Rebecca Royce: Wolf's Valentine

"That's a long time to be so uncomfortable. Why didn't you show yourself earlier?"

"By nature, I'm cautious. I wanted to make sure revealing myself wouldn't place you in more danger, and I was under the mistaken impression that Theo didn't want us to stop taking the herbs under any circumstances." He sucked in his breath. "Damn, you are killing me."

Jana eased the pressure.

"You haven't had as much time to know me as I had to know you, beautiful lady."

His voice sounded husky and hard. It made her insides feel, if it was possible, warmer to know she'd done that to him. "I've done very little but watch you for the last month."

"I didn't know you were my mate—despite your valentine—but I did know I was more obsessed with you than I've ever been with a human before. I thought maybe my wolf was relenting on the human rule."

He planted kisses up and down her shoulder blades and on the top of her breasts.

"Human rule?"

"My wolf made it very clear early on in my forced exile from Westervelt that she would not consider taking a human as a mate. She said there was no way a human could keep up with her and she wouldn't settle."

Malcolm snickered. "No, she just knew I was coming and evidently decided to keep that information from you."

I had a pretty good idea he was a wolf .

Rolling her eyes, Jana smiled. Why should she be surprised? Her wolf had made somewhat of a career of keeping things from her.

This time when they met, lip-to-lip, she felt as compelled to hurry things as he did.

His hands rubbed and stroked all over her body, and she wished she were taller so she could be as attentive to his form as he was being to hers. Everywhere she could reach, she stroked and touched him. He groaned, kissing her harder, and she sighed under the strong feel of him.

Together, they lowered themselves down onto the ground. It didn't feel cold or wet on the grass, it felt like home. As if the earth itself welcomed their joining with open arms. The moonlight danced over their naked bodies, illuminating the field in shadows and silver rays of moonlight.

Jana kissed the bottom of Malcolm's chin. "My mate."

He nodded. "I am." As if he needed the confirmation as much as she did that this was real and not a figment of their mutual imagination.

He smoothed her hair out of her eyes. "Happy Valentine's Day, Jana."

"Happy Valentine's Day, Malcolm."

When they actually joined their bodies together physically, Jana cried not from pain but from the sheer joy of having Malcolm inside of her, a part of her body, his soul mingled with hers. She was complete for the first time in years—maybe ever, knowing she was joined to this strong male shifter who would be forever hers.

"Open your eyes, my mate." Jana obeyed his strong command and gasped.

Colors floated through the air, connecting them together. She could see his soul entering hers, color by color, piece by piece. The first piece of Malcolm to enter Jana was his extreme sense of loyalty. Colored red, she wasn't surprised to see it was his most dominant characteristic. He never would have been sent on such a dangerous mission if the Alpha hadn't been completely sure of his loyalty to them.

What did surprise her, though, was the tremendous loyalty he'd held for her even before they had met. Just the very idea of having an eternal mate had led him to make decisions he thought would make him better suited to a potential mate. Indeed, he had been correct, there was nothing she admired more in others than sheer undaunted love and loyalty to those who deserved it.

Next, she was filled with his sense of humor, his strength, and determination. He could be obstinate, but only when he was sure he was right—a decision he didn't come to lightly. In some ways, he was insecure. Younger than most of the other males on Westervelt he often didn't feel worthy, as if his youth had shielded him from most of the pain they'd lived with on a daily basis.

Each one of his character traits held a beautiful color. So dazzling, in fact, she forgot for a moment that he was receiving the same information about her. In her chest, her heart sped up. What did he see about her? The fact that she fought with her wolf and couldn't match a handbag with a pair of shoes if someone paid her.

Malcolm reached out and smoothed her hair on her head. The effect was so soothing that for a second she closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the sensations filling her body.

"I can see why no one talks about this. It's way too personal." Malcolm's voice was barely a whisper as if too much conversation or too loud a tone would destroy the quiet piece surrounding them. She stroked his chin.

"It's just us. It belongs only to us."

The last color whisked into her soul, where she became aware of it as it took hold. It was now as integral to her very existence as her liver. If someone took those colors away, she would quite simply perish. One mate followed the other to death. This wasn't just a foreign concept to her anymore, or something she'd once watched happen to her parents.

No, Malcolm was integral and if he went she would follow.

Malcolm pinched her nose and she yelped. "I don't know what you're thinking about but I can't imagine that with that look on your face that it's very pleasant. Knock it off, no worries right now." He paused. "Or at least let me worry about them for you."

Is that how it's going to work now? You're going to do all my thinking and worrying?

How gothic or Victorian of you, Malcolm .

He snickered, putting his head down next to hers on the grass. I can hear your sarcasm even over telepathy.

She sighed curling up next to him. They lay quietly for a second before she watched Malcolm sniff the air. Following his lead, she let her senses search the night for any scents that shouldn't be there.

Nothing attracted her attention but Malcolm's body had gone rigid, tense, and she knew he wasn't prone to fits of fancy. She sat up. "What is it?"

Shaking his head, he looked right and left. "Not sure, more of a feeling than anything else at the moment." He stood up and offered her his hand, which she took. His hand was callused and she shivered at the recent memory of what that hand had done to and for her.

Jana's cheeks heated and Malcolm grinned for a moment before his expression became serious again.

"Time to go, I think."

"On just a hunch?"

"Saved my life a few times."

Jana nodded. "Do we have time to grab our clothes?"

"With the way you run? Absolutely."

Malcolm took off first, shifting as he ran. Jana was right behind him for a short distance and then overtook him on the way back to their clothes.

He was playing it cool in front of Jana. If he turned out to be wrong, she might not trust his instincts so completely next time so it was better to act nonchalant and hope that this time he just overreacted.

Of course, he didn't believe that for a second.

If he'd learned anything over the last few years, it was that scent could no longer be trusted. If he could hide his smell from Jana and anyone else, Kendrick's wolves could do the same. They were on a dark field and he was with his mate whose incredibly gracious and capable soul he was now in possession of. There was no way in hell he was going to let a bunch of monstrous wolves get the jump on them. Not while they wiled away like they had all the time in the world.

Looking at the sky, he judged it to be about three in the morning. Valentine's Day was over and the moon was full. He wondered briefly if there was some sort of luck associated with that. Good or bad, Jana would be making it safely back to her apartment if he had to kill every wolf between here and Manhattan to get her there.