“Yeah, I made dinner. I figured that you might be hungry after work.”
She gives me a bright smile, and I can feel my canines growing as I stare at her.
“I’m just going to take a shower and rinse off,” I tell her.
The truth is that I’m stalling for time. I need to try to get my wolf and myself under control before I get close to Sophie.
No, you don’t, my wolf says, and I roll my eyes.
Yes, I do. We still need to tell her about shifters and fated mates. She might choose not to be with us, I remind him, and he growls at me.
Make her want us.
I’m trying.
I take the stairs two at a time and head into my bedroom. Her scent is covering my bed, and I love it. I breathe deeply, sending up a silent prayer that tonight is the night I get to share my bed with her.
I head into the bathroom and turn on the shower. When I catch my reflection in the mirror, I look pretty feral. My eyes are wild and filled with lust and love. My eyes flash and I close them, gritting my teeth and taking a long, deep breath before I turn and strip.
The hot water doesn’t do anything to calm me down. I switch the water to cold, but that doesn’t help either.
I dry off and pull on clean clothes. I can hear Sophie moving around downstairs. She must be setting the table and waiting for me.
Time to do this, I think as I head downstairs.
Sophie is setting the food on the table as I join her in the kitchen, and she smiles at me when she spots me.
“Ready to eat?”
“Starved,” I tell her, but I’m not hungry for food.
“We didn’t have much in the fridge, so I just made some spaghetti. I hope that’s okay?”
“It’s perfect. Thanks.”
We take our seats, and she digs in. I take a few bites as I try to figure out how to bring up us being fated to be together.
“Is it alright?” She asks, sounding worried.
“Yeah, it’s delicious.”
“Are you alright? You just seem a little… quiet.”
“I’m fine.”
She doesn’t look like she believes me, and I can’t beat around the bush anymore.
“I need to tell you something,” I blurt and she tenses.
“Did something happen?”
“No, it’s… I just need to talk to you about something.”
“Okay…” she says hesitantly.
“I’m not just human,” I start, and her eyes widen. “I’m not crazy!” I rush to add.
That clearly doesn’t help things.