Page 25 of Ignited By My Mate

ELEVEN

Lark

I siton the cabin porch for a long time after Harris leaves.

The trees sway gently in the breeze. Birds call out. The world goes on, perfectly ordinary, while my mind spins in a thousand directions.

I should be packing.

I should be planning my drive home. Getting ready to return to the life I know. The one I fought so hard to build.

Instead… I’m still here.

Still in this town with its strange beauty and even stranger secrets. Still thinking about a man who turns into a bear and calls me his mate.

And the weirdest part?

It doesn’t feel crazy anymore.

It feelsright.

When Harris looked at me last night—when he touched me, kissed me,claimedme—it didn’t feel foreign. It felt like breathing.

Like I’ve been waiting my whole life for something I didn’t even know I was missing.

I pull the blanket tighter around my shoulders and close my eyes.

Back home, I have stability. A job. A tiny apartment with peeling paint. A list of goals I’m supposed to be chasing.

But I’m starting to realize something I haven’t allowed myself to acknowledge before.

I don’twantthat life.

I came here to escape. To rest. But maybe I also came here tofindsomething.

Orsomeone.

By the time Harris pulls into the driveway, my heart is pounding.

He looks exhausted, tense, and so heartbreakingly handsome that I nearly forget what I was going to say.

He hesitates when he sees me waiting on the porch. “Hey.”

“Hey,” I say softly.

He stops at the bottom step, watching me like I might vanish.

“There’s something I need to say,” I tell him.

He nods. “Okay.”

“I was scared,” I admit. “Still am, a little. You turned my whole world upside down, Harris.”

“I know,” he murmurs.

“But the truth is… that world? The one I came from? I don’t want it anymore.”

His brows lift, cautious hope flashing in his eyes.

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