Page 30 of Unbreakable Bond
Finally, a small smile spread across herlips.
“We’ll change together?Tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow.” Rafe sighed heavily and she could feel the worry begin to seep in again as he thought of all the things that could go wrong when he let his wolf loose, “When the full moon rises, you’ll shift for the first time and I’ll… I’ll shift withyou.”
The way he hesitated didn’t give her a burst of confidence but she fought away the doubt, “Does your wolf… Can he sense heralready?”
Rafe stroked his fingers up and down her spine. A caress for her. A pet for her wolf. She shivered and snuggled even closer to him, loving the strength and comfort of being in hisarms.
“Oh yeah, he can sense her. He can see her. He’s the one that told me she’s beautiful. He wants her so bad my skin itches with the need to shift. But I’m keeping him under control, Zo. Ipromise.”
“He’s not going to hurt me,Rafe.”
“I know.” He said, but there was no conviction in his tone or in thebond.
She sighed and laced her fingers together with his, “Tonight, we’ll rest but tomorrow you have to tell me how all of it works, okay? I may be pack but I wasn’t one of you. Not really. Not untilnow.”
“I’ll tell you everything you need toknow.”
Her wolf harrumphed and circled slowly before laying down. She wasn’t giving up. Like Zoey, she was stubborn, and like Zoey, she didn’t miss that Rafe’s words weren’t what she needed to hear. He hadn’t promised to tell her everything. Only what he thought she needed to know. It was a start but it was by no means the open and honest relationship she needed fromhim.
She attempted to lighten the mood, “We’ll shift and we’ll run and we’ll play in the woods tomorrow night then? Like hide andseek?”
Rafe snorted with amusement, “Kinda. We’ll shift and run together only, when my wolf catches yours, he’s going to mate herZoey.”
Her eyebrows rose, “He’s going to… they’re going to… in wolfform?”
“Mmhmm.” He sounded amused again. “How did you think they sealed their bond? The same way we sealed ours. When they mate, the circle will finally be complete and our bond will be cemented in every way and in everyform.”
“Oh…” She really hadn’t given that much thought either but she didn’t think now was a good time to point out that whenever she’d thought of mating a wolf in the past she’d thought of Michael and her living happily ever after, not exactly the schematics of how it all worked. “Will I… we… know what’s goingon?”
“Yes. You’ll still be in control of your wolf. She has her own spirit but she lives inside you. She’s a part of you. There’s no way to separate one of you from the other now. So just like you can feel her there in the back of your mind like this, when you’re in wolf form, when she’s the one at the forefront, you’ll be in the background, able to whisper to her and guideher.”
Zoey relaxed against him as she contemplated his words. She would still be the one in control. But Rafe wouldn’t be in control of his. He’d told her as much earlier, before she’d agreed to the bite. He’d lost control of his wolf that day in the woods when the hunters attacked and he’d never regained it. She couldn’t help but wonder how it must feel to him, to be pushed to the back of his own mind when his wolf took over, unable to control what the animaldid.
“He won’t hurt you.” Rafe’s voice was rough when he spoke and she silently cursed the connection she’d forgotten about for a second there. He didn’t know exactly what she was thinking. But her change in mood must have been enough to give away her train ofthought.
“You sound a little more convinced than you did earlier at least.” She squeezed hishand.
Rafe sighed heavily and raised their joined hands to kiss her fingers, “He’s… content. I can’t remember the last time I could’ve said that but he is. Being here with you, like this, your scent on me, mine on you, it calmshim.”
She kissed his chest, just over his heart, “That’s a good sign,right?”
“I think… marking you tonight was a good idea. It settled some of his nervousness. He knows you’re ours now and he can sense your wolf. He can feel how strong she is, knows he has to be strong for her too. She’s a good mate forhim.”
Zoey smiled softly, “Fatehuh?”
“Sometimes she gets it right.” Rafe stroked her hairsoftly.
A twinge of something she couldn’t quite place ached in her chest. Fate got it right. So why did she feel that flash of irritation, or remorse and sadness? It wasn’t hers, she realized when it began to soften at the edges while Rafe combed herhair.
She was picking up Rafe’s emotions again and she had a pretty good idea what had triggered that one thistime.
“I didn’t mean it like that.” She murmuredsoftly.
“Hmm?”
“Don’t play dumb. You know what I’m talking about. Down at the river, everything was happening so fast and I was in shock. Rafe, I didn’t mean it when I said fate chose the wrong wolf forme.”
