Page 86 of Destined Paranormals: Volume One

Monroe smiled. “I’m all right with that. We’ll be busy. We’re already going to be busy with Mason and Maelie. Add in another little one, maybe that’s something you want to hold off on?”

I didn’t. Not really. I had a mate now, and he had been nothing but amazing to me so far. Granted, it had only been a day, but still. But I wanted to be selfish for once. I wanted to put myself first because I’d been through so much over the last several years. Didn’t I deserve to have happiness? Have the things I wanted for a change and not what someone else wanted?

“I’m ready. I’m not as old as some. But I’m thirty-four. I would like to start our family together.”

Monroe’s smile grew. “Then I say we go for a walk. We’ll find somewhere for you to shift, and then we’ll explore the mountaintop. We’ll run and play in the snow, and then when we get cold, we can come back here and find a way to warm each other up.” Monroe winked at me, and I didn’t know why, but my cheeks heated, and I looked down at the table. I knew exactly what he was implying, and I certainly wouldn’t say no to spending more time in bed with my mate. In fact, why couldn’t we just skip the running in the snow and go right back to bed? That sounded so much more appealing.

Monroe obviously knew what I was thinking about. I wasn’t trying to hide any of my thoughts, emotions, or memories from him. I wanted to be completely open and transparent with him. I’d not yet been able to actually talk to him through our bond, but I’d not really tried either.

“We can skip going out for a walk. It’s not expected that we go out as far as I understand.”

I chuckled while shaking my head. “No. Most mated couples don’t emerge for at least a week, sometimes more. We’re not most mated couples though, and I’m not sure how long we’ll have to spend together before life is going to demand we return to reality.”

“True. So we should make the most of things while we still can, should we not?” Monroe stood and held out a hand. I took it, more than willing to go wherever it was that he wanted. “I only ask that you do show me your wolf. Even if we don’t leave the house, I would love to meet him. It has been explained to me that if you should go into heat and things work out like fate intends, you could become pregnant, and it’s possible that it will be months before I could meet him. Not that I would be upset with you if that was the way things happened. I wouldn’t. But I’d like to meet him if at all possible.”

Since I was still sitting while holding my mate’s hand, I stood and led him to the other room. The mess from breakfast would be taken care of later, either by Monroe or me. Or both.

“I can shift for you. Did you want me to do it in the house? I’m not a large wolf. I’m an omega, and basically, I look like a juvenile wolf even though I’m full grown.”

Monroe gave me a smile while he brought his hands up to my face. “I know your wolf is going to be just as beautiful as you are, no matter how large or small he is. I’m just thrilled that you are going to show him to me. That you trust me enough to share that side with me.”

I reached for Monroe, pulled his face down closer to mine, and gave him a quick kiss. When he lingered, I readily opened for him because already, I couldn’t get enough of his kisses. I knew I’d spend the rest of our lives together, continually wanting Monroe to kiss me. I’d never much cared for them in the past, but with Monroe, it was different.

He quickly pulled away, his lips coming back for one gentle peck before he stood up completely and moved his hands from my face to my arms. He slid them down, lacing our fingers together.

“I’m not sure what the kiss was for, but I won’t complain,” Monroe said.

“Just because I wanted to. I like kissing you,” I told him.

“That is quite mutual.” Monroe gave me a serious look. “Are you all right?”

“Yep,” I told him. I took a step back and pulled my shirt off over my head. Then I pushed down my pants and grinned. Monroe was openly looking at me, and I wasn’t going to cover up. I will admit that it made me feel good that my mate openly appreciated what he saw when he looked at me. I was an omega, but I was an incredibly slim one. I looked a lot younger than I was, and despite everything I tried, I just couldn’t seem to put on any sort of muscle mass. Not that I wanted to be incredibly ripped like some alphas. I just didn’t want to be skinny.

“You can open the door and we can go outside if you want, but my wolf isn’t large,” I told him as I knelt down. I called for my wolf, who was only too happy to come out and meet our mate. I shifted quickly, happy that although I didn’t shift daily, I did often enough that it didn’t hurt. I felt the hair on my body tingle and then my bones and muscles transforming.

The room changed, and I blinked several times before realizing that it was actually me that had changed, not the room. I stood, stretched long and leisurely, before I sat and looked up at Monroe. I knew what my wolf looked like. I’d stared at him many times in the mirror. I looked a lot like a scraggly dog, in my opinion.

Monroe dropped to his knees and then reached for me. I stood, my tail immediately wagging as I closed the small distance between us. I felt my mate’s fingers in my fur, and then his face was buried in my neck. “You’re so much softer than I would have thought. And you’re more blond than anything else.”

I was. I was a timber wolf but had very little black in my coat. And what was gray and brown on my siblings’ coats was blond on mine.

“My mom,” I tried to tell him through our bond.

“Your mom? What about her?”

I sat up straighter and looked at my mate. “You heard me?”

Monroe nodded.

“My mom. She was from the north somewhere. I’m not sure where. She was a blond wolf, much like I am. She was almost completely cream colored though. I have a little bit of black and some brown like my father. My coloring comes mostly from my mom.”

“Well, you’re gorgeous. Even if you looked like the traditional gray wolves I’ve seen pictures of at Alpha Forest’s, I would still find you incredibly striking.”

My wolf was proud to hear that from our mate. I moved closer, knocking Monroe back onto his backside, and crawled into his lap. He laughed while wrapping his arms around me tightly.

“Don’t take this wrong. I think Mason is going to go crazy when he sees you in this form.”

I sniffed Monroe’s neck, locating the claiming bite under the shirt he was wearing. “He might not see me like this for a while. But I know Joseph will shift for him. Joseph is what you’d call a traditional gray wolf.” Like Monroe had mentioned, if I ended up pregnant in the next week, I wouldn’t be able to shift. It wouldn’t be until next spring that I’d finally be able to shift again. But my siblings would be able to.