Zoey couldn’t remember the last time she’d had more fun. The pack was amazing, particularly the girls. Ruby, Rio, Promise, Jessi, and London were all close to Zoey and Micah’s age and had grown up with him.

As the night wound down, she found herself with only Micah’s sister Jessi, who’d just moved out of her parents’ house to live with London.

“You feeling okay about us wolves now?” Jessi asked, taking a drink from a bottle of water.

“I really am,” Zoey said. She wiggled down into the Adirondack chair in front of the bonfire in a huge clearing in the woods and crossed her legs at the ankles. “You’re all so sweet.”

“We’ve got a really awesome group of females in our age group. There are some older and younger ones, but the six of us are thick as thieves, as my grandma likes to say.”

“Six? There’s only five of you.”

“Lyric is the sixth. She’s Jason and Cades’ daughter. Last month she went to interview for a job in Indiana and found her truemates in two mountain lion shifters.”

Zoey blinked in surprise. “I have two questions.”

Jessi giggled. “You want to know if there are mountain lion shifters around here?”

“Yeah. And what other animals?”

“Here we’re all wolf as far as shifters go, but most of your predator animals have a shifter version—bears, big cats, large birds.”

“What about water animals?”

Jessi shrugged. “My dad always says there’s no telling what’s out there that we just don’t have occasion to meet. Do I think there are shark shifters and mermaids? Maybe. It’s kind of fun to think about.”

“Dragons would be cool.”

“There are dragons.”

“What? Really?”

“They mostly stick to the Fae Realm.” She paused to take a drink and then said, “Did you meet Juniper?”

Zoey thought back to all the people she’d met that night. A little girl with strawberry-blonde hair and bright green eyes came to mind. “Sure. Micah introduced me to her and her sisters. Harlow gave me some popcorn she made that tasted like strawberry shortcake, it was amazing.”

“They’re all cuties. Did Micah tell you about their situation?”

“Yeah. It must be so scary for them.”

“It is, but they’re safe now. But the reason I brought them up is that Juniper is a dragonfae, a hybrid fae and dragon shifter. Her sisters are all fae, but Junie’s the unique one. She’s such a rare creature that she’s been hunted for a long time and was even captured and tortured by the fae. The slavers who chased them here are pursuing her to sell her on the black market in the fae realm. I’ve never been in that realm, but London says it’s got some scary places. It’s best the girls are here under the pack’s protection.”

“I can’t imagine going through what the girls did.”

“They’re amazing kids, really brave and so loyal to each other. They’re starting to come out of their shells and trust that they’re safe here.”

Zoey let that roll around in her head. “I don’t think my ex’s pack took care of anyone but themselves.”

“Some packs are like that. Hell, some humans are like that, just looking out for themselves.”

“True.”

“So you said you had two questions before we got side-tracked with dragon talk.”

“Right, Lyric has two mates?” she asked. “Two like two?”

Jessi snorted a laugh.

“You only get me, woman,” Micah said as he strode into the clearing and squatted down next to Zoey.

“You’re all I need, I promise,” she said, giving him a quick kiss.

“Yes, Lyric’s got two mates. That’s pretty unusual for wolves, they don’t like to share,” Jessi said.

“Damn straight,” Micah said with a sage nod.

“It’s intriguing, though, right?” Jessi asked. She rose to her feet and stretched, her dark hair glistening in the firelight.

“I’m pleading the fifth,” Zoey said.

Jessi grinned. “You’ve got my number, give me a call this week, maybe we can get together for coffee.”

“I’d love that.”

She said goodbye and left Zoey and Micah alone in the clearing.

“Did you have fun tonight?” he asked.

“I did.” She leaned forward and hugged him, burying her face in his neck. “You smell so good. Is that your wolf?”

He let out a gruff sound. “Yeah. You smell good to me too, sweet and sultry.”

She smiled into his neck and kissed his pulse. “I’ve never been called sultry before.”

“You’re a very sexy female. I consider myself the luckiest male on the planet to be with you.”

“Sweet,” she whispered, nuzzling his throat. Her skin tingled, her body flushing with warmth. “It’s the strangest thing.”

“What is, sweetheart?” His hands slipped up the back of her shirt and ran up and down her spine. She felt herself once more melting into him.

“You make me think of different things.”

“What sort of things?”

“Marriage. Kids. Family.” She hummed and closed her eyes, inhaling the fall and woodsy scent of him that made her whole body light up. “All night I’ve been missing you whenever you weren’t by my side. Then seeing the kids, seeing you with them and how great you are with the young ones, it just made me want that.”

“You do for me too. Because we’re mates. I’ve heard that there’s an immediate desire for family with mates because of the deeper connection. You’re mine, Zoey, and I’m yours, and the connection between us as mates is only going to grow as we get to know each other better.”

He let out a low, satisfied growl, his fingers digging lightly into her skin, and she shivered. “Don’t growl,” she whispered.

“It’s not a dangerous sound, my wolf is really happy right now.”

She lifted from his neck and cupped his face. “It’s not that I’m worried about the growl, it’s that I like it.”

“Oh?” His brows rose.

She lowered her voice, knowing that there were wolves milling around in the woods and they all had super good hearing. “We’re not really alone right now, and your growl is a total turn-on.”

His eyes went wide, his brows going comically higher. “Is it?” His features relaxed, his eyes hooded, and sparkling with sexy curiosity. “Later, I’ll growl for you all you like.”

She’d been telling herself all week that taking things slow with Micah was the right choice. She’d rushed into relationships in the past and regretted it. But Micah was different. Everything about their situation was different, and the fact that she felt connected to him on a cellular level told her just how unique things between them were. He wasn’t like anyone she’d ever known before, and he made her feel things she didn’t know were possible.

And they hadn’t even gotten naked yet. Or done more than kiss.

But tonight, things had changed for her. Earlier, she’d been scared to come meet the pack, worried that what he said wasn’t true. But he’d proven over and over throughout the night that everything he’d told her was true.

He did want to be with her.

He really didn’t care that she was human, and neither did his pack.

And they’d opened their arms to her as if they’d known her forever, simply because she was his mate.

She wanted that feeling to last, to be permanent. She wanted Micah, in every way and to be his in every way too.

That meant pushing down the last of the walls around her heart and giving herself to him fully.

Blowing out a breath, she brushed her thumbs along his strong jaw. “I want that.”

“Me growling?”

“No. Well, yes.” She let out a little nervous laugh. “I want to be with you tonight. I want to be your mate.”

Micah leaned back a little and grasped her wrists, then he kissed the inside of her palm. “I want that too. But I need to tell you something important.”

Her heartbeat kicked up a notch, nerves skittering over her like ants. “What?”

“It’s nothing bad, Zoey, it’s just that once we mate, it’ll be like marriage for my wolf. Mating is for life, and we take it very seriously. I’ll want us to live together, and whether we get married or not at some point would be great, but the mating itself, the bite and everything? That’s it for me and my wolf. We’ll be one hundred percent yours.”

She bit her bottom lip and stared at him, her sexy, sexy wolf.

Boldness flowed through her. “Then we should get home.”

His eyes flashed an enchanting amber color. He leaned in and kissed her with a growl, then stood and drew her up with him. She felt the hard length of him against her curves, and the rumble of his beast in his chest.

“Mine or yours?”

“Um, I don’t know. Are Luke and Gideon going to be home? I could call Rena and see what she’s up to.”

“Luke and Gideon will find somewhere else to sleep tonight,” a masculine voice called from the woods.

“Thanks Luke,” Micah called back with a laugh.

Zoey’s cheeks heated and she ducked her head against his chest. “I thought we were being quiet.”

“You can’t be quiet enough with wolves,” Micah said. “But don’t worry, everyone’s happy for us.”

“Are you happy?” she asked.

“Are you kidding? I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life, and it’s all thanks to you. Now, let’s get home.”

“Best idea of the night,” she said.

“I’ve got some more that you might like even better.” He winked at her, and she couldn’t stop the girly giggle. She loved when he flirted with her. It made her feel so special.

They left the clearing and headed to the alpha house, where they found his parents on the back deck with the alpha couple, and a few other pack members.

Shyne gave her a hug. “It was so nice to meet you. I told Micah to bring you for dinner this week if you’re free. We’d love to get to know you better.”

“I’d love that too.”

“Take care you two,” Jason said, giving them a nod.

“Night,” Micah said.

He opened the truck door for Zoey and shut her in, then climbed behind the wheel. She called Rena to tell her she wasn’t going to be home that night so she wouldn’t worry, but got an error message that the phone was out of service.

“That’s weird.”

“Something up?” he asked as he turned around in the yard and pulled out into the street.

“I got a strange message when I tried to call Rena. It’s not saying her phone is disconnected but that it’s not in the service area, which is weird.”

“Do you have the app to locate her?”

“Yeah, lemme check,” she said. She pulled up the app and touched Rena’s name.

It showed that her location wasn’t available.

“It’s like she dropped off the earth. Weird.” Her heart constricted and she wondered if what her bestie had mentioned about family troubles had something to do with it. But why was her phone not in the service area?

“Do you want me to run to your place to see if she’s there?” he asked.

She sent her a text to ask if everything was okay and let her know she wasn’t going to be home.

“Nope,” she said, putting her phone on her lap. “She’s an adult and she doesn’t need me babysitting her. I’m a little worried about her because she’s been kind of closed off lately and acting strange, but when she’s ready to tell me what’s up she will.”

“Are you sure?”

She leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. “Very. It’s time to go home, Micah. I’m ready.”

He gave her a quick kiss, the truck accelerating as he pressed on the gas.

She was ready for this. Truly ready to become this wolf’s mate.