“It happens quickly for shifters—sometimes, faster than human mates, and even some shifters, can accept. Claiming you would lock that bond into place, as well as strengthen it. Nothing can break it.”
“That actually sounds amazing to me, but I think there’s something you haven’t told me yet. So what’s the catch?”
He took another deep breath. “Like I said, it’s different for each species. Some mark with a bite or a claw mark. And some even go by scent. For lions, it’s with a bite. But the thing is, biting you—claiming you—would turn you, as well. You’d have a lioness inside you afterward.”
Blinking a few times in shock, her mouth opened but nothing came out for a long moment. “You can turn people? I could be like you?”
He squeezed her hands, leaning in closer. “Yes. But only if it’s something you really want. I’d love to claim you, but only if you decide it’s something you want for you, not me. And I want to claim you for the bond—not because I want you to be a shifter. If you stayed a human forever, it wouldn’t change the way I feel about you, or how much I love you. Lion or not, that will never change. But there’s no rush. None, understand? I don’t want you to decide right now at all. Take your time and make sure you’re making the best decision for you. Because once I do it, it can’t be reversed—the turn or the bond.”
Swallowing hard, she nodded. “I’ll think it over very carefully. But you need to promise that if I decide I want to, you won’t try to fight me over it, or try to convince me I need more time. You’ll just do it.”
He searched her eyes for a long moment before nodding. “Okay. I promise.”
She sank her teeth into her lower lip as she looked at him. “What took you so long to tell me? I get the impression you’ve known for a while now.”
Noah stilled at Lily’s question, searching for a way to avoid answering, not sure he wanted to open that can of worms. “I wouldn’t say it took me long, per se. This has all happened quickly.”
She pursed her lips as she rolled her beautiful blue eyes. “Stop stalling, Noah. You should know me well enough by now to realize that I won’t let it go until you answer.”
Didn’t he know it. He glanced around, trying to think of a way to explain, and his eyes landed on the wedding ring on a chain lying on the bedside table. Brandon’s ring. He’d seen it a million times before—only it was on Brandon’s finger then.
Sadness for his friend washed over him, and he cleared his throat, ordering himself to get it together. It wasn’t the time to grieve for Brandon.
It was the time for baring his heart and giving Lily the explanation she wanted—that he thought she deserved.
She deserved everything. He’d spend the rest of his life trying to give her the world if she let him.
If she stayed.
He nodded to the ring and she followed his gaze, her brow furrowing when she saw what he was gesturing to. “Because of Brandon? Are you still feeling guilty?”
Starting to shake his head, he stopped himself as he hesitated. “I don’t want to lie to you, so I won’t pretend I don’t feel it at least a little. It’s much better than it was, and most of the time, I have a handle on it. Sometimes, it reaches out and punches me in the gut, but it’s still better. That wasn’t what I meant, though.”
“What do you mean, then?”
“You were still wearing it when you got here.” He rushed to raise his hand when she started to interrupt, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. “That doesn’t bother me, Lily. If we spend the rest of our lives together—even if I claim you—and you want to wear it all the time and never take it off, I’m one hundred percent okay with that. What I meant was, you were still trying to move on from Brandon. Trying to step into the future. Brave and beautiful and standing so strong as you did it on your own. But still holding onto the past.
“And then there I was. There suddenly we were. And everything moved incredibly fast. That’s how it is for my kind, so it worked for me, even though I had my misgivings because of Brandon. But I worried that at any moment, this would all turn out to be too much for you. I didn’t want to add to that by telling you what you are to me. I didn’t want you to feel any pressure.” He paused, squeezing her hands again. “I didn’t want you to run because everything moved so quickly.”
“What made you decide to tell me tonight? You said you were planning on it before I asked.”
“Because the need I feel for you amplifies by the moment. And I didn’t want you to think I don’t want you the way I do and decide to go home. I’ll understand if you think that’s best—at least, I’ll try to understand. But I didn’t want you making a decision either way without the facts. I didn’t want to pressure you in any way, but you’re a woman who knows her own mind, and I know now that you’ll make your decision based on you and not others. And since you’ve handled everything so well, I decided you could probably handle this, too.” Pausing, he smiled wryly. “I honestly don’t know if I made any sense right there. I’m sorry. My mind is spinning in a thousand different directions right now.”
Lily smiled gently as her thumbs rubbed against his knuckles. “I think I understand what you’re saying. I’m glad you were going to tell me. My curiosity got the better of me when it came to what Skylar was asking, but I wasn’t in a rush to declare ourselves to each other. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I didn’t think we needed it to grow even closer. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we did.” She shook her head with a smile. “And now I think I’m the one not making sense. It’s just that I feel comfortable here with you—I feel like I’m in m
y element. And I was almost positive you felt the same way for me that I do for you.
“That being said, I’m so happy you told me. Yes, everything’s moved quickly, but it feels so natural that it hasn’t really bothered me. But there’s something about knowing… I don’t know. I feel like we can talk about the future and lock down plans now. If you want to, that is. And as much as I wasn’t in a rush, that feeling is amazing. I love you, Noah.”
His heart felt near to bursting as his lion purred deep in his chest. Leaning in, he kissed her gently, her hands still snug in his. “I love you too, Lily. And one day soon, we’ll talk about the future. Trust me, I want to. I know you said this isn’t too much and you’re happy you know, but maybe giving it a couple days to really sink in would be best. I don’t want you to do anything you’ll come to regret.”
She smiled gently, her eyes soft as she gazed at him. “Silly man. I could never regret staying with you, and I already know what I want. But we’ll give it a couple days if that’s really what you want to do. I know I won’t have doubts, but I don’t want you thinking I might.”
He smiled, his eyes roving over her face as his heart filled with warmth. Lily was the most extraordinary woman he’d ever met, and that fact that she was his was still hard to comprehend. He didn’t know what he did to get so lucky, but he’d never take her for granted.
Standing, he walked to the wall and flipped the light switch off. Once he was in bed, Lily turned the lamp off, and the room was bathed in darkness as she cuddled into him. His lion was pacing in his chest, and the missing piece was still there, but it was more like a leisurely walk, and the ache didn’t steal his breath.
His last thought before he fell asleep was that Lily was so good for him—she was changing him for the better and easing old hurts.