My Mate's Last Message Wasn't for Me novel · Chapter 23 of 24

Chapter 23: No Questions Asked

The cheering died away.

Three hundred wolves stared at their heir, and then at me.

He stood alone in the center of the stones with his hand still half raised, and I saw what it had cost him to say it in front of them.

It was the third term in his contract.

He had written it himself on the day I signed, and he had kept his word to the letter, in public, with the mark still glowing on my back.

"No questions," I said.

"None."

"Then I'll ask one."

His eyes closed for a moment.

"Ask."

"Will you let me stay?"

He opened his eyes.

"Seren."

"I'm not leaving, Cormick. I danced your Rite, and I'd dance the next ten. I'd like to do it as myself, without a paper."

"The contract is..."

"Burned. You told me in your own room." I walked across the grass to him in front of the plain. "I'd like to stay as your mate, if you'll have me. Not the moon's. Mine."

Something broke in his face.

He crossed the last stride between us and took my face in both hands.

"I'll have you," he said, rough. "I've had you since the window."

"Then say it so they hear it."

"Seren Strangways is my mate," he said, to the plain, in a voice that carried to the farthest stone. "She chose me, and I will spend my life earning it."

The noise that rose from the crowd was the loudest I have ever heard.

Pip came over the grass at a dead run, screaming, and hit me so hard I nearly went over.

My father did not scream.

He stood where he was with his cap pressed against his chest, and his eyes were wet, and he nodded to me once.

← Chapter 22 · All chapters · Chapter 24 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend