Page 108 of Rocky Top

He stepped out of the dark, arms crossed, leaning on the post like he’d been there the whole damn time. “You’re glowy, Sunshine.”

Knox and Eliza had brought a sappy tear to my eye, so I swiped at it. “I’m just sweaty and full of pickles.”

He grinned. “Birdie. Brother in the club’s named Pickles. So please don’t say that phrase ever again.”

I rolled my eyes but smiled back.

“How’d he get that name?”

“Apollo, Old Prez had a pet named Pickles.”

“A dog?”

“No, a bunny.”

Narrowing my eyes, I wanted to hear more. I was devouring all the shifter secrets Rocky was allowed to share with me now, that I was his mate. But I hesitated. He called me his mate, but nothing was official. Not in the human world or even the biker one. No tattoo, no cut. I wasn’t his ol’ Lady.

His brow creased like he could sense my unease. “How’s your friend?”

“She’s okay. Better, anyway.”

His expression turned serious. “And you?”

I hesitated. Then said, “I’m getting there.”

There was a pause, thick and weighty. He stepped closer. “You wanna be all glowy for another reason?”

I stiffened. “Rocky…”

“Just answer me. Our own litter?”

“No,” I said firmly. “I’m not having a baby, yet.”

He nodded slowly, but there was something sad behind it. “Alrighty.”

We stood there a beat longer.

“You coming to my place?” I asked.

“Only if you promise not to feed me any damn pickle pizza.”

I laughed and bumped his arm. “No promises.”

The stars above blinked lazy and slow. And I felt like I was catching Eliza’s hormones. Because I couldn’t help but wonder why the biker who marked me, claimed me, the wolf who said he was my mate hadn’t even returned my, ‘I love you’ but was talking about having alitter.

“You feelin’ it?” Rocky murmured, lips near my ear.

Too many emotions. I swallowed. “Yeah.”

My body had been buzzing since the moon rose, and not just from the adrenaline. Something deeper. Wilder. Like the beast inside me was stretching, getting ready to run. Wanting to mate. Make a little wild thing of our own.

“You wanna run?” he asked.

I hesitated, but then I nodded. “Yeah.” I hadn’t shifted since the day I saved Emma. Never on purpose.

Rocky took my hand and led me through the trees, away from the clubhouse noise, into the hush of the woods. The moon lit our path, silver and strange, casting long shadows that danced between the branches.

We walked in silence, the only sounds the crack of twigs underfoot and the soft rustle of leaves in the warm breeze. My heart beat hard in my chest, not from fear. No, not that. Anticipation. Like I was standing on the edge of something big, and all I had to do was jump.

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