Chapter 14

Megan

I see him before me, and he looks devastated. Perhaps I am being selfish; it cannot be easy to tell someone you are a wolf. I am a damn selfish witch!

"What you said does not bother me. I was surprised that you were a wolf, but I am scared of what you might do to me." His expression is uncertain, and I know that is my fault.

"I would never do anything to you, angel. To hurt you would be to hurt myself. Since I discovered you were my mate, I have done nothing but protect you. After what happened yesterday, I have no intention of letting you out of my sight, even if you do not want me around." He lowers himself, sitting against the wall just like me. "I will not be like your ex-boyfriend. I intend to protect you from him."

"When you asked me if I believed in the supernatural, well, I thought you had already figured it out. I mean, I never imagined you would tell me you were one yourself. I knew you were hiding something from me, but I thought of many different things." I was so wrong. "Evan is also a werewolf, you know? He shifted right in front of me. At first, I thought the gray wolf chasing me was just a product of my fertile imagination from watching too many supernatural movies. But the second time it happened, I knew it was real. He told me we were meant to be together, that I was his mate, even though I did not have the scent they usually detect. Can you smell it?" I need to know if this is another mistake, but Jack nods. "Well, he said it was because of my condition. Being human was apparently a bad thing to him, but he still loved me. So, when I broke up with him, he felt like I had hurt his feelings."

"We found out last night that he is a werewolf, but I am not the jerk your ex was, angel. If I hid this from you, it was because I was afraid of your reaction. You are all I want. I have waited so long for you. The fact that he could not smell you is because he was not your mate. I am. Do you want to know what your scent is? You smell like apples. It is addictive. It drives me crazy. But I am not sick enough to shift and hunt you down." I look into his eyes, and I know he is telling the truth. Do I want to believe him? With all my heart. Everything about this man draws me in. And I think I said something wrong because he suddenly stopped laughing.

"Seriously, my angel?" The hope in his eyes makes me say yes. I do not know how he managed it, but now he is right in front of me, his face so close. "Do you love me too?" I ask again, deciding that this time I will be the one to kiss him. And that is exactly what I do. I cradle his face in my hands and pull him closer. It is not a soft kiss, no, we both show how we feel. When the kiss ends, his face is pressed against my neck.

"You get me addicted even more than you imagine. I am afraid you will turn into him. But I am not leaving you. I know you are fire and that you could burn me, but I do not care."

"Angel, do you trust me?"

"Yes, I do."

"Then believe me, I will never hurt you; I cannot. But I am going to get rid of your ex."

"I thought you were married," I shoot back. "I was going to castrate you if you were," I say, and he starts to laugh—a loud, masculine laugh. Is everything about him supposed to attract me?

"Why did you believe that, sweetheart?" His head goes back to my neck, nuzzling the skin of my throat, stealing all my common sense.

"Hmm... I knew you were hiding something from me, I just did not know what, and you always seemed worried." I close my eyes as I feel him kiss my neck.

"No, angel, I am not married, but now you have hooked this wolf. I am yours. What are you going to do with me?"

"I do not know, I could get rich selling you to a circus." I start to laugh when his growl tickles my skin. I take his face in my hands and make him look at me. "Yeah, I am just kidding. Now I do not know what to do with you; I think I will just adapt to the spark that is emerging between us."

"You are not going to stop making jokes about firefighter things, are you?" Now he seems amused; I managed to make him leave that sadness behind.

"No." I give him a quick kiss and get up from the floor. "I have to go back to Susan's house. Are you coming with me?"

"I do not want you to stay there; it is dangerous for both of us." I see him stand up as well.

"I am not staying there. I was thinking of grabbing some clothes and going to a hotel—until my apartment is ready, I cannot go there."

"Last night you said I was not listening to you, but you are not listening to me. Angel, there is an ex-boyfriend stalking you. He almost hurt you twice in the last week. You are not going to a hotel; you are staying here with me. I will not let that bastard get near you, not while I am around, angel. You are staying here, period." I have to admit that this made me a little calmer and gave me a strange shiver all over my body. It is not like I am going to tell him that.

"Let's go get my things from Susan's house. Let's do this before he reacts to this impulse and rejects me." I do not have the slightest chance of escaping him now, and that is what scares me the most.