Steel: Blue Collar Wolves #3 (Mating Season Collection) Read Online Free PDF Page B

sometimes it must have felt like you were with the person that was meant just for you, but come on. That kind of stuff wasn’t real.
    “The same way werewolves are myths?”
    The blunt question put the reality of her world in perspective a bit. Yeah, most of the outside world would put her in an institution if she talked about wolves, the same way most of the world would scoff at the possibility of soul mates. “Are you telling me your kind really does have true mates? That’s not a wolf version of a fairy tale.”
    “That’s exactly what I’m saying. And you are it for me. Do you really not feel it?”
    Regan bit back the jumble of questions and half-formed demands that came racing to her tongue. I’ve been feeling all sorts of weird shit since you came into my life was probably not a good thing to let him hear.
    But…it wasn’t a bombshell. His words didn’t rock her world. Instead, they nestled inside her, spotlighting the changes within her and giving the final illumination, the final, yes, I see, I understand.
    Steel continued. “Some of my kind are terrified of their true mates. It’s scary to think how one person can turn your world around. Me, I always said I’d wait for you as long as I needed to, and I’d fight for you once I met you. That’s what I meant, and that’s what I’ll do.”
    “So you’ll trust a hunter?” He couldn’t make is sound so easy, so pre-ordained. That wasn’t reality. “You’ll bring me into your pack? Let me know all your secrets? You don’t even know me. Last night, every word might have been a lie for all you know.”
    “It wasn’t.”
    “You don’t know that. Maybe you’re so desperate for your true mate you’ll look past everything in hopes it’s what you want.”
    He flinched at that, closed down, and immediately she wanted to put her hand out, tell him she didn’t mean it.
    Whatever she might have done was moot, because he got up. “C’mon, you probably want to get cleaned up.”
    With no other words, he led her to the same bathroom, where all the necessary toiletries were laid out for her. He closed the door on her, not waiting for any more words.
    She shouldn’t feel bad for hurting him. She repeated it as she rinsed her hair and scrubbed her body. They did only know each other a few days, and people routinely confused attraction for something stronger. Could he honestly say he liked her?
    So what they talked all night until they passed out, still talking. That happened. Maybe not to her, but she’d heard of it. One night did not equal forever.
    But his fingers wrapped around hers were the first sense of security she’d had since her mom, and in those hours, her favorite sound had become the sound of his small, cut-off laugh.
    She was never going to take having a toothbrush for granted again, or new, clean clothes – though she wasn’t going to ask how he knew her size. But the t-shirt and jeans fit perfectly and a clean body made putting up with the chaos in her mind much easier.
    He was waiting at the bottom of the steps. “C’mon,” he said again, holding open the door.
    He didn’t speak much when the left, only led her on a small hike through the wooded area surrounding his property. While she wasn’t and would never be a serious hiker, she enjoyed the slight breeze and the foliage coming in, flowers in various states of bloom in mid-spring.
    And then Steel stopped, and began taking off his clothes.
    “What?”
    “Shush,” was all he said, and when he was naked, he fell forward, and the man became a wolf.
    She’d never seen the transformation before. Though she couldn’t be sure what she expected – blood, agonized grunting maybe? – but it was seamless and natural, over almost as soon as the brain picked up what was happening.
    His wolf was medium-sized and dark, with the same gold eyes as he had. He yipped at her, bumping his head into her thighs. She gave a snort of laughter – impossible not to when the man you were