Chapter 36
Instead of sitting on the end of the bed, Abraham pulled down the covers, and motioned for me to get in. I slid beneath the blankets, admiring the way Abraham’s large frame slipped between the sheets next to me.
He turned on his side so he was facing my direction, and waited, watching me with soft eyes.
“Hi,” I said shyly.
His mouth turned up into a grin. “Hi.” He reached out and cupped my face gently. “I missed you,” he whispered.
I gulped, my nose stinging with the tears I felt gathering in my eyes. “I missed you too.” Those tall black walls I’d built up around my heart were quaking, threatening to tumble with every sweet word that fell from his lips.
He rubbed a thumb beneath my eye. “Don’t cry. Please. I can’t stand to see you cry.”
I sniffed back my tears and gave him a watery smile. Clasping his hand in mine, I pulled them both under the covers, and laid there watching him, disbelieving that he was here. In my room. In my bed with me when just a few hours ago, I had promised myself I’d never have anything to do with him again.
Was I making a mistake?
Abraham squeezed my hand. “Don’t do that.” When he saw my questioning look, he added, “Don’t second guess this. Don’t second guess us. Ask me what you need to ask and let’s put this behind us.”
I nodded and let out a big sigh. “Were you ever going to tell me?”
“About the dangers of you shifting, or about us being fated mates?”
“Both.”
He took a deep breath, his thumb tracing circles against the back of my hand. “I don’t know. Honestly, I didn’t want you to know about the odds of you surviving the shift. I didn’t think it was important.”
I sat up a little. “You didn’t think that information was important?!”
He shook his head. “It’s not. Because I know you’ll survive the change. You were meant to be a werewolf.”
I scoffed. “And what makes you so sure of that? Callie said there’s only about a twenty-five percent survival rate for bitten wolves.”
“That’s because Callie wasn’t allowed to tell you the truth.” He searched my eyes for a long moment. “You are my mate, El. It’s fated. There’s no way you won’t survive the shift. I know that with everything inside me.”
His explanation gave me pause.
Could he be right?
Could I have been fated to become a werewolf?
Did I really have a shot at surviving the shift?
These questions brought another to mind. I narrowed my eyes at him. “How can I be your fated mate when I was born human? What if I’d never taken that vacation? Or, gone for that hike? What if I’d left work late that day, hit traffic, and wasn’t in the woods at the same time as the killer? There’s a million things that could have changed the outcome of that night.”
He shook his head, blue eyes serious. “I don’t know. I’ve actually been asking that question myself since the moment I found you. Callie and I have done some research, and I’ve even reached out to a few other packs, but haven’t found anything. No one’s ever heard of a bitten wolf being someone’s fated mate.”
My body deflated with his words.
Maybe I wasn’t his mate.
Maybe this wasn’t fate.
Maybe he was wrong.
He raised our joined hands and used them to tilt my chin up. “I know what you’re thinking, and you gotta’ stop.” He rubbed his thumb along my chin, warming my face beneath his touch. “It doesn’t matter if it hasn’t happened before, because it’s happened now. You’re mine. Always have been.”
I’m his.
Those words warmed the cold dark places that had formed inside my chest during his absence. I belonged somewhere. To someone.
“What about the mate thing? When were you planning to tell me about that?” I asked, one brow arched.
“I was hoping you’d figure it out.”
I frowned. “How would I have done that?”
He untangled our fingers and placed his hand over my chest. “Because, I know you feel it. You feel me, just like I feel you. That feeling will only get stronger the more your body changes, and the closer you come to your first shift. And, once you shift, there’ll be no denying it. You’ll feel everything as strongly as I feel it.”
That took me back. “You mean this gets stronger?” I placed my hand over his against my chest.
“Much stronger. You’ll see.”
I sighed. He had an answer for everything. And, I couldn’t even be mad, because they all made sense. I tried once more.
“But, why wouldn’t you just tell me about the fated mates thing? Why would you wait around and hope I’d figure it out on my own?”
It was his turn to arch one of his thick, dark brows. “Would you have believed me? That we were meant to be together? That we’re soul mates? How do you think that would have gone?” I tried to act affronted, but he knew better. “I’ve gotten to know you pretty well Elizabeth Montgomery, and I know for a fact, you wouldn’t have believed me for a second. You would have thought it was a line I was using to get in your pants.”
My face heated. He was right. There’s no way I would have believed him. The only way I probably would have accepted it was to come to the conclusion on my own.
Damn, he did know me.
I let all that information sink in.
He’d known this whole time we were fated mates. Lived with what I was feeling, but tenfold, and never acted on it. He befriended me, got to know me, all the while knowing we were meant to be together. The kind of strength that must have taken blew my mind.
He laughed at the expression on my face and pulled me closer. “I know something else about you too.”
I peeked up at his amused expression, blue eyes lit with mirth. “What’s that, Mr. Smarty Pants?”
He laughed, placing a gentle kiss on my forehead. “I know you’re hungry. You’ve probably been eating as well as I have all week.”
I smiled. “I could eat.”
He kissed my head again, and grasped my hand, leading me out of the room. We got to the kitchen where Abraham spun toward me, wrapping his large hands around my hips, and lifting me onto the counter. He took that opportunity to kiss my lips long, and hard. When he pulled away, his breathing was as labored as mine.
“Enough of that or we’ll never eat,” he said, placing a small kiss on the tip of my nose before turning to the refrigerator, and putting his head inside. After a few minutes, he stood back up, and turned to me. “Eggs?”
I smiled. “Sounds perfect.” I hopped off the counter and ducked into the cabinet beneath to grab a large frying pan.
He got the eggs scrambled, and I fried them for us. With my hands busy, Abraham took that opportunity to pull my backside against his hips. His hands gripped me firmly while he peppered tiny kisses along my neck, and bare shoulder.
I shivered and gasped as he found hidden spots of unexpected pleasure up and down my throat. Finally, I set the spatula down, and spun to face him. “Abraham McCoy, if you don’t behave yourself, we’re never eatin’ these eggs.”
He smiled mischievously, and pulled my body to his, soft lips finding mine. When he let us up for air, he whispered against my open mouth, “I’m not that hungry anymore.” I let him kiss me for another long moment before I pushed him away.
“Well, I am. So behave yourself.” I picked the spatula back up and stirred the stuck-on eggs around the pan once more. When the congealed mixture was cooked well enough, I divvied up the half-dozen or so eggs, and we brought them back into my room. We sat on my bed, devouring our evening breakfast, and taking small glances at each other, smiling when we’d catch the other doing the same.
“Can I ask you a question, now?” Abraham asked.
I shrugged. “Sure.”
His face fell slightly, brows drawn. “What were you doing out with Ben tonight?”
I shook my head with a roll of my eyes. “He tricked me into going out with him.”
Abraham’s jaw clenched. “Oh yeah? How’s that?”
I looked down at my plate, pushing around the remaining eggs with my fork. “Well, earlier in the week, Ben mentioned he was going out with a few people from work. At first I was going to tell him no, but then I got your text, and it upset me, so I agreed.” I took a quick glance at him to see his expression hadn’t changed. If anything, it’d gotten angrier. “Then when we got there, he said we were early, and the others would be coming soon. So I had some wine.” He cleared his throat, and I rolled my eyes. “Okay, I had a lot of wine. I was upset,” I turned pleading eyes to him, and his gaze softened. “When I realized he’d lied about the other people coming, I left, and caught an Uber home. That’s all.”
Abraham sighed, setting his empty plate aside, and clasping his hands together. “I don’t like you going out with Ben.”
I laughed. “Me neither. I can’t stand him.”
“I don’t trust him.”
I frowned. “Why? You barely know him.”
“I could smell his desperation. He wants you badly. I’m afraid of what he’ll do to get you.”
I scooped the rest of my eggs into my mouth and stacked my plate atop Abraham’s. “Don’t worry, I can handle him.”
He smiled. “I have no doubt you can.”
A long yawn caught me by surprise, and Abraham stood from the bed, taking the plates with him. “It’s late, you should get to sleep.”
“Where are you going?” I asked nervously, scared to have him leave my sight.
He nodded to the door. “I’m going to sleep on your couch if that’s okay.”
I stood from the bed and grabbed his hands. “Stay with me?” He looked at me longingly, but with a touch of apprehension. “Please? I can’t bear to be away from you right now.”
His eyes softened as a small smile spread across his handsome face. “I know what you mean.”
Taking that as a yes, I dragged him over to my bed, and crawled beneath the covers, feeling the mattress depress as he climbed in after me. He wrapped his strong arm around my waist and dragged me toward him until my back hit his hard chest. His scent enveloped me, and I snuggled closer, entwining my fingers with his.
He pressed his face into my damp locks, placing a tender kiss on my head. “Night baby,” he said, the words rumbling through his chest, and vibrating through my body. I stifled a shiver as I drifted off into the best sleep I’d had in days.
Waking up in Abraham’s arms was an experience I never thought I’d have, yet couldn’t believe I’d gone twenty-eight years without.
I was laying on his hard chest, his thick arm around me, and my hand resting on his stomach. When the alarm blared out its terrible tune, his arm tightened, pulling me closer. He reached over and turned the alarm off before rolling back around to kiss my forehead.
“Morning,” he rumbled, his sleepy voice one of the sexiest things I’d ever heard.
“Morning,” I croaked, wincing at how horrible I sounded compared to him. I peered one eye open and saw he was doing the same. A slow, sleepy grin spread across his beautiful face, and I swear, I’d need a new pair underwear after this.
“You’re beautiful in the morning,” he commented as he twirled the ends of my hair between his fingers.
I ducked my head into his side, hiding what was probably a horrific sight. I’d forgotten to take my makeup off or brush my teeth before bed. I cringed at what he must have had to look at.
“You’re the good looking one in the morning, I probably look like a hungover raccoon,” I countered.
He breathed a laugh, stroking the hair away from my face. “You’re the most beautiful raccoon I’ve ever seen.”
I shook my head with a groan, and he laughed again, placing another kiss against the top of my head. A whiff of bacon wafted through the door, and I perked up. “Smells like Callie’s cookin’ us breakfast,” he said.
“What are your plans for today?” I asked softly, afraid to hear he was leaving. I didn’t think I could stand to be away from him again so soon.
He shrugged. “I brought some work with me. I thought I could hang here while you work, and then we could spend the weekend together.”
I sprang up next to him, eyes wide, and a huge smile stretching my cheeks. “You’re staying here?”
He shrugged. “If you want.” His tone was nonchalant, but his eyes were wary. And I knew it was because of what he wasn’t saying. He’d asked if that’s what I wanted, but what he’d meant was if I wanted him.
And I did.
For as long as I could.
Maybe forever.
That thought was a sobering one, but it rang with a truth I couldn’t deny.
I leaned over, and kissed him right on the mouth, morning breath be damned. “I want. Very much,” I assured him.
A slow, sexy grin spread across his face, blue eyes brightening. “Then you’ve got me for the weekend.”
My smile slipped. “What happens after the weekend?”
His smile dimmed too. “If you won’t come back with me, Del will be here Sunday night to spend the week with you.”
My chest constricted. “I can’t leave my career, Abraham.”
Right?
He nodded. “I get it. I know how important it is to you. If I can get away from work, I’ll come back out here sometime during the week, okay? And then you can spend the weekend at the lodge again. That sound good?”
I nodded weakly. Any time away from Abraham sounded awful, but what choice did I have? His business, and his pack were out in Asheville, and my career was here in Raleigh. We’d just have to learn to make it work for as long as we could and cross that next bridge when we got to it.