Page 87 of The Alpha’s Heir

Meg clasped her hand over her heart. “Your dad, you mean. He told you stories of magic.”

“He did.” I stepped closer, moving her hand to my own heart, feeling the pain in her voice as if it were my own. “What is this between us?”

Gold seemed to swirl in the depth of her brown eyes. “The mating bond. When I bit you last night, it snapped into place. You’re my fated mate. Now we’re bound together until one of us…”

Her voice trailed off.

I nodded. Even without the words, I could sense how strong this pull was. It’d been there—muted—since I first saw her, but now it sang inside of me.

“You’re not marrying him,” I said.

Meg cracked a smile. “And now you finally sound like a wolf’s mate.”

“I’m serious,” I said, never more sure about anything in my life. “He doesn’t deserve you. I won’t give you up for him.”

She put her finger against my lips. “I know. And he has a plan to make sure we can stay together. I’ll let you hear him out to see what you think, but if you aren’t okay with it, we’ll find another way.”

Something thickened in my throat as the weight of her words sank in. She trusted me to make this decision. To lead us both where we were going.

A woman as strong as she was didn’t give control up that easily. And I’d be damned if that didn’t fix parts of me I didn’t know were broken.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she whispered.

“Like what?” I pressed her palm to my cheek as I dragged her closer, getting rid of the distance between us.

Meg smiled up at me. “Like I’m magic.”

“You’re my mate,” I said the word aloud.

She exhaled. “It’s a lot to take in, but we can go slow. As slow as we can… Sorry I bit you without your consent.”

“You can bite me any time, with or without permission.” I smiled. “When did you know we were mates?” I asked, inhaling her scent as I held her against me until our bodies aligned.

“As soon as I saw you.” She closed her eyes when I tilted her chin up. “I tried to tell you the first night. And then again at the library. And when you kissed me. And before we left Ethica. And last night.”

“I wouldn’t have believed you,” I said.

I still didn’t quite believe this wasn’t some dream brought on by the magic of my new surroundings but I clung to it a moment longer. The truth of the life I’d left behind waited to pull me back.

“You’re stubborn.” She sighed.

“So are you. Maybe that’s why we’re mates.” I smiled, lowering so my lips were a breath away from hers.

My dad would understand this. Why I had to give up everything I’d once worked for. He believed in love above all else. I now knew why.

I could only hope the councilwoman wouldn’t take it out on him as I publicly disgraced the family and the honor of my military position when I disobeyed orders.

“I thought the mating bond would make it so I could understand you better,” Meg whispered against my lips, speaking so softly it was as if I could hear it in my head while the water roared and rushed past us.

“All you need to know is how happy I am being able to do this.” I kissed her, slower than ever before, and making sure to commit her taste to memory.

The kiss was full of everything I’d never be able to put into words. It was gentle—unhurried—like we had all the time in the world to get to know each other.

I hated that it was a lie.

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Meg