Page 18 of His Rescued Mate

“Max?” she whispered.

The large gray wolf nuzzled her hand and moved to rub up against her—his eyes never leaving hers as his tail began to wag slowly.

Alexa plopped back down. “Holy shit,” she murmured as she brought both hands up and placed them on either side of his head. Lowering her forehead to his, she rubbed against it.

“It really is you,” she said in a whisper filled with wonder. “Can you understand me?”

He wagged his tail.

“Again, holy shit. Can you change back that easily?” He stepped back and bade his wolf to retreat, calling forth the shifting mist that would reveal him in his human form.

She sat in silence, staring at him while he pulled on his clothes.

“Are you all right, sweetheart?” he asked.

“Uh, yes. Or I will be. It’s kind of a lot to take in.”

“I understand, and there are some things you need to know.”

“Such as?”

“Such as the bite wound on your neck…”

She reached up. “That healed a lot quicker than I thought it would.”

“Because wolf-shifters have enhanced healing capabilities.”

“Maybe, but I’m not a wolf-shifter…” her voice trailed off as she began to put together all that he had told her. “No.”

“Yes. And you have every right to be angry with me. I’ve lived up here for so long by myself I thought I’d never find my fated mate.”

“Oh my god. You mean all those romance novels that talk about fated mates are right?”

“They have some of it right, but not all. It is not our way to turn a human without their consent.”

“I don’t remember giving you mine.”

“You didn’t. I got carried away. Normally when a male wolf claims his mate, he inflicts a claiming bite. There are a bunch of reasons to do so regardless of whether your mate is a shifter or not. In my case, I wanted to claim you as mine and have you be one with me.”

“So, you robbed me of my humanity?” she asked archly.

“Not all of it,” he answered blandly.

“Not funny, Max.”

“I know but I’m feeling a bit desperate.”

She looked at him questioningly. “Why?”

“I just told you, I’m not completely human, and now because of something I did without talking to you, neither are you. I have a friend named Asher Wells. He turned his mate. If you want to talk to Nicole…”

“Can it be undone? Did he ask her?”

“No to both, but it doesn’t count that he didn’t ask her. He had no choice. If he had waited to ask her permission, she would have died.”

He watched as the tension seemed to drain from her body, and a smile started to play at the corner of her lips. “Do you love me?”

“Of course I do. I don’t just go around turning humans for fun.”

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