Wolf Girl (Wolf Girl #1) - Leia Stone Page 0,79

feed on my powers … but maybe not.

He rolled over and sighed, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear. “Did your parents ever tell you about true mates? Not just the mates we choose and marry, but the ones destined by fate?”

My mouth went dry as I shook my head.

“Demi, from the day I saw you at Delphi, I knew you were my true mate.”

My heart hammered in my throat.

Were true mates like soulmates?

“I felt it too. I mean, I didn’t know what it was but…” I let that sentence linger. “What is imprinting? That white light?”

He looked at me plainly, hard to read. “I don’t really know. I mean, I’ve heard of it as a special bond between … Paladin wolves. It’s a magic thing between true mates.”

Oh fuck.

I wasn’t calm enough to hide my response; my eyes widened and I chewed my lip as I fought for words. But Sawyer just looked … acceptingly … at me. “It’s okay, Demi. I know.”

I frowned. “You … know … what?”

Please don’t say that I’m a Paladin.

“That you’re part Paladin.”

Shit. I sat upright and covered my breasts. “What? I mean. That’s a big problem … right?” He stood at the end of the bed and tossed me a shirt, then walked into the bathroom and emerged a few moments later in basketball shorts.

Sitting next to me, he pulled me onto his lap. “That book page I showed you about what you are … it said the split shifting only happens with Paladins. Then I looked up why your parents were banished and found out what your mom did … I put two and two together,” he confessed. “I’ve known for a while.”

Ahhh, well, that was smart of him, and shitty for me. “You should have told me sooner.” I hugged my arms and he pulled the blanket around us.

“Sorry, I was still trying to figure it all out.” He tucked me tighter into his body, his warmth pressing against me. “Look, it doesn’t matter to me what you are or who you are. I love you, Demi, all of you.”

“So is imprinting in that book you have?” I asked.

He chuckled. “No, that comes from stories my great grandmother told me as a child.” I leaned into him, looking up at him as he smiled down on me. “It can only happen with true mates she told me, and it’s a Paladin thing.”

“What does imprinting mean?”

“Imprinted true mates can speak into each other’s minds no matter the distance,” he told me.

I shrugged. “Kinda handy.”

‘Testing, testing.’ I tried.

His chin butt puckered as he grinned.

‘One, two, three…’

Whoa, that’s crazy. “What else?” I couldn’t help the smile that lit up my face.

He swallowed hard, reaching out to stroke my cheek. “They can feel each other’s feelings. Sense things.”

His fingers trailed down my neck and I shivered as they stroked the top of my breasts.

“What else?”

He shrugged. “That’s all I remember. I was young when she died.”

He lay back on his pillow and looked up at the ceiling as I snuggled in beside him, feeling completely at home in his arms.

“True mates huh?” I looked up at him.

He grinned. “Can’t argue with fate.”

A smile tugged at my lips. “No, we can’t.”

I lay there on his chest, listening to the rise and fall of his breath as the weight of sleep pulled at me.

“In the endless garden of flowers, I will always pick you,” Sawyer whispered in my ear and my eyelids fluttered.

“Who said that?” I muttered, my eyelids unable to stay open.

“A.J. Lawless.”

I grinned, thinking of how true I wanted that statement to be. Even though Sawyer said he was picking me early at the selection ceremony, I would still be nervous until it was a done deal. I wanted to be with him, and having all of these other girls after my man was making me stabby.

“How do you feel?” Sage asked me as she appraised the brand-new deep blue gown Sawyer had sent over for me.

“Nervous as hell.” I gulped, clutching her hand as our limo driver drove us to the lakeside country club where Sawyer was going to tell the entire selection of girls and their parents that he’d chosen me early.

I’d spent every night this week at Sawyer’s, and the mind talking thing was coming in really handy.

‘I feel like I’m going to puke,’ I told him as the limo pulled up to the country club entrance.

‘Not too late to back out,’ he jived playfully in my head.

‘I mean, I’ve only