Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 21858 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 109(@200wpm)___ 87(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21858 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 109(@200wpm)___ 87(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
“Momma,” a little voice cried out.
Keane and Laina jumped to their feet. He placed his hand on her lower back and murmured, “Don’t worry, baby. I’ll get him.”
“Except he’s calling me,” she said, following him out of the room.
“They’re probably going to be busy for longer than they think,” I warned Cressida. “Their cub is a handful.”
She stood and gathered the empty bowl and spoon in front of the spot where Laina had been sitting. “I guess I’ll just clean this up and see if I can figure out which cabin Keane was talking about.”
“Cabin?” I echoed.
“Yes…um…the alpha is letting me stay here for a little bit,” Cressida explained as she rinsed off the bowl and spoon before putting them in the dishwasher along with a couple of plates, forks, and three mugs that were in the sink.
“Did he mention which one you’ll be using?” I asked, wondering what had brought her to The Wilderness Pack.
She nodded. “Yes, it’s supposed to be next to Booker’s cabin.”
I figured that was where he’d put her if she was going to be here for a while but didn’t want to assume. “I can show you where it is.”
“I wouldn’t want to be a bother.” She tugged on the end of her ponytail, wrapping the hair around her index finger.
“No bother at all,” I assured her with a smile.
Her lips curved into an answering grin. “Only if you’re sure that you don’t have somewhere else you need to be.”
The laugh I huffed out held no humor. “My time has been my own since I became a loner years ago after being rejected.”
“Rejected?” she gasped, pressing trembling fingers to her lips.
Although I had been able to speak about my rejection without feeling the usual sorrow only a few days ago, I struggled with telling this beautiful woman about how I hadn’t been good enough for the woman fate had paired me with. Especially since I found myself wishing that Cressida was the woman I’d been destined to spend the rest of my life with instead. “Yeah.”
I didn’t understand the hope that suddenly shone from her bright blue orbs. “And there’s zero chance that she’ll come back into your life?”
“None.” I raked my fingers through my hair, shaking my head. “Even if she did, neither I nor my wolf would accept her as our mate. That bridge wasn’t just burned, it was blown to smithereens.”
She stood and rounded the table, stopping at my side. “You’re absolutely, one hundred percent sure about that?”
“Yes,” I bit out with a nod.
Her animal swirled in her eyes, a mixture of colors unlike anything I had ever seen before. As though he sensed her, my wolf’s fur stroked against my arms, and his howl rang out inside my head.
I didn’t understand what was going on. He’d never reacted to a woman like this before. And I never expected him to since it went against everything I had been taught about fated mates.
Then she reached out a trembling hand and placed it on my forearm. The skin-to-skin contact felt like a shock straight to my heart. And my dick.
My eyes widened as I glanced down at my crotch, stunned to find my hard length pressed against my zipper. The desire that coursed through my system was unlike anything I had ever felt before—even during those brief, disastrous minutes I spent with the human who had rejected me. “What the fuck? How is this possible?”
“I’ve chosen you as my mate,” she announced, her plump lips curving into a huge smile that only made her more beautiful.
“Chosen me?” I echoed, my brows drawn together. None of this made any sense. I never should have noticed how gorgeous she was. My wolf shouldn’t have reacted to her. And my cock definitely shouldn’t have gotten hard at her touch. “That’s not how this works. Fate decides the pairings, and there are no second chances.”
“For the vast majority of shifters, that’s true.” She bit her bottom lip before adding, “But there’s one exception—for my kind.”
I was about to shake my head, but then a memory from when I was five popped into my head. One of the girls in my kindergarten class brought a book about a mythical creature with special powers to school. No lock was strong enough to keep them imprisoned. Their horn contained healing magic that could only be accessed if it was given with their consent. And if they shared their soul with a human, that person could choose the person they spent the rest of their life with, unlike any other shifter.
My classmate had been devastated because she’d somehow lost the book, and it had been her favorite. I hadn’t understood the odd gleam in our teacher’s eye when she’d told her it would probably turn up sometime. Not until now.
“You’re a…a…unicorn?”
“I am,” she whispered.