Page 22 of Unbreakable Bond
Chapter 10
Rafe staredat her in wide-eyed wonder as she slept. Zoey. His mate. God, fate had such a sick and twisted sense of humor and yet… in the end, it always, always got itright.
Zoey. His Zoey. He had to resist the urge to reach out and touch her, to stroke her and hug her and keep her close. To protect her. It had been a long time since he’d given a thought to protecting anyone, even himself. But he would protectZoey.
She was more than just his mate. She was his other half, the one person that could make him whole. She was hissalvation.
The fire he’d built flickered over Zoey’s beautiful face. Her hair glittered coppery in the firelight and he wondered if he would ever find the right name for the color, ever get tired of looking at it, feeling the soft strands slip through his fingers. Her skin was soft, creamy perfection and though her face didn’t have a single flaw, a single freckle, he hadn’t missed the trail of them over her shoulders and down her chest, wanted to kiss each one, trace them with his tongue, map every inch of her, because she washis.
After she’d fallen asleep in the woods, he’d carefully carried her the rest of the way to the cabin. He knew that it was more than just sleep keeping her sedated. What they’d done in the woods had been so much more than sex. They’d mated and that meant her body and mind were in the midst of some major changes. She was still human, for now, so he’d built the fire even though he wasn’t chilly because he wouldn’t let anything touch her, anything hurt her, not even acold.
While she slept, he’d looked around the cabin and silently cursed his brother yet again. This cabin had been his. His and Gabe’s. Not Michael’s. But like everything else Rafe had left behind, it seemed his little brother had attempted to claim thistoo.
He grit his teeth until his jaw hurt as he noticed all the improvements. All the proof that this cabin had been used in his absence. Not just because he could scent his brother. Not just because it was fully furnished, if a tad bit dusty. But because his mate’s scent had been here even before he brought herinside.
She’d come here with Michael and that grated on his already frayednerves.
It made his head hurt. Made his subconscious ask questions he wasn’t sure he would like the answers to. Because he wanted the best for Zoey, for his mate, and at every turn he seemed to run into proof Michael would have been the better choice forher.
Michael was the one who had stayed. He’d taken over the pack. He’d taken care of everyone. He had the history with Zoey. Decades of friendship and love and devotion. He’d given her a place in the pack and a home. He was the one she’d turned to whenever she had problems and all of her best memories must have been withMichael.
Even in this cabin, there were hints of their time together. Fishing poles tucked in the corner, one of them with a pink lure. The cabinets were full of food he had a vague memory of her eating as a kid. Fruit Loops and Cheetos and other junk food Michael must have bought for her even though he didn’t eat it. There were clothes tucked into the drawers of the chest in the bedroom. Tank tops and shorts and a tiny little string bikini that had made Rafe’s wolf growl at the very thought of his mate wearing so little in front of another. She had things here, scattered all around, as if fate had been preparing this place to become herhome.
Only, instead of him, it had been Michael coming here withher.
Rafe shook his head to clear the fog of jealousy that nearly overcame him. No. No. Fate hadn’t gotten it wrong. Zoey was his. She was perfect for him. She was a link to his past, to his brother, perhaps to help him mend what he’d broken. She was his and if she deserved the best then that’s just what he would have to become forher.
She deserved a good man, a good wolf, someone that put others first, had friends, and helped them when hecould.
Now that he’d had her, mated her, sealed the first half of the bond, his mind was clearer than it had been since the moment he walked into Noir and scented her. He hadn’t come back here for her. He hadn’t known she was here. She had been asurprise.
He’d come back because he needed to talk to Michael but instead of talking, they’d gotten into an argument, then an all-out brawl. His brother had tranqued him and thrown him in a jail cell. His brother had tried to keep his mate from him and if it had been anyone else he would have ripped him to pieces. He certainly didn’t want to talk to him now but a good man would, and he knew he would haveto.
Rafe’s friend was in trouble. He’d asked for help. Leo, an alpha in his own right, had asked Rafe for help and he knew that couldn’t have been easy. Leo was the only friend who’d managed to keep track of him while he was running around feral and wild. He was a good man, a good wolf, and his pack was in trouble. He’d asked Rafe for the aid of the Moirae pack but that wasn’t his to give. Not since he’d given Michael the position of Pack Alpha. But he couldn’t just tell his only friend no either, so he would talk toMichael.
He figured it was only a matter of time until his brother tracked him downanyway.
Michael must know he’d escaped by now, and how. He would start by looking in all of the obvious places. Zoey’s home. Her bakery, which Rafe had stumbled upon while searching her out earlier. He’d check the house and then the woods but he was a smart kid. He’d put it together and know where to find him. In the only place Rafe could still consider home. He was honestly surprised his brother wasn’t beating down the dooralready.
He could only assume Michael or one of his wolves had found their spot in the woods, or would shortly. They’d scent him and Zoey. They’d scent what they’d done, scent the bond that had been forged, the magic of it. He’d thought that Michael might rush here in a fury over it but of course, that would have been Rafe’s reaction, not his littlebrothers.
Michael was smart but calm and collected. He would know there was no use barging in tonight. That he couldn’t stop it, stop them, anymore. That he’d failed. He would give them tonight, Rafe knew. He wouldn’t interrupt. They’d be reprieved from his wrath untiltomorrow.
Tomorrow. Which only brought the reality of his new situation to the front of his mind. Tomorrow was the full moon. He would shift tomorrow. His wolf would force him to now that he knew his mate needed claiming. And then there would be no holding him back. He would bite Zoey, mark her as his, and seal their fateforever.
He had no control over his wolf when he broke the skin. He hadn’t since that day in the woods when the hunters had destroyed his world. He’d been scarred that day, physically and emotionally, but his wolf had been irreparablydamaged.
If Rafe, the man, was half feral, then his wolf was that feral half of him. He was savage and uncontrollable. He saw nothing but threats, everywhere. He was scared and he wasdangerous.
Never, not once, had Rafe shifted in the presence of another since that day. It was too risky. He couldn’t put anyone else in danger like that. But he wouldn’t leave Zoey, he couldn’t. She was his mate. Even if he started running now and got as far away as he could, when the moon rose tomorrow night his wolf would head straight for her anyway and when he found her, he’d be in a state of panic, fearful of losing what he knew was his to take, and he’d ravage her if Rafe couldn’t get him undercontrol.
If he couldn’t give him a reason to believe Zoey was alreadytheirs.
Fuck, he cursed under his breath and scrubbed a hand over his face. It was too fast. It was all happening toofast.
He’d only just found her. The heat had forced them both into the human claiming as quickly as possible. But the wolf, the bite, he needed more time. He needed to give the wolf time with her, to learn to trust her, to earn her trust in return. He needed more time but they didn’t haveany.
Tomorrow was the full moon and he would shift. The only question was whether or not Zoey would shift with him. It would be safer if she did. If they’d already bonded and she had a wolf of her own to protect her from him if it came to that. But damn it, how could he ask her to give him that, give him everything she was, when he’d left once beforealready?
