The Wallflower Mate

30

Mary's eyes shot open. Almost immediately, the blinding afternoon sunlight that filled the bedroom stung her eyes, and she squinted her eyes. Groaning and rolling over into her pillow, but a muscular arm stopped her. Her eyes shot open once again, and she looked down at waist.

She was sleeping in Ryker's bed. She could feel his deep breathing on her skin. He nestled his face into the crook of her neck. Her backside pressed his entire front. Every part of their skin that they touched was humming with the mate tingles.

Mary could also feel a part of his soul inside of her. It warmed and comforted her like nothing she had ever felt before. She also felt it filled her heart with an unfamiliar, powerful aura. She knew that it was Ryker and his wolf. In some kind of weird way, she also felt their confidence rubbing off on her.

Slowly, she turned in his arms till she was facing him. His eyes were still closed, and he was still deeply breathing. Mary still couldn't believe it. Ryker was her mate. He was strong, confident, and handsome. Muscular everywhere—her eyes traveled from his handsome face down his neck to his body. With him asleep, she could take her time in checking him out in sunlight.

Her eyes traveled down the hard, muscular chest planes to his abs. Her mate was hard all over. She lifted the covers a little to shed some sunlight lower, and when her eyes landed on what she was searching for, Mary blushed all over again.

Geez, it was... she noticed the change in his breathing pattern.

Her eyes slid up to find him staring at her already.

His hazel eyes glazed over with sleep and tiredness, but he eyed her with an interest. For a moment, neither moved from their position, almost comfortable with just holding each other and avoiding the world.

Ryker was the first to move. He removed the arm from around her waist to take hold of her hand. Slowly intertwining their fingers together. Almost marveling at how the mate tingles were spreading through their palms. It was such a powerful feeling.

"Good morning, Luna," he said. His voice was sleepy and husky.

Luna!

Mary couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her face. Immediately, she bit the inside of her cheek to stop her from making a fool of herself, but when she saw that one corner of his lips lifted into a half smile, she couldn't stop the smile from growing.

"Good morning," she said shyly.

In the romantic human novels that Mary had read in the past, she noticed that the Authors would often describe how beautiful the male character looked. Sometimes, Mary would find herself a little cynical and scoff at the description.

No man alive would be that perfect.

But now that she was staring at Ryker, she realized why the Authors were so intent on describing the main characters' features. It wasn't to capture the hearts of the readers, nor was it to make the main male characters appealing at all.

No, it was simply put out there to allow the readers a chance to see through a glass prism and see what the main female character was feeling. The missing pieces fall into place for the readers—love and infatuation for the main male character without them realizing that even though the character had flaws, they were beautiful through their loved ones' eyes.

Ryker's black hair fell over his forehead with a carelessness that added to his sexy bad boy persona. Although he had slight bags underneath his eyes from the lack of sleep, he looked handsome either way.

This male chose her as his. She was his mate. His Luna.

Suddenly, frightened at the idea that this might be a little too much for her to handle. She pushed against him a little too hard. Ryker wasn't prepared for that reaction at all. He flipped harshly onto his back with a grunt just as she rolled off the bed and fell onto the ground. Her body covered with the sheets as it slid off Ryker's body.