Jess dreamt of James, of him turning into wolf and woke up shaking. A wolf! She blew her bangs up and lay back on the pillows. The same dream woke her every night, sometimes twice. It wasn’t as bad as it had been. Her mind was beginning to wrap around it, but still she thought it would help if she saw it. If she could watch the change and meet the wolf, maybe she wouldn’t be such a chicken.

“Oh, not a chicken!” Jess giggled. The wolf would eat that. Why did he have to say mine? That was still freaking her out. She stared up at the yellow ceiling. She watched a tiny spider crawl across it until he was far enough away that dropping on her wasn’t a possibility. Her eyes slid closed and she thought about how good it felt when he kissed her. How incredible his body felt pressed against hers, and she thought about how much more she wanted. She pressed her lips together and shivered. James. She sighed. All of the muscles south of her waistline clenched. Wolf or not, she wanted him, craved him. Her very soul cried out for him, quaked for him. “Face it. You are his,” she whispered in the darkness. The past days with her mother only confirmed her feelings. If her mom said it once, she’d said it countless times—if your feelings are deeper than your fear, then go to him. It was almost creepy, like her mother knew something that she wasn’t saying. Her mother was never one to keep secrets, though. She had no filter and said exactly what she meant. She was by definition the picture of honesty, whether it hurt or not. Her mother did not sugarcoat things, so it made Jess wonder what she wasn’t saying. What was behind those words?

***

Orlando was a busy city filled with tourists. Everyone was wearing mouse ears and had at least one cranky child with them. The kids were pissed, either because they weren’t there yet or because they had to leave. James grinned. He couldn’t wait to drag three or four tired and cranky pups through here on the way to see the Magic Kingdom. He’d been to Disney in Cali once, but he’d heard the park in Florida was better. He may as well make the rounds, because James loved to ride. He had the theme parks lined up in his head for his family. As the pups got bigger, the coasters would get bigger. He wondered if Jess liked them and decided she was probably a bench warmer. That made him chuckle. He’d break her of that. He found his way to the rental car counter and secured a compact with GPS. Once he and his luggage were inside the little blue go-kart, he punched his destination into the GPS on the dash.

Only breaking a few land speed records, James pulled the car to a stop behind the Corolla that was exactly where Austin said it would be. James got out and sniffed the air. The neighborhood was quiet at this late hour. Most of the residents were already asleep. That was how the cop inside him liked it, quiet. He sniffed again. Nothing—well, of course, there was something. He scented car exhaust, several dogs, and people, but not Jess. He went up to the house and looked through the windows. Nothing but darkness. Maybe they went out for dinner or something. Then he checked his watch and decided against that thought. He started to text Austin but decided to check around the back first.

He saw a garage that seemed to have been converted, because no one hung curtains in a garage. It had the tell-tale flickering signs of a TV on inside. He edged toward it, shifting as he went. James’s big black wolf crept closer to the building, scenting the air. He smelled a koi pond, but not in this yard; it was next door. He scented a man that must be Bearpaw, and even though it was faint, there was something else. Something he had not scented since he was a child, and the memory escaped him now. What was that? There was the scent of a woman—that must be Mom. Then there it was as he neared the door. The most exciting and entrancing scent in the world. Jessica.

His ears twitched and every cell in his body was suddenly awake and jumpy. The news was on and she was silent, but she was inside. The door was unlocked, and with one flick of his paw, he was through it. He was in an office. He snorted at the scent of graphite and ink but moved toward the flickering lights. He heard her labored breathing as if she’d been crying. He didn’t scent tears yet, though. James loped through the room, across the carpet, to the side of the bed where her hand hung over the side.

He sniffed it then nudged it. Running his head under her hand just to feel her, he rejoiced at having found his mate. The wolf yipped at her, but she slept. He nudged her hand again, and her fingers twitched, then scratched his head. She came awake slowly. He gave her palm a lick, then put his head back under her hand. “Hi there. Who are you? And where did you come from? Mom didn’t say anything about having a dog, and I haven’t seen you since I got here.”

Jess leaned over and scratched his ears. “You’re a big fellow. You must belong to Tim, because Mom is definitely the little-fluffy-dog-in-the-purse type if she was going to have one at all. Where were you earlier? I could’ve used someone to cuddle.” She sniffled.

He whined and laid his big head on the side of the mattress so he could look up into her face in a non-threatening way. The last thing that James wanted was to scare her. He wanted her content and happy, not scared. “It’s okay, just man trouble.”

He turned and sauntered around the bed.

“Where are you going? I wasn’t finished petting you yet.” Jess started to sit up when he jumped up onto the bed and lay down immediately.

His bulk and height would frighten her if his beast stood over her while she was in a prone position. He kept his head down and crawled up beside her. “What a good boy. Now I know you don’t belong to Mom. She’d freak if she saw you on the bed. No dogs on the furniture, Jessica.” Jess did her best impression of her mother. He snorted then panted, raising his head up off his paws to watch her. “What is your name anyway?” Jess felt along his neck for a collar. She made a face but kept digging in his thick fur for some kind of collar. Every dog had a collar, didn’t they?

He rolled away from her and shifted into his human.

Jess covered her mouth with both hands as she gasped, with saucer-like eyes.

“My name is James.” He grinned. “Don’t be afraid.”

She shook her head. He’d told her the truth. He turned into a wolf.

“Are you afraid?”

She shook her head again.

“Come here, sweetness.” He held his arms open, and she hurried into them. “You’ve been crying.”

Her chin wobbled.

“It’s okay, I’m here now. I won’t hurt you. Do you think you can trust me?” His thumb brushed her cheek tenderly.

“Yes.”

He smiled softly and kissed her.

“James? How did you do that?”

His warm hand stroked her spine, putting her at ease.

She melted into him.

“Do what? Shift?”

She nodded.

“You can’t do it unless you are a shifter. I couldn’t teach you to do it.” He kissed her forehead. “I missed you. Why didn’t you tell me that you were leaving?”

Jess shook her head.

“You ran scared huh?”

She nodded. He was still stroking her, over her hair, cupping the back of her head, down her spine and back up. If he kept it up she would go back to sleep.

“Understandable. It’s frightening to have all of your beliefs blown out of the water, but Jess, you have nothing to fear. I love you. I won’t ever let anything hurt you, and I will take very good care of you. I promise. You couldn’t be safer than you will be with me.” His voice was soft and husky, entrancing her. It smoothed her nerves and calmed her. It was the same voice he would use on a pack member that was on the edge or upset.

“How can you love me? You say that, but you don’t even know me. You said that I am yours, as if you owned me, James. That scared me more than the wolf thing.” Jess looked up at him.

“I didn’t mean it that way, sweetheart. Not like that. Not as if you are a possession. I am as much yours, and you may do with me as you please. You see, my wolf has recognized you as its mate.”

“What does that mean exactly?” Jess murmured.

“That means that you are priority number one. Your needs, desires, wants, and whimsies are all more important than the next breath I take. I am your humble servant. I live and die for you.”

Her brows rocketed up. “That’s a lot to take in.” She scrutinized him.

“Overwhelmed?”

She nodded.

“Don’t be, it’s just how we are built. The mate is your other half, the missing half of your soul. The mate completes you, keeps you sane and happy. Wolves search their entire lives for their mates. Mates are our forever.”

“Really?”

He grinned at her wonder. “So when I tell you that I love you, I mean that in the deepest sense of the word. I never believed in all of that stuff that the old she-wolves and my dad went on about until I scented you.”

“Scented me?” Jess recoiled. “Do I stink?”

James laughed. “Just the opposite—your scent is incredible. At work, in the coffee bar, one day I was in there, and I guess you had just been there. I scented you. I suddenly felt more alive than I ever had before. I had to find you. It nearly drove me crazy.” He touched her hand gently. “I followed your trail but lost you in the building.”

“I don’t understand. When was that?” She watched his finger trace her veins.

“Six months ago.” His eyes twinkled with mischief.

“But I’ve worked there for almost five years, and you’ve been working there three years, right? It took three years for you to scent me? Why? Your wolf nose must not work very well.” Jess looked confused and was upset at the waste of time.

“I think because you are always with Lolly. You don’t leave your desk very often, and when you do, you are with her and her perfume haze. Also, because I used to stop on the way in with Freddy for coffee, I never went to the coffee bar. Thank God they put him on a different shift, we may never have found one another.” He kissed the top of her head.

“She does wear a lot.” Jess grinned. She’d been hiding in Lolly’s perfume cloud. It was better than a force field.

“The day I scented you, you were alone, no perfume. By then you’d gone out with David.” A growl rumbled through his chest.

“You know David? He never called me back. I guess he didn’t like me.” She shrugged.

“Oh, he liked you. He didn’t call you back because I put a stop to it. In fact, I put a stop to all of the wolves stalking you.”

Jess swallowed hard.

“Five of them besides David, and not all of them as gentle as I am. I was protecting you even then.” He turned her hand over and traced the lines of her palm.

“You told David not to call me?”

He nodded, and Jess slapped his arm.

“All this time I thought that I was some hideous freak and it was because you were running interference on my dates?” She slapped him again.

“That’s enough.” He grabbed her hand and kissed her palm. “Yes, I ran interference and did reconnaissance on you. I know all of your habits and haunts, I know what you like and what you don’t. I have to admit, though, your mother escaped my research.” He grinned.

Jess still had not decided if she was mad at him or not. “So you stalked me. And how did you find me here anyway? Did you sniff the ground from Virginia to Florida?”

James laughed at that. “No, my computer tech hacked your Visa card and tracked you down.”

“That’s illegal, Mr. Policeman.” Jess pushed away from him, but his hands gripped her waist like steel bands.

“All is fair in love and war, sweetheart.”

Jess loosened her body and chuckled. James kissed her again, and she melted into him. “I want you, Jess. I had to come after you. I didn’t really have a choice. If you need more time…but the urge is riding me hard. The wolf in me needs to claim you, and it will only get worse.”

“It sounds a little like I’m being stalked.” Jess’s brows drew together. What did “worse” mean? Would he turn into one of those things on the late night horror shows?

“In a way. My wolf knows that its mate is here, and he wants you, bad. He has for a long time, and he’s getting harder to control. I almost have him convinced that we need to go slow and do this right, but sometimes he’s just a beast. He understands that you’re different, but his instinct is to claim.” James kissed her forehead again, and she was getting tired of it. She wanted him to kiss her lips.

“The big black one with the wicked yellow eyes?”

James grinned. “That’s the one. You liked him, right? He likes you, too.”

Jess nodded. “He’s pretty.”

He smiled down at her. “You’re pretty.”

She smiled softly, and he pressed his lips to hers chastely. That was better.

“Are you going to turn into him during the full moon?”

“Yes. We like to run and hunt during the full moon. Think of it as boys’ night out, but I will be back in plenty of time for you.”

She looked terrified.

“I’ll be me, don’t worry. From this night forward, I don’t want us to spend a night apart. I want you to move in with me. I could move in with you, but we’ll have more room at my place.”

“But don’t you live with a lot of…”

“Yes, I live with the pack right now, but there is another wing to the house that we don’t use. I’ve been working on it. It needs some rewiring and painting, but it is solid. We can fix it up so we can be alone and raise our pups. The pack will be in the same house, but you would have a house inside of a house. Your own kitchen and space; the boys won’t bother you.

“P…pups?”

“Children. Don’t worry.” He smoothed the line over her nose with his thumb. “They will be children until they are ready to change.”

“When is that?”

The line deepened between her eyebrows, and he smoothed it again grinning. “I’ve seen them go as early as ten, as late as eighteen. I was thirteen and one day old. It’s painful the first time. No matter what anyone tells you, you can’t be prepared or know what to do. After that, it’s second nature.”

Jess yawned.

“Boring you?”

She shook her head.

“When is your flight back?” James asked.

“Tomorrow…today at noon.”

“Do you have your laptop?”

She pointed and he went to get it. “I want to be on the same flight.” He sat down beside her and asked for her details. She grabbed her ticket from the night table and handed it over.

“You aren’t going to get on this late. All the seats are probably gone.”

She was right. James pulled out his phone and texted Austin. A few minutes later, he got an email with his ticket and a new one for her in first class together. James grinned down at her.

“I can’t afford that,” Jess whispered, horrified.

“It’s paid for, don’t worry. It’s on me. My gift to my new bride.”

“Bride?” She gulped.

“Yes, my mate. You agree, don’t you? That we are mates?”

Jess sat up and drew her knees up to her chest.

“Jess? You aren’t going to run again, are you?”

She shook her head.

“Mates. I’m yours and you’re mine.”

“Okay.”

He watched her.

“Mates. I’m yours. That’s like married, right?”

“Yes. When I mark you, we will be married.” He started tapping keys and moving his finger over the touch pad.

“Mark me? What’s ‘mark me’ mean?” Jess worried her lip.

“I’m going to bite you right there.” He touched the muscle that ran from her neck to her shoulder, and she shivered. “It won’t hurt, and it will let all other shifters know that you belong to me. It is invisible to humans, but to shifters, it means ‘hands off.’”

“Bite me?” Her teeth sank into her bottom lip, turning it white around her teeth.

“Is that all you heard, sweetness? I said I won’t hurt you. I will do it when you are so otherwise occupied that you won’t notice.” He grinned and winked.

“I think I will notice if you bite me.” Jess tightened her arms around her knees and scoffed.

“We’ll see.” James’s eyes flashed, as did his dimple. She pressed her finger to it and grinned. He turned his head quickly and caught her finger in his mouth, and she gasped then laughed. “When we get home tomorrow, do you want to go to your apartment or to my place?”

Jess thought about it.

“I want you with me. I meant that.”

“I need to pick up some of my things, I suppose. Then I will need to clear it out if I’m not living there anymore. That sounds weird. I’ve lived there since I graduated. What will we do with my stuff?”

“Well, I want to keep the pink couch because that is the most comfortable couch I’ve ever sat on, but I might want to get it recovered because that color is…”

She laughed at the face he made, as if he’d just smelled something rotten.

“I’m not sure what to do with your bed. Does it have any meaning?”

“No, I bought it at a thrift store. I’ll ask Lolly if she needs it first, then I’ll donate it, because it’s in great shape. I almost hate to see it go. It’s old, but it’s pretty. I like the wood.”

James nodded. He’d seen it in her bedroom. It was a queen four-post. He decided to put it in their new bedroom. It was a nice bed. Maybe they could furniture shop and find pieces to match it, because he hated the ultra-modern light-colored stuff in his room. He preferred dark, heavy, masculine furniture, and apparently she did, too. He put the laptop on the floor and lay down with her. James pulled her close and rested his chin on her head while they slept. In a few hours, they would be on their way home and on their way to their future.