Duke Charming | Craig

Twelve

My team was waiting for me in the kitchen like parents waiting up for their child to return from a party at night. The way Hamish looked at me made me feel like I've broken some curfew rule.

'You were supposed to be back at ten. It's after twelve.'

Yeah, that summed up his face pretty good.

But I knew for a fact they weren't cross or upset that I've been gone an entire afternoon. Oh, no, it's quite the opposite. They just couldn't wait for me to get back to spill the tea.

And tea I spilled.

"So?" Sandra began, gesturing to me to start talking with a wave of her hand.

"How was it?" Maisie asked.

"Was he respectable?" Cue Hamish.

"Are you in love?" Bonnie.

I tried maintaining a straight face at least until I could sit down at one of the worktops. The four of them followed my lead like a group of teenage girls, all too eager to hear the gossip. Glancing at each of them, my mouth corners twitched upwards, and that was enough to tell them everything they wanted to know.

"It was nice," I answered Maisie's question first before moving on to Hamish's, "and yes, he was the epitome of a gentleman." And finally, 'Am I in love?' Well, considering Craig's my mate and the bond I've had with him was already strong... "And if being in love means I want to laugh and puke all at once when he's nearby, then yes, I do believe I am."

Like one man, the four of them squealed in pure delight, even Hamish' voice reached a pitch I didn't know was quite possible for him. I was swarmed and enveloped in four pairs of arms, and then I was smothered by those arms squeezing me.

It was remarkable how me being in love could bring them so much joy. I wasn't familiar with it – how my happiness could make other people happy. In no universe would I have experienced that in my old pack.

Sometimes I wondered if humans weren't superior to werewolves if it came to their unconditional love and affection. They were all the same and yet, so different. None of them could turn into a supernatural creature, none of them had to uphold certain standards to be accepted into their family, and their differences are what made them unique and strong.

I wondered if my life would've been different had I been born human from the start.

"This has made my day," Bonnie exclaimed once they've let me go. "Now, give us the details. What did you do all afternoon?"

"We took a ferry to a little island on the Loch with some ancient ruins on it," I began, recalling everything that's happened so far that day. "We laid out the picnic food and then we played a game –"

"That's super interesting, but I think what Bon-Bon meant was tell us about this duke," Maisie interrupted my story telling, crossing her arms in anticipation.

Oh, right. Should've known they would've wanted to skip to dessert at once.

"Well..." I trailed off, wondering how I was to explain what transpired between Craig and me at the ruins.

My stomach clenched when his words echoed in my thoughts. 'My life is yers now, Nel. And whatever ye want to do with it, is yer choice.' As breathtaking it was to hear him say that in the moment, I couldn't stop analyzing each syllable on our way back to the castle. So much, I hardly had enough thought left to worry about the little waves that jolted the ferry.

As a werewolf, I understood the implications of his life being mine. That was him telling me he'd gladly give everything about himself to me, his mornings, his evenings, his time, his space, his body, his soul, everything. That's how I felt when I first saw Dario. I would've let him sacrifice me to the Goddess Three if it would make him happy. Because that's all that mattered to a werewolf: their mate's content.