His Arrogant Human Mate novel Chapter 58

Dominic turned to look at me with a sad look on his face, grabbing my hand tightly. "Listen, Cara, darling, I am sorry. But you are just moving way too fast for me. I like you a lot, but I need more time to enjoy what we have," he announced dramatically.

My brows were raised in confusion, unsure what he was trying to say. What the hell was going on. "Dominic... Um-"

"No. Sugar, I know how excited you were about the ceremony. I know how much you wanted it and you've just been counting down the days, the minutes," Dominic said. The more he spoke, the more a small smile was growing on my face. "I know Caroline is the one I want for my mate. But I need more time before Mating her. I hope you'll forgive me, Cara."

By now, I was biting my lip to keep from laughing. I don't think anyone was fooled by his whole facade. But who was going to question him? Laura thrummed her fingers across the table, one brow arched. "So you want to cancel the party a couple days before? That's quite extreme."

"Could we still hold it, just minus the Mating ritual?" Dominic quizzed.

Laura nodded slowly. "Yes. But I'd recommend that you don't tell anyone that the ritual isn't occurring. It can be faked."

Dominic's lips turned down. "What? Is that allowed? That sounds against-"

The three of them all laughed lightly, good-naturedly. "Hon, your father and his father before him did the same thing. It is not uncommon for the ritual to be an illusion. No one would ever know. We simply do all of the same steps to the ritual, but you don't consummate it. It isn't as mad as you may think," Ida explained. "How does that sound?"

Dominic glanced at me from the corner of his eye, a grin appearing on his face. "Perfect. Is that a good compromise, sugar?"

I bobbed my head. "Yeah, that's fine. I guess."

He shot me a subtle wink, lifting my hand to his mouth so he could place a kiss on my knuckles. "Alright. So it's settled. Thank you all for coming, I apologize that this meeting did not turn out quite as planned, but hopefully, you will be here soon for the real ceremony. Now, my mate has had a long night and I would like to get her into bed as soon as possible."

Dominic saw the three of them out and had a pack member drive them to where they were staying before returning to my side, where I stood at the front doors. He closed and locked them before grinning smugly at me.

The bed shifted behind me, making me jolt awake and go into fighting mode. "Shh, sugar, it's just me," Dominic hummed, kissing the side of my face repeatedly to soothe me.

I glanced at the clock on the bedside table and groaned, rolling onto my back to glare up at him in confusion. "Dom, it's six in the morning," I grumbled groggily. I opened my mouth to talk, but he pressed a glass of cool water to my lips instead.

"I know you like having some water as soon as you wake up. Your voice is a little scratchy too," he explained with a small smile, sitting down at my side. "Good morning, Caroline. You're looking beautiful today."

I sighed deeply, grabbing a pillow and yanking it over my face. "What is going onnnn?" I whined. "Why are you up?"

Dominic laughed, setting the glass aside before rubbing my stomach. "I am going on a run. And didn't want you to wake up alone and confused. Sorry to wake you." He stole the pillow from me with his free hand, leaning in to wait for a kiss. "Give me a kiss goodbye."