“My natural reaction is to hold back from people, especially guys. It’s something I honestly can’t control. When Joey and my mom died, I had this big hole and it’s as if when I taped it up, I did it too tight. I don’t know if I could ever really make myself completely vulnerable to another person again. And when you mate with someone, really mate

“It’s our way of testing if the male’s a worthy mate.” That wasn’t a lie. Alpha females didn’t submit without the male proving his dominance. It was just that in this case that didn’t apply, because Roscoe had never been a consideration.

Strangely not liking the playful banter going on between his mate and the mediator, Trey tangled a hand in her hair—a shifter gesture of ownership.

It was pretty common that two wolves could mark each other before exchanging names, swept away by the urge to claim.

She sighed. “You and I aren’t really all that different when it comes to our wolves. My wolf constantly reaches for the surface, because she has no understanding of why she’s trapped. Being trapped frustrates her and all that frustration fuels her spirit, making her brash and testing. And that brash, testy spirit then constantly rides me, trying to

“I will once I’ve been for a run.” The eagerness in her voice surprised him. “You still have that need even though you’re latent?” “My wolf gets restless and uncomfortable if I don’t. She still craves that feeling of being free, the kind that comes from running with other wolves.”

Unless he was dumb, a shifter didn’t dare attempt to separate mates, and as unbelievable as it might have seemed, that was indeed what she and Trey looked to be.

They weren’t mates of the soul or even the heart—both of which made it possible for the mating to be temporary—but she had to understand that this didn’t make it any less real. They were still mates in the physical sense, which meant that she belonged to him. If he didn’t make her understand and admit it, this would never work. He wouldn’t have her

Although Roscoe had left his mark on her, he hadn’t been able to imprint on her. Two wolves who weren’t true mates could still come together as mates and have a tight bond through the process of imprinting. That process couldn’t be sparked unless there were strong emotions involved, and it required a lot of physical contact. When two wolves were