Page 40 of The Wolf Guard's Mate

The sun was down and we were both starving when they finally shifted in front of the mansion. After we pulled on our clothes from earlier, I let Hunter lead me into the kitchen.

We made dinner together, trading stories about my life after I left Crimson River and his experiences as the pack’s Gamma. We had lived in what felt like two entirely different worlds, which made our stories interesting and our perspectives very different.

I liked hearing Hunter talk, though.

Knowing that he was making an effort to open up for my sake and the sake of our bond made me like it even more.

After dinner, we pulled out a bottle of gin and went back to the pool together. We stripped off our clothes and passed the bottle back and forth, and though neither of us could get buzzed, we talked and laughed plenty.

It wasn’t like any date I’d been on before.

It just felt right.

And when he kissed me in the pool, tangling his fingers in my hair and pulling me close again, I didn’t hesitate to kiss him back.

We were just beginning—but I had a feeling that things would only get better from there.

Largely because Hunter seemed determined, and I was fairly confident that when one of the Savage brothers decided to make something happen, it happened.

The next fewdays passed in a whirl of conversation, sex, and small adventures. We discovered that Hunter was surprisingly good at bowling. I, on the other hand, was not. I did enjoy it more with Hunter than I ever had with my coworkers, though.

We had a few small disagreements, but the fact that we were permanent mates was pretty good motivation to work things out quickly.

And Hunter, despite his preference for privacy, didn’t seem to be trying to keep anything from me anymore. He kept me updated when he heard from his brothers about the human situation, too.

Enzo and a bunch of humans signed an agreement that Aspen would only change a few approved humans who came from outside of Crimson River every year, so that was settled quickly. The humans would make their own rules and application system, and word spread fast that if you became a werewolf, you would have no choice but to live in our city or be thrown in jail with a massive fine.

The number of interested humans dropped significantly after that announcement, and those who had been lingering near our border finally left.

We gave it a few more days after everything was official before we finally drove back to Crimson River.

Hunter’s hand remained on my thigh through most of the drive, and his calmness didn’t seem like a mask anymore.

He didn’t mind when I played my favorite kind of music, though he asked me not to crank up the volume. I didn’t, and the folk music seemed to float through the vehicle.

It was relaxing, honestly.

The Savages made a plan for all of us to meet up in their shared living room, the Lounge, for dinner. That gave me and Hunter a few hours to get settled, which we definitely needed.

When we turned onto the road that led to the Lodge, I tensed a little.

It was going to be weird, going back there now that things were different. Everyone would know that we hadn’t been dating before the full moon. They would ask questions. Make assumptions. Things could get uncomfortable.

Instead of turning into the main parking lot, Hunter drove past it.

“Where are we going?” I checked.

“Home.” His answer was simple, but the concept was more complicated.

His home wasn’t mine yet.

Our lives were far from completely meshed.

We would try to figure it out, but what if it didn’t work?

What if I wasn’t comfortable living with him, or?—

“My house is about ten minutes from the Lodge,” Hunter said, distracting me from my thoughts. “Our house, hopefully. I needed the distance from everyone. Spending every day working there is already more than I would prefer.”

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