I sighed and knew I needed to tell Lila everything. Her wolf chose me, but I want her, the woman, to want to choose me as well. I have been watching Lila for weeks, and she is an incredible woman. She is strong, hard-working, kind, and gorgeous."I came to your town to find Gemma."Lila let out a gasp. "My mom?""Yes, I was supposed to be looking for her to see where she might have gone. My dad has been searching for her for years.""Well, I can help with that. My mom died during childbirth." Her voice is quiet, and it quivers as she holds back tears for a mom she never had the chance to know, and my heart aches for her, knowing her world is going to be turned upside down yet again."That's not exactly true. Me and the two men you saw me with at the diner, Jake and Donte, we've been looking into her. We also looked into it once we saw you at the diner." I looked at her, and she didn't seem surprised."Okay, what did you find out?" She bit her lip, a nervous gesture I guessed. If this

I wake up to the most delicious scent and feel so content in this bed. As I start to wake up more, though, I feel something hard against my backside. That's when I remember where I am and who is behind me in this bed, and I know what I am feeling is Luke's erection pushed against me. I try to ease myself out of bed, but his arms are wrapped around me.I try to wriggle free, but to my dismay, I'm stuck, and I don't want to wake him, so instead, I find I can roll onto my back, and I turn my head to look at Luke and get a better look at him.Nova took this moment to purr. "I thought you were a wolf, not a house cat," I say flatly to her."Our mate is perfect, Lila. Just look at him." With that, she purrs again, and that's when I see Luke smirk.I move to shove his arm off of me with a huff."Well, hello there, my sweet little mate," Luke said in a sexy, gruff tone."How long have you been awake?" I demand. I tried to sound annoyed, but if I'm being honest, I haven't slept that well in pr

After speaking with Betty and Luke together, I just felt exhausted. There is so much I have been through recently, and I think it's finally catching up with me on an emotional level. I tried to excuse myself back to my room, but Luke insisted I come back to what's called the pack house. That's the primary home for the pack. It's where the alpha lives, and Luke is the alpha.I tried to stay, stating I was hired to be with Betty, but she said I should go, and Luke stated he would send someone over to be with Betty. Betty, being his grandmother and knowing we were mates, helped convince her I should be with him. I don't think I'm ready to live with some man I just met though. He must have seen the hesitation on my face because he said I could stay in the room across from his but that it made him more comfortable to know where I was and know that I was safe.I was too tired to argue, and so here we are, in the most massive home I have ever seen in person. Luke said he needed to check in o

We went back outside, and all the wolves I had accepted as my pack were in front of the Alpha house, along with most of Luke's pack now. Luke comes to meet me at the top of the stairs off of the front porch, which is a stunning wrap-around porch. He takes my hand, and we step forward together, looking out onto all of these people and some people in their wolf forms."Hi, everyone. Thank you for all coming here." Luke is beaming, his eyes crinkling at the edges, unable to hide the pure joy that radiates from him. I can feel his happiness surging through me. I'm sure he can feel my reluctance, fear, and anxiety running through him as well."I have found my mate, your Luna. This is Lila." Luke looks down at me with a softness in his expression, and my insides tremble with anxiety, still not sure if I am fully aware of everything that is happening. Luke is gorgeous, though, as I can't help but take him in at that moment. He has a squared jaw, broad shoulders, a golden tan, and a five o'cl

Lila fell asleep quickly, silently crying as I ran my fingers through her hair, trying to soothe her but not wanting to make her uncomfortable. I want to show her support without making her uncomfortable in any way. I think she was just so mentally exhausted and overwhelmed that her mind needed time to recover. I can feel the pain radiating through our bond. She is devastated at the news. I stayed with her for a couple of hours, falling asleep as I inhaled her scent. Bonds can be a funny thing. We have a scent as a wolf that is unique to us. We can all smell each other, but our mates will always smell delicious to us. When they smell Lila, she will smell like cherries and almonds, but for me, she has the added scent of vanilla. To say it's intoxicating would be an understatement.It took every ounce of willpower I had to lie next to this amazing and beautiful woman and not reach out and touch her. When I woke up, her shirt had ridden up in her sleep showing the under part of her breas