Keeper (Matefinder Next Generation Book 1) by Leia Stone

I’ll be back soon. I have an idea.”
    Then he simply walked away, but before he got out of sight, he called back to Gavin.
    “Don’t leave her side. She’s your mate.”
    Then he was gone. Shit! Really? You’re going to drop that bomb before you leave? Fricken shaman.
    “What the …” Gavin started, and looked at me with a gaze I couldn’t interpret. Relief? Excitement? I was pretty sure my cheeks were the color of strawberries and it wasn’t the fever.
    “…hell is going on?” My mother finished his sentence and looked at me.
    I shrugged. “I can’t even process what just happened.” I knew my mother would understand about the visions and how traumatizing and confusing they could be. She nodded but Gavin was still staring oddly at me, as if with a renewed wonder.
    “May I talk to you privately?” he asked me and my mother raised one eyebrow and suppressed a smile. She nodded and walked off into the house. Gavin walked a few feet off into the thick wooded area and I nervously followed. I picked at my cuticles. This was so god damn awkward. Why did Nahuel have to spill that news? The word mate was so weird to a human.
    “So, we’re mates.” He said it like it was no big deal. Humans didn’t understand what meeting your mate was like. It wasn’t like a boyfriend or even a husband. It was your mate . It was the other half of your soul. The person you were meant to walk the earth with, to go through everything with, to have children with. I didn’t know what to say. My wolf had risen to the surface, staking her claim.
    “Yes,” she said with confidence.
    He walked over and leaned in close, looking at my eyes. His breath was warm and smelled good, like cinnamon and home. My heart skipped a beat as he grabbed my hand and inspected my fingernails. My wolf ached for him to touch me and now that he did, I didn’t know what to do. My wolf wanted more, but I was trying to pump the brakes.
    “What are you doing?” I asked dumbfounded.
    Gavin gave me a sexy smile. “You’re a nail biter, with incredible blue eyes, a fierce personality, and you chew on your bottom lip when you’re nervous.”
    I smiled huge and it turned into a laugh.
    “And you have an amazing laugh.” He tucked a chunk of hair behind my ear. “You see, I’m just trying to get to know the beautiful girl I’ve been dreaming about for months.”
    My breath caught. “The dreams … you saw me?”
    He nodded. “Every time, every dream.”
    The heat suddenly flushed through my body making my gasp. My wolf couldn’t take the distance any longer and suddenly I was pressed up against his tight muscular body.
    “My wolf. She … I …” I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t normally this forward, but this was my mate and my wolf wanted to put her scent all over him. Suddenly, I thought of the girl he was with at the bar and I forced myself to back up a few inches. His face fell as if he was anticipating something more. Dammit.
    “Tomatoes,” I blurted.
    “What?” His dark hair shook as he snapped out of whatever trance I had put him in.
    “I hate tomatoes,” I offered and he smiled.
    “Me too, but ketchup is fine.” His mannerisms were casual, but I was noticing every flex of his biceps. God, someone get this boy a shirt before I claim him right here with my mother and Alpha father in the house.
    I nodded. “Obviously, but ketchup isn’t as good as ranch.”
    His smile was so wide now I saw that the dimple on his right cheek was more indented than the left. “I guess we are mates, if you rank ranch above ketchup,” he told me, giving me a hooded gaze.
    I smiled, eyeing his lips. “That’s it then. Definitely mates.”
    ‘His grandfather wants to see him when you guys are done making out,’ Jaxon told me and I groaned, blushing.
    Gavin furrowed his brow. “What’s wrong?”
    “My twin brother and I can talk into each other’s minds like an Alpha can with his pack mates.”
    Gavin looked impressed. “Cool.”
    “Your