The Fake Mate

by Lana Ferguson

when we never speak to each other, and you smell like cheap suppressants?”

I just meant, since I can still smell you . . . ?” This takes me by surprise. “You can?” “Yeah? Am I not supposed to? I figured you needed a stronger dose. I assumed you were taking them so none of the nurses tried to ask you out or something.”

“Smells a bit like pine needles.”

Especially since a shifter has three times as many scent glands as a normal human, each one sensitive to the touch and the largest being right at the base of the throat, just waiting for some shifter partner to come along and meld his open scent with it.

My lips part as my breath catches, my knees suddenly taking on the physical property of off-brand Jell-O as Noah stiffens. The gland at my neck feels warm when he touches me, a prickling heat there that creeps deeper inside until it spreads through my limbs. He makes some sound in his throat as if he’s trying to clear it but fails, his breath warm against my neck for one brief moment before he pulls away.

I watch his eyes dip from my face to my throat before finally capturing mine,

He blinks, eyes dipping to my throat again.

“Yeah. It’s weird. It’s like I could scent it on you the moment he walked up. Almost like I could tell your mood changed. It was sharper somehow.

“Honestly, I could only scent . . . you, for the most part.”

I pick up on the soft way he’s looking at my mate. My fake mate, I mentally correct.

When I met him they were simply nice things to look at, but now just a glance is enough to give me butterflies. When the fuck did that even happen?

“Well, I can’t help it if you refuse to culture yourself.”

“Fuck. I didn’t even know I wanted that until you.”

“Because when I’m with you . . . I don’t feel like I’m just going through the motions in life. When I’m with you . . . I feel like I’m actually living.”

“Approves?” I bark out a laugh. “My parents aren’t aristocracy. Trust me, they’re just thrilled that you exist.” “Gee, real low expectations there,” she snorts.