“I’m right here.”
Niall looked back out the window. “Since Lisette you’ve been a wild card. We’ve all inherited your tension. Then suddenly, a month ago, something changed.” Blue eyes flickered back to him. “I think that’s when you met Chloe.”
Claws pressed against his fingertips as his body wavered between preparing for a fight and the love he had for a man who had always been a brother.
“What will you do with your suspicions?”
Niall snorted. “Not a damn thing. I had your back when we were foolish cubs. Nothing has changed.”
“Then what is the point of this conversation?”
“If I noticed, do you really think no one else has?”
He exhaled. “It doesn’t matter. Once this retreat is over things will go back to normal.”
“Will you let her go?”
He didn’t answer. Didn’t have one to give. Let Chloe go? It was an inconceivable thought. He couldn’t imagine going home to an empty apartment or making it through the days without a guarantee that he’d get to see her, touch her.
They might have set out a month ago to fool the world into thinking they were meant to be, but now he rather thought the joke was on him. For better or worse, Chloe had wormed her way into a heart he hadn’t thought he still possessed. He’d survived a catastrophic loss once. He wasn’t sure he could do it again. He’d learned the hard way that love only brought pain. It was to be avoided at all costs. But Chloe didn’t see the world that way. She didn’t understand his damaged heart was the last thing she should ever want.
“The pack benefited from your relationship with Lisette,” Niall said. “But I haven’t felt this level of peace and solidity since your parents ruled.”
“She’s not my mate,” he said, trying to ignore the fact that an outsider had brought the very harmony his pack had been missing.
“Why?”
“I can’t be paired with a witch.”
Niall shrugged. “You’ve proven pretty conclusively over the years that a wolf wouldn’t work for you. You need a woman able to go toe-to-toe with you without challenging your inner animal. No were would be able to meet that need.”
“I barely know her.”
That earned him a chuckle. “You never looked at Lisette the way you’ve looked at Chloe these past days.”
The words brought him up short. Was it true? He tried to picture what he and Lisette had had. It had been consuming, passionate to the point that nothing else had mattered. His world had narrowed to focus only on her. She’d been his darkest obsession. But had she been the love of his life?
“Time doesn’t matter to your wolf,” Niall continued. “Does it want to claim Chloe on the full moon?”
Yes. It wanted her more than it had ever wanted another. His wolf clawed at the edges of his consciousness communicating one single thought.
Mine.
“Maybe next year,” he temporized, hardly able to believe the words had left his lips. After centuries of avoiding taking a mate, was he truly considering accepting that level of commitment?
Niall clasped a hand on his shoulder. “If I ever found a woman who could calm my wolf the way I suspect she calms yours, I’d claim her the first chance I got. Don’t wait too long, brother, or you might miss your happy ending.”
The hand left his shoulder as the other man turned to leave.
“Keep these thoughts to yourself, Niall,” he cautioned.
“Always.”
The footsteps faded as Kieran focused on Chloe once more.
She tossed her blonde curls over her shoulder, shading her eyes as she looked up at his window.
He raised a hand to wave to her. Her smile faltered for a moment before she waved back.
Mine, he mused again as she returned her attention to her friends. After centuries without a mate, the thought of taking one now was daunting.
But the thought of losing her was worse.
Do I love her? He needed her, lusted for her, liked her. But was it love? Could he even feel that emotion again?
But he knew enough of Chloe to know there was only one way she’d accept him as her mate. If he wasn’t head over heels for her, she’d walk away without a backward glance.
Which meant he had to be very, very sure before he made a move that could destroy everything.
Chloe had meant to stay awake until Kieran finished his hunt. Truly she had. But despite her best intentions, she was asleep by the time her head hit the pillow. She’d pay for her exertions the next day when her tired muscles were forced back to life.
That time came far sooner than she expected, when lips running down her throat roused her to consciousness.
A body pressed down on hers as those clever lips trailed over her skin.