Page 16 of Luke: The Bears

“Hiya, Emery! I need a new notebook to write down recipes,” another woman said.

Valley walked to the end of the aisle and nearly ran into a petite blonde.

“Oops, sorry!” Valley said. “Hey, are you Juliette from The Amber Howl?”

“I am,” the kind looking woman said with a smile. “You look familiar. Have you been there?”

“Yeah, actually. Friday, my friend and I sat with the bears on the deck. Luke invited us.”

“Oh. Oh!” she said, her voice going a little high with excitement. “You’re Luke’s mate, how awesome!”

“His what-now?”

Juliette’s smile faltered. “Oh. I thought… he didn’t tell you?”

“Told me what?”

“Shifters know when they meet their truemate. It’s an instinct kind of thing. Like love at first sight on steroids.”

Mine.

The word slid out of her memory so clearly, Valley almost heard Luke’s voice in the bookstore.

He’d said it Friday night. She’d been too caught up in her bliss to really pay attention to it.

“You’re okay,” Juliette said, like she was talking Valley down from a ledge.

“Am I?” Valley asked.

“Yes, I promise. First of all, what’s your name?”

“Valley.”

“I know you’re okay, because I was. When I first met Sigh, I panicked. I actually ran off and he had to track me down. Sigh was so sure about things, it made me feel painfully human. Being with him was overwhelming, but it also felt very right.”

“Why does fate have such a fucked up sense of timing?” Valley asked. “If only I’d met him a month ago.”

Juliette smiled sadly. “I’m not sure. I’ll just tell you what my bestie’s mom told her when she was deciding whether to give in to her feelings for her wolf mate: if you can picture your life without them, they’re not your forever-guy. But if, even after a day or two, they’re so entrenched in your heart that you can’t picture a day without them in it? Then that’s what really matters.”

Valley blinked as her eyes stung again.

Juliette gave her a quick hug. “I’m sorry if that was too heavy. I don’t know you, I shouldn’t be sticking my nose in your love life.”

Valley hugged her back. “No, it’s okay. I needed to hear that. All of it. And now I need to see the bear who called me his.”

“Go get him, girl,” Juliette said.

Valley left the bookstore, strode with purpose down the sidewalk to her car, and drove over the bridge. She followed the road as it curved around the lake and stopped in front of Luke’s house in a small cul-de-sac.

Luke was in the front yard, shirt off, broad shoulders gleaming in the sunlight as he worked on something set between two sawhorses.

She got out of her car and he looked up.

“Valley?” he asked, putting down the tool and walking toward her.

They stopped a few feet away from each other. Her gaze slipped immediately up and down his chest – yummy – and then she mentally scolded her wayward thoughts at the sexy, lickable abs.

“What does it mean that I’m your mate?”