Mate (Bride, #2)

by Ali Hazelwood

“You sure?” the Vampyre asks. “She’s half Human, after all.” “And you’re half jackass. What a stunning coincidence.”

“They say she’s your mate.” It’s like the forest hears the words. Like it understands them. For a brief second every critter, every leaf, every drop of water stills, as if waiting for Koen’s reaction.

“Do they, now?” He advances, still relaxed. He’s taking a night stroll. Wandering around a museum. Unburdened of all worries.

“You’re the most beautiful woman that I’ve ever seen,” he says simply.

I cannot tell whether he’s serious, so I nod. “Deal. And you may quietly pine after me, if you must.”

Saul seems to agree. “I’d forgotten that you’d declared it against the law to be excellent to each other, Koen.”

BILL AND TED REFERENCE

“Word of advice, killer?” he murmurs. “Stubborn and stupid is just a couple letters’ difference.”

Because every single thing I glanced at, grazed, examined, eyed, or even considered when we were at the grocery store, every single thing I decided to walk past, every single thing I told myself I didn’t need—every single thing has somehow made it here, inside Koen’s house.

“Since you’re so sure that everyone here despises her, including me, let this be known: fuck with my mate, and I’m going to kill you so slowly, draw it out so long, tectonic plates will move and create whole new mountain ranges. And when the rest of your family comes to avenge you, I’ll do the same to them. And if your friends come, I’m not going to fucking stop. Not even if all that’s left of the pack is me and her. I will paint this entire territory green before I let anyone in the pack spill a single drop of red. Okay?”

Damn dude

“It’s hardly evidence that you two are not in a relationship,” Xabier points out, “the way she takes liberties. Gives you orders.” “Is it?” Koen sounds bored. “You three just showed up to my house to tell me what to do, and last I checked, I’m not fucking any of you.”

YEP

Serena: Would you love me less if my name was Eva? Misery: Yes. Misery: But not like, by a lot.

Lmao

He’s an immovable object and an unstoppable force. And he says, slowly, “If you think I’m going to let you die, Serena, you know fuck all.”

Yesm

“What if Earth was modeled after a giant parsley leaf? What if Humans pissed moondust? What if—” His fingers trap my chin. Tilt my head back, hitching my breath. Once again, I have no choice but to meet his eyes. “What then, Serena?”

Simply put, he is unwilling to contemplate a universe in which she no longer exists.

AHHH

“How perfect you are. I spent the last twenty years hoping that if there was a mate for me out there, I’d never come across them. And then I found you, and, Serena…there isn’t one thing I would change about you. Or one single thing I regret about knowing you.” Suddenly, tears are streaming red-hot down my cheeks. “You haven’t answered me,” I say, quickening the rhythm of my fingers.

“Sweetheart.” He nips at it. I shudder, full-bodied. “It has to be you, Koen. We’re like…lock and key? It has to be us.”

Koen doesn’t nod, but I smell his assent. His head bends for a long, silent moment. When he looks up, his eyes are emptier than the space between the ocean and the cliffs.

If he’s even aware of what he’s doing, staring at me with a faint half smile that is just… Lovesick.

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.”