As afternoon turned to evening, I sat on the edge of the mattress, fisting the sheets to stay in place. To not go running off into the woods on a hunch, on a feeling. On the surety that I’d find Angelita. I could feel her already, sense the gap between us growing smaller with every second. She was close. Close enough that my body responded to her, my heart racing and my blood rushing to my dick.

The instinct to claim, to mate, to drive myself inside her body and join us forever wasn’t just a wolf thing. I felt it, too. Always had with her. Always would.

Usually, I’d be in the house when Angelita arrived. Standing beside my sister and her husband, I’d fret and fidget until she hit the porch before I raced outside, needing to reach her right away. But this time, we needed privacy. Hell, we deserved it too. We had a lot of things to talk about. Future things, plans, all the options there were to keep us together from now on. Plus, I couldn’t be so hard and needy for her in front of my sister and Angelita’s guardians. There would be no hiding it this time. I’d always been able to control myself around others in the past, knowing we couldn’t be together that way. Knowing I had to wait for her. But she was eighteen finally. We were adults in the eyes of the law, though not yet in the eyes of the people who had helped raise us. Still, it was time to sit down and talk as adults. To act as adults. To do…adult things.

My heart jumped the second I heard her claws on the steps outside. My Angelita was finally home. I stood, heading for the door, knowing she couldn’t open it. Not like that. Not as her wolf. She must have been in a rush to have forgotten to shift. She did that sometimes still—stayed in her wolf form until the last possible second. She’d shift for me, though. Once her wolf saw me, she’d change forms.

The second her claws scraped against the steel of the door, I yanked it open. Her scent destroyed me, enveloping me completely in a nanosecond. I couldn’t see her, but I didn’t need to. I’d felt her coming, and I could still feel her. Feel the pull to her that was something I’d never quite gotten used to. Feel the way she made my heart burn when she was close to me. The pull to grab her, hold her, leave not an inch of space between us. I could smell her, hear her breath, feel the energy rolling off her… Carnal and wild. She was my angel, my soul mate, my love. Everything I needed in life was wrapped up in her little body. I didn’t need my sight to recognize her—I knew every bit of her without ever having to see an inch.

Her fur brushed along my legs, and I smiled, the sensation tickling. The next second, skin replaced fur, and my amazing Angelita wrapped her human form around my body. Her naked human form. This girl tested every ounce of my willpower and always had.

“Leelee.” My nickname for her came out on a sigh of its own accord. I couldn’t have held it back any more than I could stop my body from responding to hers. I grabbed her close, loving the feel of warm, soft skin under my hands. Breathing in the scent of rain and forest and girl. So much girl.

No… Woman.

“Julian.” Her shaky, whispered voice saying my name broke me. I grabbed her legs, hoisting them up around my waist and slammed the door behind her. This woman, this amazing, beautiful, soulful woman knew exactly how to push me past my limits in all the best ways, and I would never be separated from her again. I’d battle the whole shapeshifter population if I had to. She was mine.

Diving in, I kissed her roughly, all teeth and smashed lips as I dug my fingers into her thighs to hold her to me. I walked backward until my legs hit the mattress again, then dropped down, pulling Angelita into my lap. Letting her wrap herself around me and straddle my hips. Fuck, I’d never been so hard. Never been so needy for her. We’d gotten good at kissing over the years—once she’d been able to shift human again, we’d done everything we could to catch up on the time we’d lost. We’d taken advantage of every second together because we knew Bez could tear us apart again if he wanted to. We’d spent hours on each visit kissing, hugging, rubbing…exploring. But we’d never gone too far. Never crossed the line into anything more than hands on one another. She’d been underage, and I’d been threatened too many times to slip.

But she was eighteen now, and somehow, my body knew it.

The kiss grew hotter, deeper. Her body pressed into mine as I dragged my hands over her back and cupped her ass. My fingers sank into her flesh, rocking her against me. Letting her feel how hard I was for her, how much I wanted her. How she drove me insane with desire. I thrust upward, letting my length drag against where she was so hot and warm for me. Teasing her in a way I knew she liked until she was a gasping, whimpering pile of need.

Our kiss—our movements—were far more passionate and bold than they’d ever been before. I felt it—she had to as well. Four months apart had left us both too close to the edge, but this was it. Our last reunion after such a separation. We’d never be apart again as long as I had a say in it. I just had to convince her of one last thing. Just had to get her to accept the future we’d been hurtling toward since the day we met.

But first, I needed to make her come. It’d been way too long for both of us.

Angelita pushed me back, leaning down to nuzzle my neck. To place small bites along the length of it as I moaned beneath her. She laid her scent down on me, claiming me as hers to the rest of the animals. Such a wolf thing to do, but I loved it. Craved it, really.

Her animal side probably shouldn’t have turned me on as much as it did, but I couldn’t help it. She drove me wild all the time. Her human, her wolf, every part of her called to parts of me. Enticed me closer. She sang a siren song only for me, and I was more than willing to plunge to my death on her rocky shore.

Once done with my neck, Angelita backed up so she could place a hard bite right over my heart. Even through my shirt, I felt the sting of her teeth. Felt the way she held back. She wanted to bite harder, deeper—to break the skin and make our claiming permanent. I sensed it, right along with her fear of such a thing. Her hesitation.

Not mine—never mine. Only hers. I was ready to join her in every way, but she wasn’t. A sticking point for us.

When she finished with her love bites, Angelita straddled my hips again, lining up her soft and wet with my hard and straining. Another kiss, softer, a lick of my lips, and then she rocked, dragging her flesh against the fabric of my shorts. If we were naked, I’d be inside her already. I’d be…

“Fuck, Leelee.” I gripped her thighs and threw my head back, lost to the sensations. I wanted her, wanted to push inside her body, wanted to discover what that felt like, how tight and wet and hot she’d be. How soft. I’d experienced her with my fingers and lips, but not my dick. Not yet. But I wanted her, had since the first time she’d shifted human and went from being my wolf-pal Angelita to my mate Leelee. Had for way longer than was probably acceptable, but I didn’t care. She’d always been mine.

As the scent of her arousal made me groan louder and longer with every push, Angelita rocked harder, a growl rumbling through her chest as her fingers dug into my shoulders. That growl meant she was close to coming. Meant her body was taking over her thoughts. I loved that sound. Loved feeling her come on some part of my body, knowing I did that. That I’d always be the one to give that pleasure to her.

“Jul,” she hissed, her thighs tightening around my hips, her hands pushing against my chest as she writhed over me. I thrust up harder, craving her so much, desperate to be inside her. Desperate to join us forever in every way. To claim her as mine and let her claim me right back. To come inside her so every other wolf knew she belonged to a male already.

I wasn’t stupid—I knew there were shifters after her. Wanting to fuck her. I didn’t have to see her body to feel the litheness of it, the gentle curves. I knew she was beautiful too. But I also knew how she sounded when she came, how much she liked her nipples bitten instead of sucked, how sweet she tasted when I crawled between her thighs. I knew…and I wasn’t fucking sharing.

“Julian, missed you so much. Missed…this. I’m…I’m…” Angelita clenched down hard, her hands gripping my shoulders as her entire body went stiff over me. Fuck, so hot. So amazing. So…

“Mine.” Yanking her down so I could swallow her cries, I came with a groan, my come wet and warm on my stomach. My hands like steel on her hips as I pulled her tighter and licked into her mouth. As we calmed down enough to slow our movements until we were practically still once more.

When I had caught my breath, I kissed her little nose. “Missed you too, Leelee.”

My angel giggled as she rolled off me to snuggle into my side. Still so warm and naked. I loved the feel of her skin under my hands, loved the way she reacted to my touch. I kissed the top of her head, holding her close, tingles still shooting up my spine. This sort of cuddling was our thing, our favorite way to pass the time. Snuggled together as we’d been doing since before she’d found her human side, though never before with her naked. That fact added a hotness to the act I’d once thought of as innocent. How could I not when I’d started it with an animal instead of a human?

That first year—the one between when we’d met and when she’d finally shifted human—had been one of the strangest of my life. Not only had I learned there were such things as witches and shapeshifters in the world, but I’d also met Angelita and been told the fates had brought us together to be mated. I hadn’t thought it possible—what was I going to do with a wolf? But the connection to her, the need to be around her, the deep understanding that she was mine and I was hers—it was all too strong to ignore. So I’d fallen in love with a wolf. And that day when she’d finally found her human side—after so long of having her in my life as practically a pet—I’d understood what lust was.

“I don’t like flying. I don’t want to do it again without you.” Head on my shoulder, she sucked on my neck. Nipping, licking, teasing me again. This girl would be my heaven and my hell, my impossible lust and my satiation. Forever.

I groaned, grabbing her hip and pulling her closer. Already hard for her again. Needing so much more but knowing she’d throw up walls if I brought it up. If I even mentioned completing the mating claim. Not just exchanging bites to link our souls, but letting her share her wolf with me. Giving myself over to her world and leaving my human one behind. She’d refused to even talk about it as an option since the moment we’d met without getting upset. I wasn’t ready for that just yet.

So instead, I pulled her closer and took advantage of our alone time with my wandering hands. “Never without me. Got it.”

If I had my way, she’d never go anywhere without me again.

The rest of the shifters had always said they’d known their mates the second they saw them. Hell, even my human sister had felt a pull to her mate immediately—one she’d tried hard to deny. Tried and failed, thank God, because otherwise, I never would have met Angelita.

But still, every story had been “at first sight.” Being blind, I’d thought Angelita and I would never get that full connection. I’d been wrong. The second my hands had touched her human skin, I’d known she was mine. I’d grown hard in an instant, had wanted to sink my teeth and my dick inside her right that second. Not that I’d acted on it. I’d restrained myself, even when she’d whimpered as if feeling the same drive to bond that I had.

That need had become brighter, hotter as the months passed. We’d gone from stolen moments over the phone simply chatting or sitting in silence to whispered late-night admissions of what we wanted to do to one another and texts I had to use my headphones to listen to because of what they said. Leelee also liked to video chat with me, which we did quite often. Her voice would brighten when she could see me, a fact I loved. That was my doing. Making my mate, my woman, happy with a simple video call.

But we relegated calls and texts to the back burner whenever we ended up together. Every visit, we became more daring. More connected. More…lustful. We wouldn’t be virgins for much longer. She was pushing me more and more, and I wanted to take our relationship to that point. I wanted her. Fuck, did I want her. I wanted her forever, and that meant she needed to give me something more than her body. We needed to complete our mating, and she needed to give me a piece of her inner animal. Something the two of us couldn’t compromise on.

“Want you,” she mumbled, her lips tickling my skin. Her hips rolling against mine in a seductive dance that almost broke me.

Almost, but not quite. Still, I gripped her hips hard and let out a groan. “We can’t yet.”

“Why not?” Her voice had gone whiny, her need taking over. Pushing me. But I was ready for that. I needed to hold back, no matter how difficult she made it.

So I took a deep breath and held her still. “You know why.”

Angelita stopped, pulling away as I knew she would. This wasn’t the first time we’d had this conversation. The one where I asked her to bite me, to mark me, to complete our mating claim so later she could turn me into a shifter like her. She always shut me down quickly, but I would initiate the conversation again once I felt enough time had passed. I’d hoped this time would be the last—that she’d finally accept the need for this to have the future we deserved—but the tension in her body made me doubt my chances of success. Angelita stood totally against turning me. I knew that, and I had yet to figure out a way to change her mind.

Fear made her skin go cold, made her voice too shaky. “I won’t.”

I sighed, rubbing my hands up and down her arms. “Lee—”

“No,” she snapped. “I won’t. We can exchange mating bites, but I won’t turn you into a shapeshifter, Julian.”

“Why not? You know changing me would give us even more time together. Completing the mating bite will slow my aging, but I’ll still surpass you every year. We won’t have forever mated, but we might if I’m like you. Why would you deny us that?”

She paused, and when she finally spoke, it wasn’t my Angelita anymore. Gone was the brave, wild girl who demanded my attention. In her place was someone quiet, meek…terrified. Someone who pulled away and left me alone in the bed.

“What if I do it wrong? I’ve never been a wolf giver. What if I make a mistake, and you don’t come through it? What if your mind can’t handle the turning? I don’t want to lose any part of you.”

“You won’t.” I reached for her, but she walked away. The alternating volume of her footsteps indicated she was pacing the length of the room. Back and forth, back and forth. Stressed.

“How do you know?” she whispered. “How can you be so sure your turning won’t end in disaster?”

“Because I have faith in you. In us and our future.” I stood, reaching for her again, finally circling her wrist with my fingers. I tugged her closer, wrapped my arms around her hips. Kissed the center of her chest before pulling her against me. “I trust you and our families to make sure we do this right.”

She ran her fingers through my hair and sighed.

“I trust no one, especially not myself.”