Mated to the Wilde Bear

Chapter 19: Laurel

“You can stay with me,” Xavier said.

Her eyes whipped to his, but she couldn’t detect a trace of teasing in him.

“Seriously?” she asked, and he nodded. “No, that’s a bad idea. Very bad. I can’t just move in with you. We had one date, Xavier. And it ended pretty awful.”

“I don’t mean with me,” he said. “I mean at the Lodge with me and the crew. We have an empty room you can use until you figure things out.”

“Oh.” Disappointment pricked at her chest. Of course, that’s what he’d meant.

“But if you wanted to stay with me, I wouldn’t stop you,” he added. Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Again, panicked desire had her staring back at him with rounded eyes. “I can’t keep hiding my animal from DOT if I’m openly living with a bunch of shifters,” she said.

“Well, you can’t exactly sleep in your car. Or tell people why you got kicked out of your apartment. This sounds like it’s your best option. Your only option.”

He had a point, darn it. She bit her lip, thinking it over, and realized she had no choice. Explaining to people that she’d moved in with a houseful of shifters would be the lesser of two evils. She sighed and kneaded her temple, warding off a stress headache.

Xavier cleared his throat. “I want to say sorry for last night. We had a great time and then I really fucked it up there at the end. I didn’t mean to make it sound like it didn’t mean anything to me. I think we should start over. Again.”

Her brow rose. “Didn’t we do that already?”

He flashed a smile that had undoubtedly melted countless panties. “Third time’s the charm?”

“You told me your animal chose me and followed it up with informing me that being chosen meant I’d be second-rate to everyone else in the world.” Her temper flooded her all over again as she spit his words back at him. “That I’d never be first for you in case it meant someone else got hurt. What did you expect me to do?”

“Exactly what you did, I guess,” he grumbled. The air in the cab thickened and she wondered if he was angry with her or himself. His voice rose as he added, “It came out wrong, all right?”

“If you’re so sorry, why are you yelling at me?”

“Because you drive me insane, and I just want to kiss you to shut you up. Damn, woman, you’re killing me.” He grabbed her wrist before she could argue and pulled her across the slippery seat and into his lap. His lips curved as he brushed her hair away from her face, his fingertips trailing down her neck. “I’m beginning to think you just like to argue.”

She shivered and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Nah. I only like it when I win.”

“Win this,” Xavier said as he kissed her.

Laurel braced herself for the same rough and wild energy they’d shared last night, but Xavier’s lips were soft on hers, barely moving and never pushing for more unless she offered it. She melted slowly against him, soaking up the gentleness in him. Equals. Right now, that was what they were. She loved this side of him just as much as the alpha, she realized. Her alpha, letting her have an equal say.

For that alone, she knew, her animal’s desire to claim him had been right.

Xavier stared down at her, his gaze a tumble of wild emotions. She wondered if he felt it, the tug of energy between them. When he spoke again, his voice was rough, and she loved that he was just as

affected as she was. “Come on, let’s take you to your new home.”

He started the truck, and she snuggled against him while he drove them over the mountain roads. Within minutes, the view outside her window changed from storefronts and homes to nothing but forest greenery. Trees, lush and full with summer’s end, rushed by her in a blur, and she sighed in contentment.

Tomorrow at work, a mountain of paperwork and probably nosy questions from Scott awaited her. She’d never once called in sick before, and this was sure to make him wonder. On top of that, she wouldn’t be able to hide it for long that her new address matched the home address for the Wilde Crew. She didn’t even want to think about the questions that would come then. And Xavier. Whatever had happened because of his choice to stay with that girl all those years ago clearly still haunted him. And she would never settle for being second to her mate, not even if her animal had chosen him. It was a prospect that pained her to think about, so she shoved it aside.

Right then, at that moment, she was okay. That would have to be enough.