“And that is …”
“Your scent … it smells so good to me. And then, when we touched, there was that spark of electricity.”
Her words sent him into shock. So, she had felt it too.
“And my wolf, she … it’s like she …”
A tightness in his chest coiled up like a spring as he recognized each and every one of the things she said. “You caught mine’s attention the moment you walked into the room,” he finished.
Her face went pale, and her head bobbed.
“And now it won’t stop hounding me.” He gritted his teeth. “It wants to be around you all the time and make sure you’re safe.”
Her voice was barely a whisper. “Mine too.”
“But …” No, he couldn’t believe it. It couldn’t be. “Am I supposed to do anything? Do we have to get married?”
“No!” The horror in her voice sent another stab of unknown pain through him. “I mean, it’s not a requirement or anything. For us to …”
That should have made him feel relieved. Instead it made him feel something he shouldn’t. Had no right to be feeling. “I can’t stay here. I won’t.”
“I know.”
Dread filled him. “What do you mean, you know?”
“Nick told me everything. He had to, before I agreed to take you on.” She blew out a breath. “Xavier’s been causing him trouble since he was just a kid. I wasn’t really surprised to hear that he’d snuck out of his latest boarding school to go to Mardi Gras.” Green emerald pools fixed on him. “And you saved his life.”
“I was at the right place at the right time.” Actually, he’d been on one of the “errands” his former Alpha had sent him on to a biker bar in New Orleans. That’s where he saw the younger Vrost, who had the bad luck—or perhaps it was his lack of common sense—of pissing off the local MC chapter by hustling them at pool. He won fair and square, but the president didn’t like being made a fool of, so he had Vrost drugged, and then sent his guys to mess him up. The bikers were about to cart him off to God knows where when Delacroix intervened. “I didn’t really think he was in danger.”
“That’s not how Nick put it. He said those guys put so many drugs in his system, he would have died if he wasn’t a Lycan. You took him away to safety with your little trick and then called Nick.”
What choice did he have? The boy was unconscious, and the only thing he had on him was a phone. There had already been several missed messages from his father at that point. Of course, when he realized who Nick Vrost was … well, at that time, he thought it had been good luck. Little did he know that the only way Vrost could get him free of Remy was to transfer him to New York. But he was desperate that night he contacted Vrost, and by then, he had no choice. It was either stay and follow orders, join New York, or go Lone Wolf, which he had not been prepared to do. He could only choose the lesser evil.
“Nick owed you for what you did for Xavier,” she finished. “And you didn’t waste any time calling in that favor.”
“Yes.” That was the short version anyway. “Vrost and his Alpha had friends in high places. He owed me, why shouldn’t I use that?” He was free from Remy’s influence, and that was all that mattered. “Fuck,” he muttered. How did they get to talking about his history? “You’re good at changing the subject. So, this is why you’ve been avoiding me? Because you didn’t want me to find out we were supposedly True Mates.”
There was a long pause before she answered. “Yes. I … not exactly.”
“Not exactly? Were you just going to leave me hanging without any explanation as to what was happening? Or avoid me forever?”
“I … you see.” She blew out a breath and muttered something under her breath. “This wasn’t … I was going to …” Her hands curled at her sides, and her teeth clenched. “I wanted to talk to you about something. To offer you … a way out. I just didn’t know how to go about it.”
“A way out?” he echoed again. This was frustrating, the way she talked in half sentences and riddles.
“You see, I wanted to ask you to … this wasn’t … I was going to—”
“Cher, just spit it out.”
“I want you to give me something.”
“What?”
“A baby.”
Something short-circuited in his brain. Surely, he heard wrong. “Excuse me?”
Her cheeks turned bright red. “You heard me. I want … I want a pup.”
“With me?”
“Y-yes.”
His wolf howled in agreement. But him … “Surely I’m not your top candidate.” This was a joke, right?
“You’re not,” she bit out. “But my she-wolf thinks you’re our True Mate, so I don’t have a choice. You’re the only one who could give me a pup.”
He scratched his head. “I’m not an educated man, hell I didn’t even finish high school, but I’m pretty sure I know how biology works.”
“Not True Mate biology,” she said. “You see, if we … if we … you and I …”
“Fucked,” he completed.
Her lips pursed distastefully. “Yes. If we did, then I’ll get pregnant right away. We don’t even have to do it more than once.”
He stared at her, still waiting for the punchline. When she remained silent, he knew she wasn’t joking. “You’re serious.”
“I am.”
There was something in her voice … a quiet desperation. So, she wanted a baby so bad that even he would do?
“I could give you something too,” she added. “Something you want.”
His jaw tensed. “And you know what I want?”
“You want freedom,” she stated. “I can help you.”
A sardonic laugh escaped his lips. “You can get the Alpha to free me from my sentence? I doubt
