Winter Wolves Series
Dark Wolf Chapter 7

Venus closed the door behind her and let out a long sigh. Being with Damian fulfilled a deep yearning that she hadn't even realized was there. He looked at her with such understanding and commitment.

After a lifetime of being used for one purpose or another, Damian's care and selflessness towards her nearly broke her heart. Silent tears slid down her cheeks and she wiped them away. She looked at the dampness on her hands with shock and wonder, not understanding the roiling emotions raging through her body.

She slid out of her jacket and dropped it on a chair before collapsing on the bed. She stared at the ceiling and wondered what in the world she was going to do. Was she falling in love already? It didn't seem possible. Was she not seeing the red flags or the warning signs?

Damian had warned her about himself and everything that he considered a problem. But Venus didn't see any of that. She just saw a kind, sensitive man who'd been through so much hardship and trauma that it had colored his life, similarly to her own. Venus had been existing for her mother, for her agent, and for everyone else for so long that she didn't even know what it felt like to be seen the way Damian seemed to see her.

She rolled over on the bed and groaned into the pillow. Then she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She had no idea what to do next. She had no idea how to be cared for and not obsess over what she could do for others. She knew she was falling for him. If he came back right now and asked if he could claim her, she might just say yes.

But maybe it was because she was so starved for the kind of love and attention that being a shifter's mate promised her. He was right, she had to know for sure that she really loved him. She laughed darkly and wiped the rest of the tears from her damp cheeks. She had no idea what love really felt like, and that was difficult to accept.

Selkie was the last stop on the trip before the crew would be returning home, but she wanted to stay longer than the few days planned for the shoot.

She stood up and started her nightly routine of skin care and hair care. After wrapping her hair in a silk scarf, she slid under the covers and tried to sleep. She had a very strict health and beauty routine that required her to get eight hours of sleep.

But she lay in bed, unable to think about anything but Damian. She picked up her phone from the bedside table and flicked over to the mate dot com app. She looked at all his photographs again, swooning like a teenage girl. She sighed and placed the phone over her heart, thinking about his embrace and his k!ss. In the few times that Venus had been kissed in her life, it had never felt like that.

She picked up the phone and typed out a text message.

"I can't wait to see you tomorrow." She set the phone back down again, knowing that Damian didn't have a computer or phone of his own.

Falling asleep that night was a challenge, but she finally drifted off and woke again the next morning to her alarm. She went through her morning routine before a quick yoga session in the hotel room. After her stretch, she hit the gym on the first floor of the hotel. She ran a mile on the treadmill and worked her arms and legs before returning to her room for a shower. By then it was 7 o'clock and she needed to start preparing for the shoot.

She checked her phone and found a message from Damian.

"I can't stop thinking about you."

"That makes two of us," she said, adding a winking emoji.

After her shower she moisturized and dressed without applying any makeup. The makeup artists at the shoot would take it off anyway. An hour later in the lobby, she waited with the other models for the van to pull up out front.

"I signed up for mate dot com last night," said Sarah Lynnwood, a model she'd worked with a handful of times before the Alaska trip. She scrolled through the matches with a frown. "I didn't get a 100% match though." Sarah bit her lip and scrunched her eyebrows. "I did," Venus said with a whisper.

"You did what?" Sarah asked, looking up at her with surprise.

"I got a 100% match."

"You did not," she gasped with jealousy and disbelief.

"I did." Venus picked up her phone and tabbed over to mate dot com to show her the picture of Damian with the 100% match beside his profile.

"You bitch," Sarah said, laughing.

Venus knew that Sarah didn't actually believe Venus was a bitch. But being matched with a shifter came with a whole host of advantages compared to the human dating scene.

"He's from here," Venus said.

"He's in Selkie?"

"We met last night. It was the best date of my life."

"How many dates have you even been on, Venus?" Sarah asked, knowing Venus's strict lifestyle from their previous work together.

"At least two or three," Venus said, shoving her phone back in her purse.

The other model rolled her eyes. "I guess congratulations is in order."

"You could say that."

"What's your mother going to say?" Sarah mocked.

It was a running joke among some of the models in the agency, considering Venus's mother traveled with her everywhere. In some ways it had helped insulate Venus from some of the more toxic aspects of being a young model on the international stage, but on the other hand, she had to deal with this kind of sniping. Venus bit her l!p as the van pulled up outside the hotel. She pretended like Sarah had never asked the question. Then the jealous model sat next to her in the van and asked about her mother again.

"I'm twenty-four years old. I don't need my mother's permission to date."

"Are you sure about that?" Sarah taunted.

"I haven't told her yet, to be honest. Damian and I were just matched. It's not like we're getting married or anything."

"I thought that fated mates were it for a shifter. Are you telling me that he's not for you?"

Venus let out a long-suffering sigh and looked out the window. Damian certainly felt like it for her. But she had very little experience with men. Even at the ripe old age of twenty-four with thousands of miles clocked on jets around the world, with all the people she'd met at every fancy party she'd attended, her actual experience with romantic relationships was almost zero.

"He is handsome and kind and we had a wonderful date," she said, trying to be objective. She was getting sick of this conversation. She wasn't catty with other models as a rule, but Sarah was testing her patience.

"Well, good for you," Sarah said, standing up in the van and moving to the back with some of the other models. They giggled and laughed behind her, and Venus rolled her eyes. She was tired of always being the girl everyone else snickered at because of her mother's overprotectiveness and stage mom behavior.

Venus realized, not for the first time, that she needed to get out from under her mother's thumb. If that meant taking Damian as her mate and staying in Selkie to start a new life, or simply getting a new manager, something had to be done. She couldn't live like this anymore.

When they made it to the shoot location, Venus focused on doing her best and posing for the camera. She tried to push Damian and her mother from her mind, but after the shoot was over, and the driver took the models back to the hotel, anxiety rose in her chest, and it was all she could think about. She called the shoot organizer to let her know that she'd be staying on after today and wouldn't be traveling back with the rest of the crew.

"Okay. Does your mom, I mean, manager know about this?" she asked Venus.

"Yes of course. We're both fully in agreement. I'm just going to take a little time off to rest and unwind. Selkie is such a charming place. Perfect for a little vacation."

"You don't have to explain yourself to me," said the shoot organizer. "I just don't want to get any flak from your mom."

"Of course not. Thank you so much."

Venus got off the phone and sighed, scrubbing her face with her hands. Her mother was notorious in the industry for being difficult and domineering. Despite all that, Venus still booked high-end work, which really came down to her own talent and abilities. The last person she wanted to talk to right now was her mom, though if she didn't show up in New York on the return flight, there would be hell to pay.

But Venus didn't want to think about that right now. She had a date with Damian and that was all she cared about.

After she changed into some comfortable clothing, she met Damian down in the lobby of the hotel. He was even more beautiful in the light of day. Their eyes met across the lobby, and she walked toward him as if in a dream. She dressed in jeans and hiking boots and her all-weather parka. He had promised to take her for a hike up into the mountains, and she couldn't wait to experience the outdoors and fresh air with her rugged wolf shifter. "You look prepared," he said, reaching out to take her hand.

"So do you," she said with a laugh. He was wearing outdoor clothes that suited him perfectly. His long blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail and his chin sported a day of stubble.

He smiled. "I packed a picnic lunch. I hope you're hungry."

"I'm famished," she said.

She was supposed to fast for most of the day and then eat a low-fat, low-calorie meal for dinner, but with Damian she wanted to consume the whole world and feel full. Completely full for the first time in her life. Something about being with him gave her permission to really live, and it was a feeling that she didn't want to give away.