Page 69 of Choosing the Rejected Mate

“Helpful,” she murmurs with an eyeroll.

I smile faintly.“I can lie.”

“No, you can’t,” she accuses.“You’re terrible at it.”

“True, but for you I’m willing to try.”

She exhales slowly, then turns to me.“Before we shift...”I wait, watching her fingers tug at the knot of her robe, but she does not open it yet.“If I panic, we stop.”

“Of course.”

“If I say wait, we wait.”

“Naturally.”

“If I make a joke at a deeply inappropriate moment, you accept that as part of my charm.”

My mouth curves.“I already do.”

“If I cry, you don’t make it a thing.”

“I won’t.”

“If I bite too hard?”

My wolf growls with interest, and I clear my throat.“I’ll survive.”

Her lips twitch.“Good.”Then she gets serious again, and my humor fades with hers.“And if Rowan comes tomorrow, or Cole, or anyone from Ash Hollow...”

I step closer, but not close enough to crowd her.“Then we deal with it together.”

“Not you for me.”

“No,” I say.“Together.”

She nods and unties the robe and lets it fall.I force myself not to look away this time.She gave me permission before.Tonight, her shoulders square, chin lifting, body bared beneath the moon not as a question but as a decision.

She’s stunning.Soft curves, strong thighs, and scars so faint they are almost invisible unless you know how to look.Not all scars show on skin, but hers do in small places.In the way she holds her breath when she’s being seen.In the way she expects the look to become judgment.

It does not and it never will.

“You’re beautiful,” I say.

Her lashes flutter.“I’m still not used to that,” she whispers.

“Then I’ll keep saying it until you are.”

“That could take years.”

“Good.I have a lot of years to give.”

She smiles before her wolf rises.The shift rolls over her like moonlight catching flame.Skin becomes fur.Fingers become paws.Bones reshape with familiar pain and ancient grace.A silver-brown wolf stands where Holly was, sleek and gorgeous, ears pricked, eyes bright with a mixture of nerves and defiance.

My wolf presses forward, reverent.

I strip out of my jeans and shift.Pain cracks through me, quick and sharp, then the world explodes into scent and sound.Fur ripples over my skin, muscles shifting, bones reforming.When my paws hit the earth, the night opens.

Holly’s scent fills everything.Not just woman but wolf.Our mate and future.