Page 61 of His Curse

"So you decided to come here and pace until you woke me. Thank you, wolf. I am most appreciative."

"That wasn't my intent,” I grunt. "I'm all kinds of fucked up with Lark around and I have no fucking clue what to do with the extra energy.” Glancing at him from my peripheral, I sip my own coffee. "Did she sleep ok?"

Zan smiles like an ass. "She did. A touch restless around three, called for you a couple of times, but other than that she seems to have slept well."

Another knife to my aching heart.

"Did she get the bags I left for her?"

"Yes.” His smile grows as he turns to me. "Frankie washed everything, marveled over your accuracy in sizes andstyle choice, although I'm unsure what the fuck that means. Then she left them, along with the toiletries, in the bathroom for your Lark to find this morning. She's almost through with her shower now so I don't expect you to have to wait much longer."

Well, that makes me nervous as fuck.

I'm really starting to understand this wholecrazy unmated male shita little better.

One second I'm totally focused, have every intent to make this an entirely unattached business meeting then the next I'm a mess of anxious feelings and racing thoughts, worried over the stupidest shit likeis she going to like my fucking hair.

I literally changed my clothes four times this morning because I wanted to look half-way decent for Lark, then I actually brushed my hair and almost shaved the light beard since it's thicker than it was when we met. Then I remembered it doesn't matter how I look because we are just going over my wall of research, trying to map out the facility, confirming that the case files do in fact belong to people that were held at the lab and get as much info as I can from her.

But then my wolf was like,you should clean up this pigsty and change your sheets, we cannot claim our mate on dirty sheets.

And since I'm out of my damn mind, I did exactly what he said, then drove into town and got everything I could think of to cook Lark a proper breakfast. Eggs, bacon, Texas toast that will become French toast if she wants it. Potatoes for home fries, watermelon and four different kinds of berries, orange juice, and coffee. I definitely went overboard, but it's probably been years since Lark has had most of that, and because my mama taught me how to cook, I figured there's no better time to use those skills than for my mate.

And maybe I wanted to impress her a little while I care for her the way I should have been the last century or so.

Which brings me back full circle topsycho mate.

I really shouldn't be doing any of this, not the alone time or cooking, not the shopping or making sure her needs are met. What I really should do is get my intel through Zan, formally reject Lark again, then plan my attack on the lab that held her before going Rogue once and for all.

Too bad my heart isn't getting the hint.

Nope, that long-neglected muscle is so goddamn full of love for my Birdie that all I can do is hope she will help me, eat the meal I provide for her, then maybe entertain a conversation about what happened in Devil's Lake all those years ago.

Then, hopefully, I can get her to listen to why I did what I did, make her understand that and how her being here now changes everything, and all I really want to do is love her with all of me for the rest of my life.

And I should probably give her the rundown on theother, who is still a threat, but I've convinced myself he's less of one since I can kind of predict when he's coming. Which is also stupid as fuck, but clearly the unmated male madness is strong today.

Maybe if I lay it all on the line though… Lark can decide whether or not I'm worth the years she spent searching for me, the years she lost in that facility—which is also my fault, though indirectly. Or maybe she'll decide to rejectmeand make this easier on both of us.

Something I really don't want anymore.

But it's not about what I want, it's about what's right for Lark, and if spending her life with the male who rejected her, scarred her, then inadvertently sent her to spend almost fifty years in hell, if that male isn't right for her, then I'm going to have to live with that.

Gods, she must fucking hate me.

"You brought the truck,” Zan says as he nudges my thigh and holds his hand out for a smoke. "Couldn't handle the idea of her wrapped around you on the Harley?"

I shake my head as I light up. "Didn't want to put her in that position."

"Because you are unsure of what happened to her in the lab, or because you are unsure if she wouldwantto be in that position withyou?"

"Shut up."

He chuckles. "It is clear the female loves you, wolf, evident in the way it hurt her to be in the same room without being able to actuallybe with you. If she felt the hate or disgust for you that you feel for yourself, your Lark would not have been hurt at all."

"Thanks,” I deadpan. "I didn't feel shitty enough after you guys all ripped into me last night, or after I spent hours berating myself for the same reasons. Definitely needed you to remind meagainthis morning that I'm a piece of shit who doesn't deserve my mate."

"You deserve her,” Zan says more seriously than I expected. "You deserve her just as she deserves you. Despite the way things played out, your paths were already set in stone and crossed both times as they should. Fate brought you together again and the only thing that would make you unworthy of your mate is denying her a second time."

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