Page 55 of Untamed

I stiffen, but Jonah clasps his hand on my knee. Discreetly, he leans over. “It’s okay. I’ve already arranged ahead of time to leave after dinner.”

I give him a grateful smile. It would be unheard of to turn down a run with the alpha; not to mention that everyone would figure out that I’ve had my shifting abilities taken away. I don’t need another rumor hanging over my head, that’s for sure.

While the party congregates in the sitting room, Jonah, his parents, and I approach the alpha and his wife. I thank them for inviting me, and they’re both so cordial that when we turn to leave, I can’t believe I’ve actually accomplished the very thing I was so distressed about. We say our goodbyes to his parents by the main door, and Mrs. Livestrong even hugs me. “You did amazing,” she whispers. “I’ll be glad to have you as part of the family.”

A lump lodges in my throat, and it stays there until we get outside. Jonah nudges me. “My mom likes you.”

I smile and gaze up at him with tears threatening my eyes.

“Happy tears, I hope?”

I loathe to tell him that it feels like I’m being included for the first time, but I don’t have to say a word. He gets it. I can’t hide my feelings from him. It’s as if we’re an open energy line, and we keep sending signals upon signals to each other without trying.

He helps me into the truck, a wide grin on his face. “I’m going to talk to them tomorrow about you. I want to move forward with this, Kinsey.” He turns toward me. “You can’t stay at Greystone anymore. I’m going to go out of my mind.”

I went from praying not to be mated to resenting Jonah and now to not being able to imagine my life without him. Call it fate. Call it a wolf’s natural instinct, but honestly, I call it so much more than that. “Me too.”

He gets in the other side of the truck and tucks his hand around my thigh again, drawing circles over the cloth of my dress—slow caresses that drive me wild. When he takes the backroads, I don’t understand where he’s going until he parks the car in front of his parents’ house again. He peers over at me with a soft smile. “I want to show you something.”

My heart jumps into my throat. “Okay....”

He hops out of the truck, and I meet him around front. He frowns at my shoes. “You’ll want to leave them here.” Without giving me a chance to take them off, he picks me up and sits me on the hood. Prying the shoes off, he drops them onto the front seat of the truck through the open window and then helps me down again. Instead of going into the house, he takes me around the rear. A fountain trickles in the distance, a blue light making the water glow.

We follow a stone path, and Jonah picks up the pace. I have to hurry to keep up with him, and when we enter the woods, my heart hammers. The moon filters through the canopy of leaves above us, lighting the path as it curves. A single light shines in the distance, and when we get close enough to make it out, my heart starts careening. It’s not all of my own emotions either. It’s Jonah’s, too.

He brings us to a stop in front of a small, stone cottage. “My parents and I built this house for me to live in after graduation. We knew I would want my own space, and honestly, I wasn’t expecting to mate with someone so soon. Somehow, I think you might be the only person who would love this place as much as me.”

I gawk at it. The single story house looks straight out of a fairy tale. Hundred-year-old trees surround it in an ethereal barricade. Even though the stone construction is new, everything is situated so perfectly that the structure becomes one with the forest. Huge, flat stones lead to a sunshine yellow door. Ornate sconces frame the entryway and match the window trim for a quaint yet dreamy style. “This is your house?”

He squeezes my hand. “I was kind of hoping it would be ours when you get out of Greystone.”

Before I can react, Jonah scoops me up in his arms. “Not the dress,” I protest. “Mrs. Graves will kill me.”

He chuckles low in his throat. “Mrs. Graves will consider it a job well done for what I have planned for you, Kinsey Walker.”

Molten heat flows toward my core. He nudges the door open, and I spot the same earthy tones and embellishments as outside. Rustic, wood trim lines the doorways and the mantle over the fireplace in the small living room. A quick glimpse inside the kitchen boasts a farmhouse sink with white cabinets and bronze finishes. Jonah’s house definitely has a cozy cottage feel. Nothing like the two houses I was in today, and I’m absolutely fine with that.

“Tour later,” he tells me. “I really want to show you the bedroom.”

He moves straight down the hall and turns right into a large room. Kicking the door shut behind us, he sets me on my feet. I have to steady myself in the wake of the turn of events tonight took. I went from scared to death to reeling. He’s thought about moving me in here. I could be back in Lunar, next to my parents, with my pack.

He yanks me toward him, and my hands land on his chest. I peer up at his heated eyes. “You haven’t let me answer,” I say coyly. He waits for my response as he glances from my lips to my eyes. Reaching up, he unclasps the clip in my hair, and my long waves pool over my shoulders. A smile pulls my lips apart before I even say anything.

He growls. “This is not the time to joke with me about Nathan.”

Fuck. He knows me too well. “Fine. I guess I’ll just have to accept your offer.” I jump into his arms, and a ripping sound meets my ears when I suddenly get way more room in the skirt.

“That was you,” he mumbles before claiming my lips.

His hands are everywhere, kneading my ass, slipping up over my spine, and finally in my hair. When he’s finished exploring, he lowers the zipper on the dress. He moves inside, caressing the bare skin of my back, moaning when he realizes I’m not wearing a bra. I pull away, but he keeps moving forward. I have to press against his chest to create space between us. Our breaths mix. “Jonah, this is perfect. The house. You. Everything.”

“So, you’ll move in with me?”

He searches my gaze, and his ability to still remain uncertain makes me want to prove it to him. I shimmy down his torso and stand. Slowly, I undress him, taking off his suit coat, then his belt, and move to the buttons on his shirt. His abs flex underneath my touch when I run my hands over his bare torso.

All he has to do is pull my dress past my shoulders, and it drops down, pooling at my ankles until I’m standing there in my panties. My wolf is so ready for this, eager to solidify the bond with the wolf that lives inside Jonah.

I slip his shirt over his corded muscles and work on his fly next. Tugging his pants open, I marvel at his erection and then shove the material down his hips. I move to stroke him, but he interrupts, pushing me backward until I fall onto the bed. He stalks closer, his eyes switching between the same brown with green accents and yellow.

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