Mate (Bride, #2)

by Ali Hazelwood

“If you think I’m going to let you die, Serena, you know fuck all.”

“Serena.” I hear the blurry edge of his smile. A quiet sigh. “I would throw away my pack, my life, and my entire world for you. Which is the exact reason I cannot have you.”

“Serena,” he says, deliberate, level. “None of this is about sex.” “Then what—” “You. This, all of it, is purely about you.”

“You are my mate. I would have wanted you no matter what. I will want you no matter what. But you are also…” He licks his lips. “If someone had given me a piece of paper and asked me to list everything I liked, everything I dreamed of, everything that I was sure would make me happy, you would have been the final product of it.”

“There could never be disappointment, because there were never any comparisons, or expectations, or hopes, or standards to meet. There’s only…” He casts a glance around the room, searching. Then his eyes settle on me. “There is only you, Serena.”

Koen is perfect. Koen is strong. Koen is maddening and beautiful and mine, and I want what I am due.

My eyes lock with his, willing him to understand. “You are the heart of this pack, Koen.” He nods. Even as he says, “And you are mine, Serena.”

He would die for her, and he would kill for her. More importantly, he will live for her. She’ll be the purpose driving every second of his every day.