All Chapters of Reclaiming His Mate: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

“That’s what Catrina said. She never said anything about you being adopted.”“I would’ve thought she’d go out of her way to let people know we weren’t related,” I said glumly. “Why does it matter?”“Just doesn’t make sense why they treat you so differently. What killed your parents?”The subject came so easily to him, I felt weak for how it depressed me. “Other shifters. That’s what David said.”“Dragons?”“He never specified.”I’d never had the courage to ask more about that night. David always turned it around on me, making me feel guilty for having survived, so I didn’t bring it up.Gavin pondered it for long enough that I wondered what he was thinking about. His big hand came down on my uninjured leg, startling me, which made him pull his hand back. “Show me your leg,” he said.Why? Why did he care? I hesitated before pulling the covers down and rolling up my pant leg.Gavin leaned across the bed to get a better look. The mattress dipped beneath him and gravity pulled me closer to

I laughed. “What?” Then I felt bad that her reaction was to assume she’d done something wrong. “Nothing. I’m just fucking around.”She looked at me with big, hurt eyes, like a kicked puppy.“Sorry. Look, we’re almost done,” I said, feeling like a moron.Billie went back to drying and I wanted to smash my head through a wall. Agitated, I handed her the last dish, unplugged the sink, and let the water gurgle down the drain before wiping off the counter. Behind me, the tap ran again. I didn’t think anything of it until water sprinkled the back of my head. As a shiver shot up my spine, I launched my eyes at Billie, who guiltily hid her dripping hands behind her back and blinked up at me.I sneered. My agitation vanished in place of delight and I ran the tap a third time, pressing my thumb against the spout and shooting water at her. She recoiled with a smile, blocking her face and soaking her sleeves in the process. “Hey!”“What’s wrong? You don’t like getting wet?”I kept firing jets of

Gavin hovered behind me, his fingertips brushing my hips. His nose prodded behind my ear. “I said I want you on my bed.”The back of my neck prickled. I took too long worrying about what would happen next before Gavin ensnared me in his arms and picked me up, maneuvering me onto my knees on the bed in front of him. A low chuckle rumbled behind his lips as he bent my back down and slipped his hand under my camisole, squeezing my side and then my butt. Petrified, I froze where I knelt on the bed, ass raised, stammering as Gavin pressed his groin against me.“I have a confession to make,” he said, voice husky and low.Dizzy from the feeling of Gavin behind me, I barely managed to reply, “What?”“I’ve been waiting a long time for my fated mate… for all the things she’d make me feel,” Gavin said. “In case I never have another chance, I want to fuck you before you leave.”The sheer force of everything he made me feel crushed all the words in my throat. My stomach coiled and my heart tremble

Billie kept pace as I jogged toward the smells, uncertainty turning my stomach. The scents were too strong to originate from within Dalesbloom; it was clear they had breached the Grandbay perimeter, and I dreaded having to see Catrina again, let alone her seeing me with Billie. The blood smell became hotter, thicker, soaking the air in sickly sunbaked copper, and my worries morphed from seeing Catrina to what I might discover or walk into. The silence in the forest told me there was no snarling brawl taking place; what we would find was merely the aftermath of it.A wolf body was sprawled motionlessly in the grass, brown and grey timber fur darkened with blood. His legs were coiled in death and throat ripped open, still steaming. Catrina’s scent was all over the scene, her trail leading back to Dalesbloom, fresh—she must have left just minutes before we arrived. I recognized the wolf and sickened even worse.Catrina had discovered her fated mate years before I did, but he was a quiet,

I laid down and closed my eyes. Exhaustion from my early start whisked me into sleep. I didn’t know how much time had passed before I woke again; the room was dark due to the closed curtains, a dull glow beyond them suggesting late evening. A light knock on the door preceded Gavin’s voice, “Billie? Can I come in?”“Sure.”He entered the room with a look of softness for me. “Are you doing any better?”“I, um…” My mind was still a scattered mess. “I don’t even know what to think right now.”“Yeah. Me neither.” Gavin sat on the bed. “This is… way more than I’ve ever had to handle before.”“But you’re an Alpha.”He laughed dryly. “Grandbay and Dalesbloom have always been allies. I’ve never had to deal with David conspiring to kill my entire pack.”“But you faced threats against Grandbay before, haven’t you?”Gavin hesitated, staring elsewhere in the room. “Not really. David… David always… helped me take care of Grandbay. He took me under his wing after my parents died.”“I guess we have t