Mathew looked at me and smirked. Taking in a deep breath, I tried to think about what the wolf could possibly want from me.
"I want a room in this mansion and for my pack to be able to roam around the grounds," he said with a shrug like it was no big deal. It might not be a big deal to him, but it was definitely a big deal to me.
"Lucas won't like the fact that you are staying in my House," I pointed out.
"He will be fine with it. There is one Wolf Law that proceeds all others," replied Mathew with a shrug. "No wolf is allowed to stand between another wolf and his mate."
I paused for a second to truly think about his words. "And you think I am your mate?" I asked. I knew how much a mate meant to a wolf, and it was not a title that they would toss around casually like a girlfriend or even a wife. They only had one mate for all of eternity, and most wolves were never lucky enough to find theirs.
"I knew you were my mate the second I smelled you in the precinct. It was absolute torture working in the same building as you, but knowing that you never looked my way once," he admitted. "I even cut my hair just in case you preferred it shorter. I will do whatever you need me to do. Just don't send me away. Please, I don't think I can live if you do."
I would like to say that he was being overly dramatic, but I knew cases of wolves that had been rejected by their mates, and it was nothing like how the stories made it sound. Death was the only way for the rejected mate.
"I am sorry that I didn't know," I said softly, no longer holding back my desire to run my fingers through his hair. "It must have been hard."
"And you playing in my hair has made every moment of the last decade bearable," he groaned as he tilted his head back, giving me easier access to his head.
"I don't have the same call that you do. You know that, right?" I continued, my voice still low.
"All I ask is you let me prove myself to you. I will be a good mate, I promise," he pushed, the self-assured man that I had always known reduced to almost begging.
"Fine," I said with a slight smile. "But you know that I am, maybe, in a relationship with Viktor, right?"
"And about four other men that you don't seem to know about. Don't worry; traditional relationships don't bother me or my wolf." Mathew bared his teeth which were a bit too sharp to be fully human. "But I don't share outside of those men."
I chuckled. "Understood. Now, if I have covered all the topics that you wanted me to, get lost. I want to read more."
"There is a reverse harem Omegaverse that looks interesting on the bottom shelf. You might want to read that one," the wolf smirked, proving that, like his sense of smell, his eyesight was too good for my comfort.
"Fucking wolf," I grumbled under my breath. I would have thrown my book at him, but that would have been sacrilege. You don't hurt books like that ever.
----
I had made it two chapters in when I heard a voice clearing behind me. Growling with frustration, I turned around to see who was invading my space now.
"Can't a girl get any time to herself?" I muttered, narrowing my eyes on the Skinwalker in front of me.
"Sorry, Sweetness," said Dementyev as he went to sit in the same spot Mathew was sitting in a few minutes before. "I followed your smell and the wolf's; it was hard to miss his."
"So I am understanding," I grumbled, once again closing my book to pay attention to the man in my sanctuary. "Fine, standard warning. Stephanie is not to know about this place. If she does, I am blaming you and the wolf. Understand? I need this place to remain a secret."
"No worries in that regard, Sweetness. It was hard to find, if that is any consolation," he reassured me.
"Seeing as two of you have managed to find it in minutes, I am not too sure how good of a secret hideout it actually is." He only chuckled as I pouted.
"You know, I am much more versatile than the wolf, right?" he asked me with a smirk on his face.
"I am almost scared to ask," I said with a sigh as I dropped my head back over the armrest it was cushioned on.
"I can do dragons, panthers, lions, you name it, and I can shift into it," he assured me. I turned my head to look at him, still not sure what he was trying to get at. He tilted his head to the shifter shelves of my library before turning back to me with a smirk. "Like I said, versatile."
Lord, I was fucked. I am not sure if I was actually upset over it. Embarrassed, yes, but not upset.
I let out a chuckle of my own. "Fine, but let's save that for at least the second date. I just met you today, after all."
"I can wait as long as you want me to, as long as you know where I stand," said Dementyev as he looked deep into my eyes.
"You know, I have gone my whole life without this much attention, and in the space of the afternoon…" I trailed off, not really knowing where my thoughts were leading me.
"That is the problem when your mate is also mated to other people. You feel a sense of urgency that you aren't overlooked," replied the Skinwalker with a shrug. He was trying to be relaxed, but I could see the veins popping out of his neck from the amount of tension in his shoulders.
"I don't think you have ever been overlooked in your entire life," I said with surprise and then proceeded to study the man in front of me. He was at least 6 feet tall and built like a brick shit house. His shoulders alone were almost the width of my oversized chair. He had short black hair, cut in the typical military style, and his eyes… his eyes were ice blue. Truly, he was a beautiful man.