The first hint of a smile ghosted his lips.
I smirked. It was just too damned easy to fall back into our old bantering and sarcastic ways.
He shifted from where he sat. “Has the itching started?”
I nodded. “It feels like ants are crawling under my skin.”
“And do you sense her yet?”
“Sense who?”
“Your wolf.”
My eyes widened to saucers. “I’ll sense her?”
He nodded. “That part’s unavoidable. From tonight onward, she’ll be within you. You’ll always be able to sense her, feel her, and talk to her.”
“Gods, that sounds so crazy. Like I’ll have schizophrenia or something.”
“Unfortunately, medication won’t fix this.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Was that your attempt at a joke?”
“It was, and it was a pretty bad one, eh?”
I shook my head. “Your Canadian’s coming out.”
The golden light in his eyes flared, his lips curving. “It is, eh?”
I bit back a smile as some of the panic in me eased. Maybe, just maybe, this wouldn’t be super awful and painful. Perhaps Kaillen could distract me through the entire thing. “So you and your wolf talk, do you?”
“In a way. Our inner wolves don’t speak English and are fully animal, but it’s a symbiotic relationship. I help him. He helps me. Coming to learn who your wolf is and co-existing with them is vital to a happy and healthy relationship.”
That twisting sensation started in my stomach again. So maybe this wouldn’t be easy. “But what if I don’t like her? Or she doesn’t like me?”
“That rarely happens.”
“But what if it does?”
“It most likely won’t. Our wolves are a part of us. They blend into our beings and are an entirely natural entity within us.”
“Maybe natural for you, ’cause you were born to be this, but natural for me? I don’t think it’s ever going to be.”
Some of the sparkle that had appeared in the hunter’s eyes dimmed again. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to keep apologizing.” I scratched my arm again, then my legs. Ugh. It was like I had the chicken pox without the rash. “So does that mean I’ll have to, I don’t know, think about her or ask her permission about things?” That thought left a very sour taste in my mouth. In fact, all of this did. I already had a witch-twin bond with my sister. Having a second bond, or entity inside me, would just feel crowded.
Kaillen reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vial of cream. “Use this. It’ll help the itching.”
As I began to slather it on my limbs—and oh my gods that felt so much better—he added, “The human side is the ultimate ruler, but your wolf can have strong opinions about things and try to rule you. You just need to make sure you exert your dominance.”
I stopped smearing whatever this magical lotion was. I’d pretty much used it all up anyway. “In what ways does one’s wolf try to rule?”
“The mate bond for one.” His eyes burned brighter, that gold hue flashing.
“Oh. Right.” ’Cause the dude had been totally controlled by his wolf when it came to me. My shoulders slumped as I was once again reminded that his attraction to me was due solely to his wolf. And thinking of that only reminded me that we hadn’t even broached that subject again.
The one time I’d brought it up and been honest with him about why I wasn’t jumping into a relationship with him, he’d disappeared for a run and then I’d been abducted.
I figured at this point, Kaillen had either forgotten about my rejection, or he was feeling guilty about putting me in that position so hadn’t brought it up again. I couldn’t blame him. I was in no hurry to start that convo again either.
I cradled my face in my hands. “I don’t want this. Any of this.”
A low grumble came from him. “They don’t rule us completely. My wolf didn’t make me—” He cut himself off.
I lifted my eyes to his. “Make you what?”
His eyes burned brighter, but then he glanced down when I began scratching my arms again. “Never mind. We don’t need to get into that now.”
I bit my lip as that cryptic statement swirled through my thoughts. Had he also been thinking about our conversation the morning I’d been abducted?
I was tempted to ask him, but then my stomach let out a huge growl and the sudden need for food, food, food completely overtook me.
“Oh my gods, I could eat a horse.” I clutched my stomach. “Or maybe I should eat a cow. Perhaps I should go that route since it’s more socially acceptable.”
“Not if you’re in India.”
“True, good thing we’re in America.”
He shook his head, amusement lighting his eyes before he rolled to his feet. “Come on. I’ll make you lunch.” He held out his hand, his expression guarded, almost as though he was waiting to see if I would take it.
I looked at his outstretched hand—the long fingers, the large palm—and warmth began tingling through me. The need to be with him, touch him, fuck him . . . my attraction to him hadn’t abated in the slightest.
It never had. Despite all that had transpired, my soul still wanted him, my body still craved him. Bottom line? I still wanted him as much as his wolf wanted me.
Oh fuck it. I grasped Kaillen’s hand and let him pull me up.
Chapter 4
The hunter did indeed make me lunch. In fact, he once again made enough food to feed a dozen linebackers, and I shamelessly devoured all of it.
As I finished the last mouthful, Kaillen opened the freezer to grab some ice, and I spotted a box of frozen desserts. “Is that chocolate cake?” I asked, my eyes lighting up.
He chuckled. “It is. They’re lava cakes. Do you want one?”
“Or ten.”
He grabbed the box, then turned the oven on, not commenting once that I’d just eaten the equivalent of twenty supersized McDonalds meals and was still hungry.
“How much do you spend a week on groceries?” I asked when I spotted how well stocked his cabinets were.
“Probably what a family of six spends.”
“So I should start budgeting my grocery bills for a family of twenty?” If I could even afford that . . .
His amusement dimmed. “It won’t always be this bad. The first few months are the hardest.”
I tried not to let that comment rattle me, but it was now close to five in the evening. Night was fast approaching whether I wanted it to or not, and the only good thing about being here with the hunter was that I didn’t have to worry about Jakub for a few days because of the hunter’s strong and complex wards.
I watched the clock on his stove with apprehension as the lava cakes began to warm. The entire time I was wishing and hoping that I could make time stop, or at least slow it so that I could put off the inevitable for just a few minutes longer.
But fate would not be ruled, and I had a wolf that wanted to be born.
And when the sun at last set, and the moon began to rise, I felt it. The itching and burning sensation that had been plaguing me all day began to abate as a stranger and deeper sensation started to emerge. It almost felt as if something was expanding and rumbling inside me, as though my wolf was waking and groaning, readying for the shift to come.
“Do you feel her?” Kaillen asked quietly as twilight was upon us.