His Unidentified & Untouchable Mate

Together

Zahraa POV

I’d been around furious wolves before. I’d seen them shift and fight on the spot, in fact. It was always frightening, the way their bodies cracked and rearranged, expanding and shrinking until it made something new.

So, when Jacob’s voice darkened, when his eyes flashed with the fury of a hurricane, I knew my next words had to be chosen carefully – even if it was an answer he wouldn’t like.

“We don’t know,” I breathed. “It’s been there, like that, since I was rescued.”

He let out a fierce and savage growl. “When you were seven,” he stated, as if he were thinking of what kind of wolf might mark a child.

I could only nod.

“I would shred them, if I knew…”

“I don’t think…” I paused. “I don’t remember ever being… marked. It might just be another… ‘tattoo.’”

He looked at me searchingly, then took a deep, steadying breath. “Zahraa Snow, you’re just one mystery after another, aren’t you?”

My heart felt heavy. “I can’t promise any of them will ever be solved. We may never be able to touch. Is that what you want?”

Jacob faltered, and though his indecision hurt my feelings, I understood why he’d hesitate. I would, were I in his shoes. “I can’t say that it is. But I also can’t say that I want to give up on the bond. I’d like to try.”

My heart sank in my chest like a stone, settling somewhere in my stomach. I couldn’t help but feel like the story of us had a clear ending. We would have an expiration date before we even started. I gazed at him, taking in his lithe form, bright eyes, the intensity of his stare. He was still tensed in that position, as if he might have to fight some unseen force at any moment.

Would it be selfish to go along with this? To let him burn resources and time on the mystery that we hadn’t been able to solve for eleven years?

My eyes dropped.

Could I afford to tell him no?

“We’ll proceed until we can’t, then,” Jacob sighed, standing. “Goddess, I made a mess – and I’ve kept you standing. I’m sorry.”

“No, no, it’s…” the words failed me as he went to fetch a broom and dustpan. I followed him, found a rag and stain remover, and offered him a shy smile. “Let me help you.”

Jacob POV

As Zahraa helped me clean in silence, I brewed in my thoughts. That mark – that couldn’t be achieved without a wolf. So how had it come to be 'tattooed' on her neck, exactly where it should’ve been if someone had taken her as a mate?

If it hadn’t faded, as though she’d been rejected – a thought that sent white hot fury thrumming through me – I might’ve been able to catch a scent from it and track the wolf that way. Who could’ve done such a thing? Someone in the Wild Fangs? Someone she’d encountered before?

“There,” Zahraa pointed to a sliver of glass that had fallen under the sofa.

The air was thick with the scent of the powerful stain remover, and the busy thoughts were enough to keep me occupied while we cleaned. The red would likely never properly come out of my couch – and that was something Luna Jasmine, my mother, had warned me of when I’d chosen the large piece of furniture.

When I took the rag and cleaner from her, putting them back where they belonged, she looked as though she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.

I smiled, pinching the fabric of the dress on her stomach – the only place I could safely touch her at the moment. “Hey. It’ll be alright.” I put a hand carefully on her back and led her back to the couch, sitting on the other end. She settled, but her posture was closed off, small.

I hated to see her that way.

“Can you feel it?” I asked, sneaking my hand on her knee, and hoping she wouldn’t notice.

She looked at me quizzically, then with a dawning realization. “You mean the mate bond,” she clarified. Then, she hummed thoughtfully. “No? I suppose I don’t in the same way you do.”

I sneaked closer. “Then… how do you feel?”

“Overwhelmed, mostly,” she admitted, looking up at me with those beautiful eyes. “But I can’t deny that I’ve felt drawn to you since I met you. And for some reason, you seem so familiar. Like we’ve been…” she struggled to find a word, “Like we’ve been… friends… for a long time. Like I’ve known you forever.”

I noticed I was holding my breath and released it. “Yeah,” I breathed. “Yeah, I feel… I feel the same. But I also…” my hand roamed up her thigh, careful not to touch her hands. “You have no idea how hard it is for me not to touch you. I want to put you in my lap right now,” I laughed, but it was tinged with sadness. Anyone else – anyone else in the world, and I could’ve made it happen, but with Zahraa…

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, and it shattered my heart, as if she knew what I were thinking.

“No, no, don’t be,” I said. I squeezed her thigh, then withdrew my hand. “Like I said: we’ll figure this out. Together.”

Zahraa nodded, then breathed the word, “Together.” It sounded like heaven on her lips.

Then, she stood, taking the waded up lace garments with her. “I should go.”

My possessiveness kicked into overdrive. I didn’t want to let her leave – so I converged with her at the door, placing my palm flat against it, just inches from where she’d grasped the doorknob. Her magic thrummed through the wood of the door, the spaces around it shining with that beautiful and strange golden light.

And she looked up at me through her long lashes, eyes shining like a golden sunset.

My heart faltered, and I could only utter one word – one syllable.

“Stay.”