Chapter Sixty-Four

Weeks later, we had a plan. Not one supported by fate or a roll of Aimes’s dice, but a real, solid plan with actual maps, Excel spreadsheets, charts, statistics, schedules, and weapons. Lots and lots of weapons.

While the plan came together, I practiced summoning my wolf, and Aimes and I did what we did best. We loved each other, and we fucked. Lots and lots of fucking.

Wild. Animalistic. I couldn’t get enough of the man.

During our last supply run to Alakazam Bookstore—apparently they had quite a collection of war strategy books; who knew?—the bookstore god came out in full force. He was breathtaking, especially when the light from the books’ spines reflected in his blue eyes and danced across his chiseled features.

He must have sensed what my wolf wanted—what I wanted—because he turned to me with a growl coming from deep within his chest.

Mate. Mine.

He didn't have to speak the words out loud for me to hear them, for them to ring in my soul.

In the back of the empty, mazelike bookstore, in the romance section, we were like two magnets crashing together with no conscious will or effort. Sure, our lives were still in danger, and I wasn't sure if we were going to make it out of this alive.

All that mattered just then was being together.

It was like a frenzy, the heat exploding between us at the first desperate kiss, hands roaming each other's bodies, peeling away our pants that were the only barrier between us.

This was real, this was true, our connection. Our wolves knew what our human consciousness tended to push aside: this was what strengthened our bond, what kept us together, in one piece. Reaffirming our commitment, body and soul, tasting and exploring, giving in to the most natural impulse in the world.

With our pants now off, Aimes slammed me into the end of a shelf and hiked my legs around his waist with a sexy groan. When he pushed inside me, setting my mind and my body ablaze, I buried my cry of joy in his neck. This was all that mattered, getting back to us. We would find our way together.

We had to.

Aimes whispered my name and his love for me with every thrust.

“Yes,” I whispered back, pressing my lips to his shoulder, his throat, any part of him I could reach. “I love you, Aimes. So much.”

I wanted more than anything to hold him like this forever, to protect him with my body, to shelter him in my arms.

My mate. My everything.

Fireworks exploded in my head just as the sweetest explosions started going off deep in my core. We came at the same time, his thrusts almost brutally sharp before silencing his roar of relief into my neck.

My body pulsed and hummed as I came back down again, my ears burning for any hint that Frank or anyone else had heard us. Frank had had his earphones when we’d entered, which had fueled my idea for a little bookstore fun in the first place.

Aimes sighed into my shoulder and then kissed it. “I had the urge to do this very same thing the first time I met you here. Just shove you up against the wolf-shifter-in-kilts section and fuck you until you forget about your book boyfriends.”

I mock-gasped as I slid out between him and the shelf. “How did you know about my book boyfriends?”

He rolled his eyes as he hiked up his jeans. “I’ve been on TikTok. I know about book boyfriends.”

I snorted a laugh that was probably louder than my orgasm had been and looked around for my underwear. “So why didn’t you?”

“I was trying not to be a barbarian.” He pressed a rough kiss to my lips. “Hard as that may be around you.”

I laughed and leaned up for another kiss.

“That connection, though, from the moment I saw you across the street.” He shook his head. “It was a powerful thing. It still is. I knew I had to have you.”

“Good thing you do.” I grinned and spotted my panties hanging from the corner of a book titled Harlots, Hormones, & Howls.

Fitting place for my underwear.

And yes, that definitely went into the buy pile.

As I slid my panties back on, I shook my head. “I’m still pretty salty you didn’t tell me there was a library at Connolly’s mansion. Do you know how much that would’ve helped my emotional state during the Full Moon Games?”

“I was a little distracted.” He smoothed down his shirt and shook out his mussed-up hair.

“By the competition, I know.”

“No.” He stepped in closer and tipped up my chin so he could look me in the eye. “I was distracted by you.”

That effervescent, happy feeling he ignited inside me swelled my chest until I thought I would burst.

“Same,” I told him then grinned wickedly. “But still. You might just have to spend the rest of your life making it up to me.”

He winked. “Easiest deal I’ve ever had to make.”

Once we were properly dressed, the shelves were straightened, and we had the books we needed, we headed up front to pay.

“Bye, Frank,” I said on our way out.

“Harlow,” he said, turning back to his alt-rock magazine.

Why did it always sound like a warning whenever he said my name? If he knew what we’d just done in his store, he didn’t say anything else.

Later that night in bed, I replayed the whole plan over and over in my head until I was practically sick of it. The next day was the day to get it rolling.

“So if we run into Connolly or even Stride, don't let them goad you into a fight,” I said. “Because you know that's what they're going to try to do, right?”

“Believe me,” he grunted. “I know how they operate.”

“But no matter what happens…” I took his face in my hands, staring deeply into his eyes. They seemed to dance in the magical firelight streaming in through the cracks in the blinds from the street. “What matters is you and me. I'm going to do everything I can to protect you.”

“And vice versa.” He pulled me into his arms, and I settled against him, my head on his shoulder.

Tomorrow, we were going to face our biggest challenge yet.

For the time being, though, I was more than content to rest in my mate's arms, where I belonged.

I only hoped it wasn't the last time.