Noah’s light green eyes widened, surprise in their depths. “You really don’t miss anything, do you?”
Smirking, she shrugged, resisting the urge to snicker at his confounded look. “I’m sure some stuff gets by me, but I try not to let it. So what was he asking?”
He exhaled, reaching up like he was going to tug at his hat, but he wasn’t wearing it. Rubbing his shaved head instead, he stood, pacing in front of the bed. “I was actually going to tell you this tonight, but it looks like you beat me to the punch. Again.”
Smile fading, she studied him closely, taking note of the nerves he was trying to hide. “Okay… what is it? Is it something bad?”
“No,” he replied, wincing when his voice came out too loud. He lowered his voice as he repeated the word. “No. At least, it’s not to me. You might think differently.”
Her brow furrowed as she watched him pace. “Okaaaay…”
“Really wish I had my hat right now.” His words were muttered low, and when he spoke again, his voice was back to normal. “In the shifter world, we each have someone called a mate. The human part of us can love whoever we want, and as many people as we want. But we only have one true mate, and it’s someone our animal picks—someone they know, instinctively, is our best match.
“Mates are for life. At least for the shifter, in a pairing with a human. It isn’t quite as final for the human. Mates can be rare, which makes them all the more precious to us. A mate is… well, they’re everything to us. Absolutely everything, and nothing matters more than their happiness and safety. We’d lie, cheat, steal—kill or die. Whatever our mate needs, that’s what we give. When I say everything, I mean it literally. They’re more important than anything or anyone else. They’re our world.”
In that moment, it felt like everything froze. The world stopped spinning, the clock stopped ticking, the air was sucked from the room. And then it all snapped back into focus, and Lily struggled to draw in a breath.
“That’s what Skylar was asking? If I was your mate?” she whispered. He nodded, wariness in his green eyes, and she inhaled shakily. “You told him yes. So… I’m your mate? All you just said… I’m that for you?”
“Yes.”
Her emotions overwhelmed her, and her nose stung with tears as she tried not to get buried underneath the avalanche. Everything he said—it was amazing, and some of the most beautiful words she’d ever heard. And she wasn’t a shifter, but it mirrored her feelings for him exactly.
Wait—he’d said the animal chose the mate. The human chose to love. Her eyes flew to his, and she tried to blink back the moisture clouding her vision.
“Are you okay?” he asked, starting to rush forward and then stopping abruptly. “I’m sorry. I know it’s a lot, but please don’t feel any pressure. You don’t have to do anything with what I told you. We can just forget I ever said anything. I knew it was too soon—”
“Noah. Shut up.” She arched an eyebrow at him and he quieted, his frown worried as he stared at her. “You told me how your animal feels. How do you feel?”
His frown deepened. “I just told you.”
“No, you said your animal chose me, and
you have all these instincts toward me. But you never told me how you, the human, feel.” Swallowing hard, she screwed up her courage. She’d been brave the entire time she was there. She wasn’t going to stop now, especially not when it came to something so important. “Do you love me?”
Eyes softening, he hesitantly walked forward and then sank to his knees beside the bed. She turned to face him and he took her hands, holding them tightly.
“More than my own life,” he replied quietly, the sincerity and conviction in his eyes and tone washing over her in a dizzying wave.
Closing her eyes, she whispered, “Say it again.”
“I love you, Lily. So much that it scares me sometimes. But I wouldn’t change it for anything.”
Eyes still shut, she breathed deeply, swaying a little as the words flowed over her, overfilling her heart and bringing a wave of warmth with them. Opening her eyes, she locked gazes with him, hoping he could feel her words like she felt his.
“I love you too, Noah. It blows my mind how much, but as you were describing mates, I realized that I felt the same for you. I never thought I’d ever feel like this again, and it’s more than I imagined I’d have. I love you more than anything.”
That time, it was him who closed his eyes, and when he opened them, the green was glowing brightly. “I honestly think if I was standing when you said that, it would have brought me to my knees. I hoped you’d be able to accept this, but I never imagined you felt the same way I do.”
Reaching out, she ran the tips of her fingers down his beard before cupping his face. “I think you underestimate me too much, Noah. But it’s okay. You’ll learn.”
He chuckled softly, squeezing her hands. “I suspect I will. There’s one more thing I need to tell you, but try to keep the amazing calm you’ve had since you showed up at the clubhouse, okay?”
“I promise. If nothing else I’ve learned has shaken me, I’m pretty sure nothing will. What is it?”
Inhaling deeply, he held the breath for a few moments and then blew it back out as he squared his shoulders. “Shifters claim their mates. Different species do it in different ways, but it locks everything in place. Finding a mate is already permanent for my kind, but this binds us in a way that’s hard to explain. Do you feel a bond with me?”
She nodded. “Deep in my chest. Almost from the very start. It took me by surprise when I first realized it was there.”