Page 185 of Wolfkissed
What else don’t I know?
“This is my ancestral home,” Valen says. “Where I grew up. And my room is down the hall.”
I hear him with half an ear, Darian’s words still echoing inside my head. “What, no brothers or sisters? I thought wolves had big litters.”
“I’m an only child, and yeah, it’s unusual among the wolves. Then again, my mother was an unusual woman. A priestess. She lived her life her way.”
“She sounds pretty amazing.”
“She was.”
I swallow hard. “I’m so sorry. So sorry for her death.”
“She made her choices, and they hurt you, so I’m sorry, too.” He takes my hand, leading me toward his room. “Mentally, she was unwell, and I was too young to see it. It’s obvious by now that she was involved with the rogue wolves who killed your family, and I have to dig into that, find out more.”
“Do you think the temple has connections to the rogue groups?”
“That’s my thinking. I’ll ask for an audience with the wolven king to discuss this, but only after I’ve spent time with you. After you’ve decided whether we’re staying here or moving elsewhere.”
“You’d really do that? Move away to be with me?”
“Oh, woman… I’d do anything to be with you. Haven’t you figured that out yet? Don’t you believe me?” He turns to look into my eyes. “You are my life. You are my everything.”
My eyes smart. “You mean it,” I whisper. “About me being important to you.”
“How can you doubt it?”
I shrug. “I’ve spent most of my life not being important to anyone. I’ve never had anyone look at me the way you do, Valen. Never had anyone promise me such things. Besides, compared to your family and friends, you barely know me.”
“And yet, I know I want to spend my life with you.”
Pulling away from him, I walk around his spacious room. I touch the tall headboard with carved scenes of wolves hunting deer, the nook in the wall with a dark statuette of a goddess, a crown of silver stars on her head, and the tall window with its wooden lattice.
I don’t want him to run away with me. He spent a decade away from his family and his life here. He’s a fighter, but he feels things… too deeply. He’s loved here, and he needs this. And maybe… I need it, too. His love is everything, but having his friends and family around us feels nice, like a warm embrace.
“What’s on your mind?” He stops by the bed, one hand resting on the carved headboard, his eyes shining, head slightly bowed.
Gods, he’s beautiful, the shape of his broad shoulders, the line of his long neck, the tips of his pointed ears poking out of his gray-silver hair.
“Let’s stay here,” I say.
“Are you sure?” He approaches me and takes my hands. “I’d go to the ends of the world for you. Nothing and nobody matters more than you, love, and I’ll keep proving it to you every day.”
“Then why are you putting distance between us?” I ask, distracted from my goal of getting him to talk to me about his past.
He frowns. “It’s just…”
“Just what?”
“I don’t trust myself around you,” he growls softly. “I’ve been not only hard but in a rut over you since I met you. A rut is when a male wolf gets permanently horny about his mate. His knot inflates. His cock is hard. His balls are full. And all he wants is to breed his mate.”
“Breed. As in, make babies?”
A nod. “Of course, we have herbs to prevent that. My point is… I don’t want to push you or hurt you. I want you to come to me in your own time.”
“But you’re in pain.”
“I can take it, Princess. I’m fine with it. Worse would be to have an unwilling partner. Worse still, to harm you in any way, physical or mental.”
