Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 129756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 649(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 649(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
“Just be aware that imprinting can begin without any prompting from you or Mila. It might take you by surprise.”
Dominic tilted his head. “Did it take you and Harley by surprise?”
“Not at all. From the time I was a juvenile, I knew she’d be mine one day. I wasn’t ready back then—in fact, I was a fucking mess.” Idly spinning a cardboard coaster that was stained by a condensation ring, Jesse sighed. “Even though we had history and a good foundation to build on, imprinting didn’t start straightaway. I’d hoped that the claiming bite would be enough to trigger it, but it wasn’t.”
“You put a claiming mark on her before you’d imprinted?”
Jesse winced. “Yeah. It was shitty, I know, since claiming bites don’t fade. If we’d parted ways, she’d have had to look at it in the mirror every day for the rest of her life. But I had no intention of letting her go. I’d have done whatever it took to keep her.”
“How long did it take for imprinting to begin?”
“A few months, but it’s not the same for every couple. Imprinting can happen fast, slow . . . can even take years. The females of my pack believe that for the couple to fully imprint, they need to have the building blocks of a lasting relationship—trust, respect, loyalty, acceptance, love—but that the process can start before all those emotions come into play. The first sign is when you find you’re wearing each other’s scent. Then you start to feel small echoes of each other’s emotions. But it’s so much stronger when the bond fully forms.”
The DJ said Mila’s name over the loudspeaker, and the crowd immediately started hooting. Dominic’s body tightened as, mic in hand, she breezed onto the stage in that catlike way she had. His wolf perked up, no longer brooding that she wasn’t close by. She flicked a brief look at Dominic and gave him an enigmatic smile just before she launched into a song.
“Seriously, she’s got an amazing voice,” said Jesse. “It’s just effortless for her. She’s also got a strong stage presence.”
“And she’s all mine.” The satisfaction of that went bone deep.
Jesse chuckled. “Never thought I’d see the day when you said those words.”
Silence fell as they watched her perform. As usual, Dominic found himself absolutely blown away by her innate talent and those smoky, scratchy vocals that drove him crazy. He wanted nothing more than to drag her off that stage and shove his cock inside her, to drown himself in all that passion, and reassert his claim on her. His wolf was all for that idea.
“Is it true that Mila has already met her predestined mate?”
His eyes snapping back to Jesse, Dominic stilled. “Where did you hear that?”
“Taryn told Shaya, who then told Harley, who then told me. They don’t know the details, though. Taryn said you just hinted at it.”
He should have remembered that Taryn, being best friends with Shaya, told the woman everything. “Yes, she has. I’ve met him.”
Jesse blinked. “You met him?”
“He joined her pride after he imprinted on one of her cousins.” Dominic slid his gaze back to Mila as he continued. “He has a subconscious draw to be close to Mila and protect her, so he hangs around her a little too much.”
“Fuck, that’s got to be hard on her.”
“It is. Her cat loathes the fucker.”
“Imprinting bonds can fade, though,” Jesse pointed out. “That’s why they’re a double-edged sword. Yeah, it means you have a way out if you need one. But it also means she has a way out. If Mila’s true mate ever splits from her cousin, he might then sense that Mila’s his—the imprinting bond won’t be there to block the frequency of the true-mate bond anymore. He could try claiming her.”
Like Dominic would let that happen. “Wouldn’t make any difference to Mila or her cat. They don’t want him. Mila doesn’t hate him, but she doesn’t pine for him either. He broke something in her cat, and she’ll never forgive him for that. Plus, I think she’d feel he’d regard her as second best, since he initially chose Adele—Mila wouldn’t do second best.”
“So his presence doesn’t make you or your wolf feel threatened?”
“No. You’d think it would, wouldn’t you? But it doesn’t. Maybe it’s because Mila’s not someone who’d tolerate possessiveness from just anyone. And she admitted she’s never marked anyone before.” He drained the last of his bottle. “I hate that Joel has rights to her—it doesn’t matter that he can’t claim them, they’re still there—but maybe I don’t feel threatened by him because she chose me. She didn’t leave this mark on me because she felt compelled to do it by the mating urge. She did it because I’m her choice.”
“I get what you mean,” said Jesse. “It gives you a sense of security. And it’s good that you’re not letting jealousy be a factor or that you feel like you’re somehow competing with him because of what he could have been to her. Harley sometimes got hung up on the fact that she’s not my other half. And she’s not. But she’s my center. Mila can be that for you, if you let her.”