“Seriously, Daphne, just come to bed. Please. I’m never going to moon bite you, so it’s none of your concern.”
She instead shoved her finger in my chest, staring at me with fierce, blazing eyes. Ones that told me that she wouldn’t be moved. “And I’ve just remembered you’ve never told me about all this fated mate stuff either. And you promised to.”
“We’ve been very busy.”
“I’ve got nothing but time.”
I gestured at my bed. “Sit down, then.”
She obeyed, taking her seat next to me. “
“An alpha wolf, the male, knows his fated mate when he sees her. It’s a deep, undeniable feeling, and I’ve felt it ever since the first time I picked up your scent at the Meat Market. I knew you were the one even before I laid eyes on you.”
I smiled ruefully, of all the places to find the love of my life. Fate’s got a hilarious sense of humor. Ha ha. “And that’s why I kept going back. You were my other half, and you were pulling me to you like a magnet.”
“Does every wolf have a fated mate?”
“We believe they do, but sometimes they make matches for other reasons. Political. Financial. And those matches can work well too. Often, alphas arrange a match with a powerful witch so that their offspring will inherit magic.”
Her beautiful eyes were fixated on me. “But that’s not everything. What about the moon biting?”
Ah. And now we’d come to the problem. “It’s what needs to happen to make the bond absolute. No magic known to any wolf or witch or warlock could ever hope to shatter that bond when it’s in place.”
“And what is it exactly?”
“Under the magic of the full moon, the fated male and female must make love with one another. At the height of their passion, the male bites the neck of the female, and then they are forever bonded. It is the closest two souls could ever be.”
Daphne’s eyes stayed locked on mine. “That seems romantic. Why is your grandfather against you doing it to me? I mean, I’m not saying I would accept your moon bite or I’ve made any final decision, but I’m just curious.”
“When you’re that close to someone, Daphne, you literally cannot live without them.”
“And?” She shrugged. “That’s just how romance is.”
“I didn’t flippantly use the term literally. I meantliterally... uh, literally.”
Her eyes widened. “You... you mean you die if your mate dies?”
I nodded. “When half of the pairing dies, the other is struck with such incredible grief it physically ravages their body; it makes their heart fail. A particularly strong wolf might be able to persist for a month under that pain, but the entire time will be in agony. Those who pass within a week are usually considered the lucky ones.”
She swallowed. “Okay, that’s a lot more hard core than I thought it was. But if this is traditional, why is your grandfather against you doing it with me? Is it because I’m human and new to this world? Or because I don’t come with any political connections?”
“No, it’s because you’re my fated mate. If I moon bit someone who wasn’t my fated mate, we wouldn’t have that same intense bond, and if either one of us died, the other would survive. My father and mother were fated to one another,” I said, tensing myself up to tell a story that never got easier to tell. “My father was an indomitable fighter. No one could beat him. My mother wasn’t as strong. An upstart pack wanting our territory attacked her when she left pack property to do some shopping.”
Daphne’s eyes widened. “That’s... that’s terrible. I’m so sorry, Killian.”
“We got vengeance. My father was one of those resilient bastards who held on in pain so he could avenge his love. But he passed within weeks, and it was horrible and heartbreaking to see.”
She sat up, her gaze darkening. “You should have told me this earlier.”
“Well, two things. No one outside the pack knows that you’re my fated mate. And I will never moon bite you, so we won’t fully bond.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she slid a few inches away from me. “You want a partial commitment, but you don’t want to go all in?”
“We will still have love and passion! I just won’t put you at risk.”
“So…assuming I agree to stay here and mate with you…you’re fine with not biting me? Because when we were together earlier, it seemed like you wanted to. And actually, you were pretty snappish after we had sex—was that because you wanted to moon bite me?” Damn it, she was too smart.
I shook my head firmly. “I have very, very strong self-control.” Especially if it meant keeping the woman I loved alive.