Page 136 of UNAwere

‘Warner would’ve listened to me, but Jude didn’t even let me speak with him.’

I run my hair under the heavy stream of water, rubbing my face. ‘How’d the meeting with Nolan go?’

‘Good, I think. Nolan’s got a room near Jude’s side of the house, and he’ll join us for dinner.’

I glance out of the shower door to where she’s still standing, facing away from me. She’s wearing a blouse and nice jeans.

‘You look nice,’ I say.

She laughs. ‘Thanks.’

‘Special occasion?’

‘Sybbie, it’s the meeting of the alphas. The alliance dinner before the ceremony tomorrow. You tell me.’

I shrug, washing my hair. ‘I feel like it’s all too formal. Why can’t we just have a verbal agreement and get on with it?’

‘Because Warner is all about—’

‘Tradition,’ I finish for her. ‘I’m painfully aware of that.’

‘Are you and Jude going to behave tonight?’ she asks as I shut off the shower.

I get out and towel myself down. ‘I think so. Jude’s probably a bit more of a worry than I am.’

‘Not from what I heard,’ she says, amusement in her tone. ‘You showed your fangs today.’

I laugh, even though I’m hardly amused. ‘Jude tell you?’

‘He sounded so proud.’ She shakes her head, still not looking at me. ‘He’s fucking obsessed. It’s disgusting.’

‘I’m his mate,’ I defend.

‘Mm, even still.’

I rub the towel on my hair. ‘I do have a question, though,’ I say.

‘What’s that?’

‘What’s a “knot”?’

Hannah jolts forward, snorting. She then spins towards me and meets my curious gaze.

‘I can only imagine how you found out about that word,’ she says.

My cheeks heat. ‘It’s something to do with Were sex, isn’t it?’

‘Yeah,’ she says, grinning. ‘It is.’

‘Do I wanna know?’

She rolls her eyes. ‘Male Weres only get them with mates, so I’ve never seen one before.’ She watches as I finish towelling my hair. ‘But Warner will expect one to happen to him tomorrow, during the ceremony. Mainly because he believes the ceremony itself will cause you to become a mate to him… of sorts.’

‘Really?’ I frown. ‘That sounds… dumb?’

‘Kind of,’ she agrees.

I walk back out into the room and put on panties and a bra. And then I rifle through my bags, looking for something to wear to dinner.