Page 13 of The Return
“Nope. I needed you near me all the time. When you weren’t, it felt like ants crawling across my skin. You calmed me, made me think. My dad liked me better when I was rational. My mom loved you because you made no bones about how you felt when we were together.”
“Guess it was no surprise I was gay, huh?”
“Not to me, no,” I admitted. I peered into his eyes and realized what I needed too. “Can I hold you?”
He snuggled up close to me, and I put my arms around him. For the first time, I wasn’t just holding Corey—I was surrounding my mate. And he felt so goddamn good. We lay there for about ten minutes or so before his breathing slowed, becoming deeper and more even. I stroked my fingers through his hair, loving the fact that I finally got to do this.
“I love you, Core.” I planted a kiss on his forehead. “I will always do my best to make you happy.”
“Love you too,” he murmured, then followed that with a snore.
It didn’t matter that we were both dressed. At the moment, I couldn’t have been happier if we were skin to skin. Well, okay, naked would make it better, but I’d waited all these years to claim Corey, and I’ll be damned if I was going to rush him now, especially when he was so uncertain about his place in our lives.
He rolled in my arms, and I felt the loss of his warm breath on my skin. Then he moved back, his ass pushing into my groin. I was surprised I didn’t pass out as the blood drained from one head and moved into the other. I leaned in, letting his scent fill my lungs. Corey smelled of new fallen snow, sweet and crisp, plus cloves, cinnamon, and vanilla. He was a winter wonderland every day of the year.
Winter had always been my favorite season. I loved traipsing through the snow, dreaming of the day I’d be able to run on my four feet through the high drifts. Then I met Corey, and everything I loved about the festive time was condensed into one package. I couldn’t get enough of being around him, because… well, he was going to be my home, and I knew it.
He slept for two hours. Me? I lay there and marveled at the fact that I had Corey Mills beside me once more. My wolf, after years of pleading, whining, and anger-fueled rage, was at peace. There’s an old saying that you can’t have everything, but that’s wrong.
I had Corey, I had my pack, and I finally had a future to look forward to.
“Time is it?” said the sleepy voice beside me.
“A little before three,” I answered. “You haven’t been asleep that long.”
He sat bolt upright. “Holy shit!” He turned and looked at me, then reached out and put a hand on my chest, plucking at the hair there. “You’re really here.”
“Yep, I have returned.” Corey needed to know that I was solid, dependable. I couldn’t allow him to feel abandoned again. “And I’m never going anywhere without you by my side.”
He shook his head. “I thought this was all a weird, amazing dream.”
“Nope. I’m here, and I’m praying you won’t send me away. I—we—all fucked up. I only ask that you keep one thing in mind. We have never had a human pack member, let alone a family. We didn’t know how to deal with it, and when it was decided, it was the wrong decision. But you bear partial responsibility for this too.”
His eyes widened. “Me? How the hell do you figure that?”
I snuggled back on the bed and pulled him down with me. He whined a bit, but then settled in, his head resting on my chest and his hand skimming my stomach. If only he reached a little bit lower… just an inch or two.
“You knew our secret, but you never once told me. Things would have been far different if you had.” Before he could say anything, I plowed ahead. “I’m not saying things with Adam would have gone a different direction. He was a dick, and it was bad enough when he bullied you, but when he put hands on you, I would have lost it regardless. We probably would have still been in the same positions we are now, but my dad could have explained things to you so you’d understand.”
He leaned up and blew a raspberry on my neck. “I hate it when you make sense. Good thing I don’t have to deal with that too often.”
“Ass.”
“Okay, now that you know I know, teach me about werewolves. I’d like to know what I’m in for.”
“That’s a tall order. In the past, many millions of years ago, creatures evolved. If you look at the science books, they’ll tell you that man rose from the muck to become the dominant species. For the most part, that’s true. But what science doesn’t talk about, mostly because they don’t know, is that other animals walked the same evolutionary path. RememberPlanet of the Apes? Earth could have been that, or any other number of animals could have stood atop as the pinnacle we call man. Shifters, like wolves, went off in various directions. As with Homo sapiens, they had ancestors. A lot of shifters didn’t survive because they couldn’t adapt to the changing world. Others, again like wolves, formed packs and helped each other.”
“So there are other types of were creatures?”
“There are. Pretty much any animal likely has a human counterpart out there somewhere. Even animals like dogs and cats could very well be shifters.”
“So Barney could have been a shifter?”
Barney had been Corey’s dog when we were kids. A big, goofy beagle, Barney was filled with stupid love for Core. If anyone could have been a shifter, it would have been Barney.
“It’s possible. There aren’t many ways to tell, unless you see them shift. Down to the cellular level, we are identical to humans. The only difference is something most of us refer to asiskra. It’s an unquantifiable something that gives our bodies the ability to call upon our ancestors and take on their forms and abilities. For some animals, it also brings their weaknesses. Like rhinoceroses, for example. The animal has horrible eyesight. The human counterpart will likely be a little better, but probably needs glasses not long after birth. I like to think of it as nature’s way of evening things out.”
“And what weakness do wolves have?”
