Page 34 of In Your Eyes
That was completely ridiculous. I had never been jealous of anything. Jealousy was a weak emotion; it didn’t portray strength and confidence. Alphas were not jealous.
“I am not jealous,” I huffed. “I am merely listing facts.”
“Listing facts?” he repeated with a chuckle.
“Yes.” I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to look calm and authoritative. It wasn’t easy to pull off while almost naked. “I can’t help but notice how easy this has been for you. And I know how friendly you are. I’ve heard about you.”
“Heard about me?” He pressed his lips together, like he was holding back laughter.
“Yes. You were the presumptive Alpha of a neighboring pack. It was my duty to learn about you. I heard all about how you were shiny, happy, friendly, and beloved.” I paused when my chest grumbled involuntarily. “Howfriendlyandbelovedwere you?”
Without warning, Korban shot up, clutched my shoulders, and tackled me onto my back. He crouched above me, his knees on either side of my thighs, and grinned.
“I’m tempted to string this out so I can see how much you want to keep me to yourself, but I can’t do that to you.” He squeezed my shoulders. “You’re my true mate, Samuel. True mates are made to be together. I could never want to share anyone’s bed but yours.”
“What about before you knew I was your mate?” I asked, thinking of all the nights I’d traveled to other regions’ meetings searching for someone to tie with. Had Korban done the same thing? Had he succeeded?
“I knew when I was eleven, honey,” he said gently, moving one hand from my shoulder to the side of my neck. “I have known who you were to me from the moment I first saw you.”
I loved hearing him call me his honey, loved that he thought of me that way. I loved how he touched me, how tender he was, how natural it felt. I loved the way he looked at me like I was precious to him. I loved the soft tenor of his voice when he spoke to me.
I loved all those things so much that I was momentarily distracted from what he’d said. “Eleven?” I said the instant my brain processed his words. “You knew all the way back then?”
Tapping his chest, he nodded. “I felt it.”
Looking back, I had felt something too, but there was no way I could have recognized it for what it was. Everything I had learned stood in direct conflict with that possibility. But Korban had learned the same things. The teachings didn’t change from pack to pack; the writings were the same.
“You must think me such a fool,” I said, ashamed. “You knew as a child. I’m twenty-three years old.”
“You’re not a fool. You’re strong and educated. You believe in pack history and traditions.”
“And you don’t?”
He shrugged nonchalantly, as if we weren’t discussing the rules governing both of our lives. “Yoram Smith, one of my closest friends, has an uncle with a male true mate.” He brushed his lips over each of my eyebrows. “I’ve known Ethan since I was a young child, so I realized it could happen.”
“How is it I’ve never heard about this or read about it?” I asked, my voice pitching high with surprise and frustration at yet another of my failings. “Miancarem is our neighboring pack. I learned about the pack, about its history, about—”
“Yoram’s uncle hasn’t been a member of our pack in generations.”
“Generations?” I asked. “How old is he?”
“He’s mated to a vampire, so he’s, well, if not immortal, something close to it,” Korban said.
My jaw dropped. “A shifter is mated to a vampire?” My entire world order was changing at a disturbingly rapid clip.
“Yes. My great-grandfather was Alpha when they ran Ethan out of the pack. They considered him an abomination and a shame, so they didn’t write about him or tell anyone about him. But his family didn’t turn their backs on him. They’re quiet about it, but he comes to visit. He stays off pack lands in the human town, and his family goes to see him. I went with Yoram as a child—that’s how I know Ethan and Miguel.”
“I’m sorry.” I was so ashamed. “You knew we were mates. All that time you knew, and I was terrible to you.” Thinking about how I’d treated Korban made me sick. “And you tried to be nice to me.” I paused and thought about it. “You were nice and I was horrible, and then when they brought you here, I… I hurt you so much.”
“No.” Korban grasped my chin, holding me still. His blue eyes blazed. “You have never hurt me.”
“But I made you—”
“You didn’t make me do anything I haven’t wanted to do nearly every day for well over a decade.”
Korban’s cheeks reddened and he ducked his head, looking shy for the first time since I’d known him.
“Korban?” I asked.
