My Match (Watty Awards 2013)

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The blue of his eyes swirled and made my vision go fuzzy for a second. Was he sh*tting me? The sincere look on his face told me he was dead serious. Why me of all people? Then it dawned on me. What did he say earlier? Something about that author being spot on about werewolf mates? I'd already read the series so I knew what he was talking about. Was I his mate?

I found my voice. "Why?"

I knew it hurt him to hear me say that, and I cringed too, but I had to know. Too many people had hurt me previously and I was mostly cautious about these types of things.

His eyes tugged at my soul. "Why not? You're my mate, Hanna."

I let out a tiny gasp. I actually thought he was freaking kidding about that stuff, and now he drops the bomb on me. Well, screw reasoning and screw listening to my head.

I grasped his hands tighter. "Yes."

"What?" It was like he couldn't believe I'd agreed. "You really want to?"

I laughed. "Yes, I really, really want to." And then I surprised both him and myself by standing on tiptoe and planting a quick kiss on his cheek.

Of course, as soon as my lips came in contact with his skin, it was like a lightning bolt had just passed through me. I jerked back and I saw him raising his hand to his cheek like, ow, wtf?

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry!" I apologized quickly.

He smirked. "Not your fault." Then before I could process it, he leaned in with inhuman speed and kissed my cheek and I felt the lightning again. "There. Now we're even."

I blushed as he caressed my face gently with his hand, like I was a fragile china doll. Suddenly, I had a million questions buzzing around in my head.

"Max, what does it mean when a werewolf finds a mate?"

He scooped me up and all I saw was a blur of furniture before he set me down on a couch in the living room. I felt a little lightheaded. Who knew he could move so fast?

Grinning, he said, "I thought we might as well get comfortable."

I shot a him a quick smile before gesturing for him to continue.

"Well, when a wolf finds his or her mate, they stay together for life, and they have such a strong bond that's pretty much impossible to break. Even after death," he said.

"Like a soul mate?"

"Exactly."

"So they're just like a couple?"

"I guess they've got a love that's more intense than normal human couples' love," Max replied.

"YOU FORGOT THAT THEY ALSO HAVE ABOUT A HUNDRED KIDS TOGETHER!" Acacia sang from the top floor.

How does she always appear at the wrong moments?

"ACACIA! NOT ALL OF THEM ARE LIKE THAT!" Max boomed.

She peered over the railing at him. "Uh, HELLO? Most of them start having kids before they even hit the legal drinking age! Mom and Dad, for example!"

Acacia must've caught sight of my surprised face because she explained, "Our parents had Sadie when they were...sixteen I think, and then they just graduated high school before having Max. I'm pretty sure."

I nearly choked. Sixteen and pregnant? How ironic. I asked, "Max, how come you never said anything about an older sister?"

"She's traveling right now with her mate so I kind of figured you wouldn't meet her yet. They're in like, France or something now."