Page 20 of Selkie AU: Beyond the Storm

He huffed. “But she wasn’t looking at you very nicely.”

My chest tightened. “It doesn’t matter how people look at me.”

“Matters to me,” he mumbled.

While I hadn’t felt protective of anyone like this before, I had felt protected. When we were younger, Raina used to do something very similar if someone gave any of us kids strange looks. It warmed my chest with a sudden burst of nostalgia and emotion I struggled to remain unaffected by.

“Thank you,” I whispered. Then I cleared my throat and shook it off. “Come on, little hurricane, let’s finish up.”

Milo picked up so many random things, I wondered if we’d be able to get it all home on the ATV. I probably could have told him to put some of it back, but he was so excited. All of this was so new to him, and this might be the only chance he’d get to try it all. So I kept my mouth shut and only winced slightly when the cashier told me the total. I paid, and we went outside to load the shopping bags securely onto the ATV.

“I thought you said we had to trade for this stuff?”

“We did.”

“When? You didn’t give her anything. You just touched a scrap on her table.”

I couldn’t help the smile that pulled at my lips as he described me paying with my card. “Human magic,” I told him, and his eyes nearly sparkled with excitement. “Let’s go home.”

Milo beamed wider, and I realized how he’d taken what I said.

“Tomyhome,” I corrected, but the damage was already done.

“Take me home, mate.”

“Not your mate,” I grumbled.

He giggled. “Not yet.”

Milo had barely stepped inside before his coat was dropped on the floor by the entrance and his boots kicked off so he could dash over to his blanket pile with the shopping bags.

I sighed, putting the shoes against the wall so we wouldn’t trip over them and picking up the coat to hang it in the closet again.

Then I made my way over to Milo and his hoard. He’d already finished the chocolate bar he’d started in the store and had torn open a box of cookies. He hummed in delight as he crunched on them.

I reached for the bag and he scowled at me.

“None of that. You have to eat a proper lunch before you fill up on snacks.”

“Why?” he asked, reaching for the cookies.

I handed him another one but took the rest away. “Because. These things taste nice, but it isn’t good for you to have too many of them at once.”

His brow furrowed, but he nodded.

“I’ll make you something else and you can have some more later.”

He pouted, and I rolled my eyes before handing him one more.

11

Milo

Rowan was amazing. He was so good at making food, and he knew so much about it. I didn’t have to know other humans to know that he had to be the best at it. I was so lucky to have someone like him as my soon-to-be mate.

He’d told me earlier at the store that he wasn’t my mate, but I was wearing him down, I could tell.

It was only a matter of time before he gave up on his futile resistance and realized we were perfect for each other. He was great at making food, and I was great at eating it. Perfect. Match.