Zara's Wolf (Book 1 of the Zara's Wolf Trilogy) BWWM

22. Mates

The rest of the evening goes by in a blur. I watch as the sky turns orange, red, purple, and then indigo before the stars come out. The third quarter moon glows overhead, and I struggle to remain awake. My body is spent from all the excitement of the day and I begin to drift off to sleep against Evan's shoulder.

Despite my drowsiness, I feel myself being lifted up and carried through phantom fields of wildflowers before being set down on something firm, yet soft. A warm woody, yet earthy smell is all that fills my senses.

Fingers brush my hair from my face, and I pry my eyes open to see Evan's silhouette through the darkness. "Go ahead and sleep. I'm going back outside with the pack for a meeting. I'll be back in an hour or two."

I moan a feeble reply before closing my eyes again. A weight is lifted off the bed, and followed by a creak from the bedroom door as he slips out.

I don't even notice him return some time later, but he certainly surprises me when I turn over the next morning and wake up next to him.

Wide-awake, I pull back with a start. "Sweet Jesus!"

Jolting up, Evan rolls over and almost topples off the edge of the bed. His golden eyes look around the room quickly before settling on me. "What? What's wrong?"

My face grows hot as soon as his eyes meet mine and I look away quickly. I had almost forgotten about Evan and wasn't expecting to wake up beside him. "Nothing."

"Bad dream?"

Yeah, I guess you could say that. I sigh, pressing my fingers to my forehead. There's a dull ache behind my eyes, but it's nothing too bothersome.

He reaches over and presses the back of his hand to my forehead. He hums. "You might have a bit of a fever."

"Great," I growl, sliding my legs over to the side of the bed.

He grabs my arm and pulls me back against him. "Hey, come stay a while and cuddle with me."

I notice his chest is bare, but the bed sheet is covering his lower body and I can't tell if he's totally naked or not. I feel my face grow hot at the thought and quickly look away. Please be wearing boxers.

His face grows worried. "Zara, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I say, a little too forcefully. I avoid looking at him and the tantalizing image that could possibly be lurking underneath the sheets.

Peaking at him from the corner of my eye, he cocks his head as he studies my face. "Are you blushing?"

"No. Of course not. Don't be ridiculous."

He peaks an eyebrow as I chew on my bottom lip, my eyes settling on the curve of his lean hips. Following my gaze, the corners of his lips pull up. "Oh, I see the problem. You're shy."

"Am not!" I snap back. "I just don't feel comfortable sleeping beside strangers with... nothing on."

He chuckles lightly. "I'm wearing boxers, don't worry about that."

That reassures me a little bit, until his eyes look away from me and adds, "Not that I was wearing them the other times."

My breath hitches in my throat. "Wh-What other times?"

He shrugs, like it's no big deal, but there's a rosy hue on his lightly sun-kissed cheeks. "The other times I slept with you. I shifted back to my human form after you fell asleep and held you."

I cannot conceal the horror from my face and feel my jaw going slack. "You-You held me in your human form... naked... and you kept this from me the whole time?"