Page 31 of Planet Wolf

Finally, and way too soon, I came apart around him. It was like a shattering, as though my soul released whatever leftover energy I had and gave it to that moment.

“Beautiful,” he whispered as he emptied inside of me. His mouth bit down on my shoulder, very close to where he had kissed me. I smiled, even as the slightest disappointment at my own lack of teeth hit me.

I’d never imagined wanting to be a Wolf shifter. And I didn’t, really. Just in this small way. I lifted my head so he could kiss me. He didn’t disappoint.

* * *

I shovedmy hair into a bun and stared at Jadon as he stared out the window of my bedroom. The space station where we kept my mother was out there. I didn’t like to look at dockings. They made me kind of nauseated. I didn’t have a turtleneck to cover my neck, so I would be giving the people on the station quite a view of my hickey habit. That’s what they’d think anyway.

Oh well. It was none of their business. “How did you know?”

He looked over his shoulder. “Know?”

“When I was having nightmares in the woods, you knew. How? Could you smell it?”

Jadon walked over and wrapped me in a hug. “I just did. I don’t know if I could smell it, per se. It’s just one of those things that I know.”

I was never going to understand them. “Well, I’m glad that you could do that and thank you. I never said thank you.”

“Without words, you said thank you.” He kissed my neck right over his mark. “And now we can talk, which makes it all worth it.”

I hoped that continued to be true. “Locked and ready.” Carl grinned at us. “You look just like I pictured you would. You are ours, and everyone will know it. I don’t think I’ve ever been so proud in my life.”

I reached out my hand, and he took it. “We’re going to go with you.”

That much was obvious. “I’m glad. I really don’t want to be separated from you.” I blinked. “Is that a mating thing?”

They both nodded while Alfie came through the door. “We’re connected now on a cellular level. I’m glad you can feel it, even though you’re human. I hoped you would.”

At least I could do one thing right.

10

Ihadn’t been on the space station where they kept my mother in so long. I couldn’t even remember the last time I visited her. She didn’t know us anymore, so maybe it was too much to have her not recognize her daughter. Maybe I just made up excuses for my poor behavior.

It was chilly in the room where she spent her mornings, but it reminded me of the parlor in the home where I grew up. Whoever took care of her, they’d turned her wheelchair toward the window. I stopped abruptly when I saw her.

She really never seemed to age. In her white sweater, paired with a pink turtleneck, she could have been my sister, not my mother—still so beautiful, even if she was completely out of it. Blonde like the rest of my family—I had to have gotten my coloring from whoever my father was.

“Hi, Mom.” I stooped low next to her chair so we’d be eye to eye. “I’m Esther. I came to see you. I’m your daughter. I’m leaving, and I won’t be able to see you anymore, so I wanted to say goodbye. These guys are…”

She grabbed my arm, essentially stopping me from what I was going to say. Her eyes were wide, and she lifted her hand to touch my neck where the guys bit me. Her stroke hurt, so I backed off a little. It was still too raw to be messed with, and I didn’t want anyone to touch my neck except them. Maybe their marking me essentially made my neck their property?

Jadon put his arm around me, gently drawing me to him. “That hurt you, right? We could smell it. It’ll stop hurting so much after a while. It’s just too new, although I’d rather no one touch it but us.”

He’d spoken my thoughts aloud as his own. At least we were on the same page.

“All of that aside…” Alfie stepped near my mom. “You certainly got her attention with your neck.” He bent down toward my mom. “I’m Alfie. I’m mated to your daughter. That is so much more than being her husband, but it’s similar. You haven’t felt well for a long time. I’d really like to help you.” He took her hand and squeezed it.

Carl remained by the door. “Alfie, if you want to do something, go ahead. I’ll watch for doctors and nurses or orderlies or whatever.”

What was he going to do? “Alfie?”

He sighed. “I wish there was something I could do. Maybe if I brought her back home with us, I could work on it.”

She squirmed in her chair and cried, tears leaking from her eyes. I’d never seen her do that before. “Mom.” I moved back toward her, my heart in my throat. We’d come to say goodbye, and we were making things much worse. “I’m sorry. We don’t want to cause you pain.”

“You’re not.” Alfie shook his head. “Not physically, anyway. I’m scenting sadness, and I’m not sure what the other thing is. Are you, Jadon? Carl?”