Free Healing Her Wolf: Paranormal Werewolf Romance by Zoe Chant

mate. Most of ‘em do, and have perfectly happy marriages. But once you find your mate, that’s it. And that feeling is pretty much mutual.”
    “Right.” Great, she felt even guiltier now for sending Konrad away. It really was as important as he said it was; Tyler wouldn’t lie to her.
    “So why did you tell him to leave?”
    She leaned back in the chair. “Well, for one, he asked me when I wanted to be mated, when I had only just found out that even existed, and then he asked me when I wanted to go back to his hometown with him!”
    Tyler laughed. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”
    “Really? We don’t even know each other,” Maddy argued. “How can he be so certain?”
    He sighed. “We just know. It’s hard to explain when you’re not a shifter yourself, or have grown up around shifters.”
    “So it’s instinct?” she asked.
    “That’s definitely part of it, yeah. Look, us shifters have a better sense of smell, so for us it’s easier to pick up that someone’s our mate. Compared to us, humans walk around with a permanent cold,” Tyler explained.
    She was also willing to accept that, but it still didn’t make her feel better. “But how do I know Konrad’s actually my mate?”
    Tyler let out a deep sigh. “Good question. From what I hear of shifters finding human mates, the human just sort of… knows as well. I guess it would be more like love at first sight,” he mused. “And whirlwind romances where people get married only a few months after meeting.”
    “And then get divorced a year later,” she muttered. But calling it ‘love at first sight’ made sense to her. Even when he had been a wolf, she had known there was more to him and that he wouldn’t hurt her. And in the middle of panicking earlier that day — oh God, had it only been hours since she had first met him? — part of her had felt like she could trust this stranger. She had wanted to know more about him from that start, and not just out of scientific curiosity.
    And obviously he had been very hot, and very naked.
    She didn’t do one-night-stands or casual flings, and yet she had liked and trusted Konrad enough to jump into bed with him. And the sex had been amazing. It had simply felt right, like they had known each for much longer. She had never felt that way with her previous boyfriends, and definitely not on their first date.
    “And sometimes those couples stay together,” Tyler said. “Maddy, I get that you’re confused, but what’s stopping you from giving Konrad a chance, at least?”
    “I mentioned he wanted me to move to his town, right?” Maddy said. She explained about Konrad’s desire to be Alpha and join the town’s council. “So he could just bring back any woman and it wouldn’t matter.” Just talking about it made her angry all over again. Why would she want to spend the rest of her life with someone who was only interested in what they wanted?
    “So you kicked him out because he was moving too fast,” Tyler replied.
    “He wouldn’t listen to me. He just kept repeating that I had to because we were mates, because he wanted to be on the council.” Maddy sighed. “I don’t want to be with someone like that.”
    “I figured that’s what it was,” Tyler muttered.
    “What?” she asked, suspicious. That sounded like Tyler knew more than he was letting on.
    “I, er, should probably mention that I’d already talked to Konrad, right?”
    “Tyler!” she yelled. “Why the hell did you ask me to explain when you already knew what had happened?” She thought she knew him better than that. Then again, she hadn’t known he was a shifter either.
    “Because from what Konrad told me, I already thought you were angry because he wasn’t listening to you. I needed to know if I was right, or if it was something else,” Tyler replied calmly.
    She huffed. “So, now what?”
    “Well, Konrad’s outside the station. I can call him in if you want to talk to him.”
    Her stomach felt like it did a