooner. “Tami, you blew through our barricade in a dangerous winter storm. Then you hit the spikes, something I’d expect from a trespasser. You were clearly running from someone yesterday. Who?” I ask, approaching the subject again. She tenses up at my question.

I pull the tray away and place it at the edge of the end table. We need to talk. She doesn’t understand she’s mated to a shifter. It’s time to explain who she is to me and what this means for her. I expect an adjustment period. I don’t know what she’s been through.

Her scent is still muffled; Kade’s blood lingers in her system. My wolf will not claim her until it fades.

I’ll use this time to get to know her better before my primal instincts take over. Because, oh my god, this woman looks delicious. I try to keep my eyes off her breasts, but they keep wandering there.

“How much trouble am I in?” she asks, and I narrow my eyes. Trouble?

“You aren’t a trespasser, Tami.”

“Tristian, a bear shifter, spoke to you at a gas station in mid-Michigan. He picked up your scent and knew right away that you were fated to someone here. He was following you when you broke through the barrier and hit the spikes, flipping your car. He said you were already running from something when he found you. Who?” Her eyes widen at my words.

“I’m mated to a supernatural here? Who?” Her voice rises with the question. I smile, showing my teeth. She starts to piece it together, her mouth snapping shut as she bites her lip.

Her initial shock almost feels like rejection, but then her scent changes. It's sweet and musky, blending with her natural smell of fresh apples. I shift on the bed, adjusting my shirt to hide my reaction. My wolf wants to claim her, to see our pup growing in her womb.

“Oh,” she says, accepting the information. Over the past ten years with the Master Coven, moving from Snowbush Falls to Wintermoon, I’ve seen many rejected mates. Human women today are strong and independent, like queens without enough worthy kings.

“I—I…” She’s at a loss for words, but there’s no fear. Her curiosity makes me uneasy. The scent of her arousal drives me wild, but I hold back the urge to offer her relief. Now isn’t the time. She needs to adjust.

“What does this mean for me now?” she asks, touching her lips. I sigh and stand up, turning to face her. Her olive eyes look up at me, pleading silently. Another wave of her arousal hits me; I clench my fists and bite my lip.

“It means you have to stay with me. It might be hard to accept now, but in time, you’ll understand that your home is with me.” She just stares, not resisting.

“We retrieved the few items from your car. It’s totaled, but we had it towed to our repair shop. I don’t think it’s worth fixing. I’ll take you into town once the storm clears…”

“I know what it means to be mated.” She moves closer to the edge of the bed. “But I have a life in Detroit. I…”

I cut her off. “You mean the life you were running from when you got here?” I raise an eyebrow, feeling a pang of rejection at the thought of her leaving.

Tami will never understand the longing I have for her to be by my side. Her human mind can't grasp the time gap. I've spent over a thousand years enduring this curse—unable to age, love, or procreate. I've waited all this time for her.

I don't care about her past life because her life is meant to be with me. She can run if she wants; I'll follow her to the ends of the earth. I see the hurt in her eyes from my statement, and I regret making her sad. My words hold a truth that bothers her—a truth she won't reveal. She doesn't know or trust me, and I understand her position. I just wish it didn't hurt so much.

“So that's it? I'm your mate, and I'm stuck here. Like a prisoner?” she asks, and her question fuels my anger. I want to punch a wall. She thinks this is a prison? The only prison is the life she's lived without me. I grit my teeth and take a sharp breath, trying to calm myself. I don't want to yell at her.

“Tami, the only prison was the one I endured for over a thousand years—a life without you. If you want to mourn your past life, I'll give you that. But don't call me your prison. You haven't even tried to get to know me yet.”

“I—I didn't mean...” I grab the tray and walk out of the bedroom, slamming the door behind me. She needs time, and rightfully so. This is an adjustment for both of us.

I head downstairs to the kitchen to clean up her meal, then go over the groceries Kade and Leah delivered. I need to figure out what to feed her next. I've been living like a nomad, surviving on fresh meat from hunts and apples from the orchard.

My eyes pause at the bowl of fresh apples—it finally dawns on me why I love them so much. My body had already memorized my mate's scent before she was born. I fell in love with the scent of apples and their sweet taste right after the Great War. The freshness and sweetness of the fruit comforted me as I dealt with my loss—the loss of not knowing my mate.

It's odd because apples no longer appeal to me now that she's here. Keeping her secluded in this cabin away from the town isn't helping, but I can't bring myself to take her out. I want her to stay here with me, alone, and so does my wolf.

I pull the tablet out of the kitchen drawer, scowling at it. I hate these electronic devices and how humans depend on them now. Leah, Kade's wife, put a magical protective cover on it to prevent me from cracking the screen.

I tap on the device, and the screen lights up. I open the YouTube app and start searching for recipes. Visual aids on how to feed my mate are my only hope at this point.

Hopefully, I don't ruin dinner.