Chapter One
Neith
As much as I adore River kissing me senselessly right now, I have no idea what prompted him to do so, and I’m not entirely sure that it’s the most appropriate thing to be doing right now. We need to head back to help the wolves and call the compound so that we can get the wolves that are loyal to Derek from Calia and Eamon.
I don’t know what is going to happen with them, but if I were in charge, then they would forfeit their lives.
Pulling back reluctantly, the smile immediately falls off my face when I realize that River’s eyes are full of unshed tears. What the hell? I barely manage to restrain myself from putting my hand in front of my face to see if my breath smells, because that is the only reason I can think of for why he’s so upset.
I dismiss my wayward thoughts, and my expression fills with concern as my hands move to cup his cheeks, “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”
“Are you alright, man?” Coen asks, closer than he was before River kissed me, since they were all walking ahead of me when I decided to come back here and check in with River.
I briefly move my eyes away from River, who still hasn’t answered my question, and look around me. All of the guys are here, all looking slightly concerned. I can just about see the backs of Asher, Rana, and the others moving further into the trees. Logan must sense me looking in his direction, because he glances over his shoulder and grins at me. There’s a certain amount of knowing in his expression, and I narrow my eyes. I’m reasonably sure that he knows what all of this is about. He turns back around and follows the others out of sight.
“What’s going on?” Reed asks. “Why did Logan tell us to come back here, and then make everyone else carry on?”
River’s gaze is still on me, and he still hasn’t put me down, as he studies me closely, his expression a confusing mix of seriousness and happiness.
“You’re my mate, my True Mate,” he tells me, worry clouding his expression completely and replacing the happiness.
My eyes widen, and because I’m a giant dork, I smack him on the chest and exclaim, “What? Are you serious? How do you know? Are you messing with me right now, because if you’re messing with me, it’s cruel and I will be majorly pissed off.”
“You want to be my mate?” he asks, sounding unsure.
I pull a ‘what the fuck face’, that’s the only way that I can describe it.
“Are you fucking kidding?” I retort. “Of course I want to be your mate, you wonderful man,” I add for good measure. River beams at me and I grab cheeks, squeezing them, and making the guys laugh, “However, if you do nottell me how you know I’m your mate, then I’m going to do something, I don’t know what, but you probably won’t like it.”
The guys burst out laughing at my very unthreatening threat.
“You better tell her, man,” Coen says, through his laughter. “The last time she gave me that warning and I didn’t listen, I ended up missing an eyebrow.”
“Oh, my god!” Ransom exclaims. “I remember that you had me make you a potion to grow it back quicker. You told me it was one of the other dragons that did it to you.”
Coen grins, and I burst out laughing. That was funny, and he definitely deserved it, although I can’t quite remember why he did right now.
River’s eyes shine with mirth while he listens to the exchange.
“Well?” I ask him seriously.
Still with his mouth smooshed, he replies, but it comes out all garbled and doesn’t make much sense, so I let go of his cheeks so he can talk properly, and I actually have a chance of understanding what he’s saying.
“I’m sorry, what?” I ask, my eyebrows practically dancing on my forehead as I can’t decide if I need to frown or raise them with surprise. It must look so weird.
“You have my mark,” he repeats, that worry entering his gaze again.
I frown. The only marks I have are my unicorn one and my Bonded Warrior one.
My eyes widen, the butt on my butt.
I wriggle until he puts me down, and then spin around in circles trying to see my ass. I’m far too excited and shocked to think logically right now. If I were thinking logically, then I would realize that if I stop and just twist slightly, then I would be able to see the mark like I did when I showed him.
“It’s like when she got her wings,” Reed says, sounding amused, that I’m once again spinning around in circles trying to see something that’s behind me.
Why is this becoming a thing that I do?
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Griff says as he catches me and stops me from turning in circles. “Take a deep breath, and slowly show us what River is talking about.”
