Page 30 of Little Howl of Moon

I was still off tomorrow, at least. But Tuesday? Tuesday, I had to go back to work. I had chores to do. I needed to call and check in on my children.

Where would Steel fit into my life now that he was in it?

“We should plan our next date,” I said.

“I could come over Tuesday night.”

I hesitated, but I wasn’t sure why.

Since this morning, there’d been this nagging feeling plaguing me. This little voice whisperingyou don’t deserve a second chance.Reminding me that there were still so many things about Steel I didn’t know. What if he wanted children? I’d already been a dad to two girls, raising them to be amazing adults. I was too old to do it again, as wonderful as it had been. And how did it work for mating a monster? I’d heard that your lifespan changed once you were fully mated, but what did that mean for me? Would I stop aging? Would I?—

“Oli? Are you okay?” Steel asked.

“Yes,” I lied.

Steel’s chest lifted with a deep breath. “What if the weekend never ended?”

My heart tugged. I knew what he meant, but wedidhave to leave each other’s side at some point. I didn’t really want to, of course. If it were realistic to stay in bed for the rest of my life with my werewolf, I would do it in a heartbeat.

What am I doing?

“Maybe next weekend,” I said.

He didn’t like that, and I could feel it. He carefully slid me off him and sat up, frowning as he looked down at me. “Something is wrong. What is it?”

I sat up too, trying to find the right words. “I think it may be wrong for us to mate.”

“What?”

“No, that came out wrong.” Fuck. “I mean mate so quickly.”

Steel stared at me, his shoulders dropping. “Where is this doubt coming from? You haven’t been like this all weekend?—”

“Because our weekend felt like an escape,” I said. “But we have to go back to our normal lives this week.”

“Thiscanbe our normal lives.”

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. All my greatest fears were bubbling to the surface and it didn’t matter how much I tried to reason with myself, nothing was working. It was as if after such a perfect weekend, I’d been escaping the truth.

Was I ready for a mate?

Was I ready to be in love again?

Was it wrong of me to want that?

“Oli,” Steel said, his hand settling on my knees. His claws gleamed, his gaze pleading. “Is it because I’m younger? I promise it doesn’t matter?—”

“No,” I said.

“Then what is it?”

“I don’t know,” I exhaled, standing up. He looked up at me, his concern growing. “I don’t know if I’m ready. I don’t know if I can do this the way you want to.”

“There’s nothing wrong with mating immediately,” Steel said. “And I want to do that quickly, but that does not mean we have to. However . . . I still expect to become part of your life. I may not have wanted to be mated, but now that I’ve met you, I cannot imagine a day without you in it.”

“You didn’t want to be mated?” I asked.

Steel winced. “Before. Before my rut. I didn’t think I’d want any of this, but I was wrong. I didn’t know what I was missing. Meeting you has changedeverythingfor me.”