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“I didn’t say that.”

“You certainly did say that.”

“No. He was very nice the night he came and picked up his son, and how he was with Chris and his parents was really kind. He didn’t give a crap that his son was gay, and I was very touched by all of that.”

“Yeah. Apparently you were very touched in your lady parts.”

“Vy! I’m a mated hawk.”

“Which apparently doesn’t mean rugged-looking older men don’t turn your key,” I teased. “I would remind you that you’re going to be a mother.”

“Because of you,” she said suddenly, tears welling up fast as she lunged at me.

“God,” I grumbled as she squeezed me. “Nine months of you all hormonal?”

She didn’t take the bait, instead continuing to hug me. “I have to take this asshole to jail; I finally got his wife to press charges.”

“Good,” I said as we unclenched. “How were you planning to get him in the car if I hadn’t shown up?”

“Normally I have to wait for Zach,” she answered, “so it’s good you were here.”

“Did Carlo tell you to convene the ket for our regular meeting?”

“He did, but we could have skipped it. Everyone thought you were going out to a meeting with me and Carlo and Robert to see the alpha.”

“I’d rather have things be as normal as possible,” I said. I leaned in to kiss her cheek, which I never did, and then I turned to walk to my truck.

“Wait.” She stopped me with a hand on my arm. “What’s going on? Why aren’t you at work, and why did you take a trip to see the alpha alone?”

I shrugged.

“Tell me.”

I cleared my throat. “Robert’s mother told me how much I’m going to love being on the road with him because new experiences are the spice of life. She said she hopes I keep a journal.”

“Uh-huh.” Lou scowled at me.

Robert’s mother had been gushing about the stars in my backyard and saying how stunning it was, but that it wasn’t any more beautiful than the next town we would find ourselves in. “There’s always a new adventure,” she told me, and she was certain Robert and I would make a fine home together on the road.

“I see,” Lou said softly. “So you’re worried about leaving the ket and your folks and me and Carlo and everyone.”

I nodded.

She shook her head. “Any kind of leader doesn’t go on the road, Vy. Everyone knows that.”

“She didn’t.”

“She’s not a shifter, so she has no idea. Cut her some slack.”

“Cut her slack? She’s the one who practically told me I could either go on the road with Robert or say good-bye to my mate.”

“You’re so dramatic.”

“Lou!”

“Oh, for the love of God, Vy, we both know Robert wouldn’t stay away forever, and I’m not convinced he would even go away in the first place.”

“Lou––”

“But if he does, if he has to for work, he’ll come back no matter how many times he has to leave. He’d just be going on trips.”

“But how often?”

“I don’t know,” she replied honestly. “That’s something for you guys to discuss, but it’s certainly not something to freak out about. He’s your mate. He’ll never run away.”

I was having trouble breathing.

“He loves you. I can see it all over him, and so can everyone else. Most of the ket saw you with Robert that night with the wolves. They saw you rein him in, bring him back to himself. Robert protected us, and we’re all so thankful. We’re not strong like he is. Collectively we’re powerful, but not individually. The entire ket realizes that to have a strong, gentle man around who can also transform into one of the most powerful predators any of us has ever seen is a blessing.”

I nodded fast.

“But even more than that, the two of you together…. Vy,” she sighed, “you make our ket a home. Your mate complements you in every way, and you do the same for him.”

“No,” I said hoarsely. “Robert is the good one. I’m just—”

“Oh no,” she stopped me. “Vy, you’re so strong. You have no idea. If you were weak in any way, there’s no chance Robert would have looked twice at you. He’s gentle, and you’re like a fist, but you have such a generous, giving heart that you need him to stop you from draining yourself dry in every endeavor.”

“You love me; you’re biased.”

“I am, but even though that’s true, I can promise you that I adore Robert, and I can’t wait for my son or daughter to meet him.”

“If he’s not off seeing the world the day you give birth.”

She put a hand on my face. “Maybe talk to the man before you flip out, huh?”

I growled and turned around, stalking over to my truck.

“So eight at the Reyes’s house?” she yelled over to me. “It’s their turn to host.”

“That’s fine!”

“I love it when you say fine like that, like you want to tear somebody’s face off!”

I got in my truck and rolled down the window to say something else to her. She beat me to it.

“And why aren’t you working today?”

“I’m the boss. I can take off whenever I damn well please!”

“Must be nice,” she said sarcastically, lowering her aviator sunglasses down her nose so she could give me a look.

“I’ll see you later,” I called back sweetly. “I hope you called your mother.”

She flipped me off, and I cackled as I drove away. Unfortunately, my good mood lasted as long as it took me to get to the hardware store. I was planning to make a table out of some pallets that got left at my last jobsite and so was after carpentry nails. When I was looking for the right ones, I was suddenly grabbed and shoved hard into the shelf.

“Hello, little bird.”

I didn’t want to play with him, because I needed to gird myself against his leaving. It would gut me; I needed to start putting some distance between us so it’d hurt less.

“Knock it off,” I groused, tugging free, pushing until he backed off and then walking a few feet away before I turned to face him. “What are you doing in here?”

He furrowed his brow. “I’m getting more chicken wire. What are you doing here?”

“Getting nails,” I answered dully, pivoting to leave.

“Wait,” he ordered, taking hold of my arm and drawing me close so he could look down into my eyes. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“Oh, you’re so lying,” he said softly, reaching out to brush my hair out of my face before he bent and pressed his nose to the side of my neck. “You’re so transparent, and… I…. Vy.”

Putting my hands firmly on his chest, I shoved back from him.

“Why the hell do you smell like wolf?” he asked, his voice dangerously low.

“Why do you think?” I said, challenging him, knowing what he’d say—that I was a whore and that I’d slept around on him—which would make it easier to be mad at him and put distance between us and—

“I think you went by yourself to meet with Wyatt McCarron, and when you left, he hugged you good-bye. That’s what I think.”

The man couldn’t even get mad correctly. Bastard!

“Yeah. Are you mad?” I pushed, baiting him.

His sigh was heavy. “I wish you had waited for me, and I’m very interested to know why you felt the need to go now instead of later like we planned, but, no, I’m not mad. You’re the kuar, he’s the alpha—you two have to talk.”

I threw up my hands and stormed out of the store. Robert caught me at my truck, and when I opened the door, he slammed it shut.

“So you’re mad at me because I didn’t get jealous?” he asked, correctly surmising the reason for my frustration.

“Maybe you don’t care and that’ll make it a lot easier when you’re out on the road. You probably want an open relationship, don’t you?”

He squinted at me. “I’m sorry, where precisely am I going?”

“Out on the road,” I repeated.

“Uh-huh,” he grunted, rubbing his forehead. “And when am I doing this?”

“Don’t play dumb. I don’t wanna play this game. I know you long for the open road.”

“I long for the what?”

“Open road!” I snapped, sounding stupid and not able to stop.

“And you acquired this knowledge by way of….”

“Your mother,” I rasped, turning away from him because it hurt so badly to even imagine him driving away from me, and he was taking it all so lightly.

“Oh,” he huffed out, nodding. “Yes. Okay. Everything makes sense all of a sudden. You’ve been a basket case since they left, and now I know why.”

“I have not been a—”

“Get in the truck,” he ordered me, “and go home.”

“I—”

“Now,” he said flatly. “Fly home, little bird.”

I saw red. “You do not tell me what to—”

“Oh, the hell I don’t,” he rumbled, grasping my fleece-lined denim jacket and dragging me forward at the same time.

My vision blurred as I looked up at him.

“You’re such an idiot sometimes.”

I struggled, but he bent and ground his hot mouth down over mine.

I shuddered in his grip, the power and heat in the man obliterating all trace of anger in me, the long, hard, wet kiss rendering me breathless and pliant in moments. When he moved his hands to my ass, I moaned loudly as he lifted me, wrapping my legs around his hips and coiling my arms around his neck to keep him close.

When he finally had to break the kiss to breathe, I rested my forehead on his shoulder.

“You will go home because I want to talk to you. Something has been festering in your brain since my folks left, and now I finally know what the hell it is.”

“Will you want to sleep with other people while you’re gone?” I asked weakly.

“I should take offense at that ridiculous question, but I won’t because I can hear every drop of heartbreak in your voice.”

I shivered in his arms.

“Please go home, little bird; I’ll follow right behind you.”

Tilting my head up, I met his gaze.

“I promise. Right behind you.”

I nodded, and he put me down gently before kissing my nose and sliding his hand around the back of my neck. He nuzzled my hair and then walked to his truck. I got in mine and headed home. As promised, he was right behind me.

Robert

T
HE
FACT
that he waited for me to get out of my truck instead of rushing into the house was a good sign. He was still upset, worried, frazzled, but he was giving me a chance to talk to him and help him through it. After taking his hand in mine, I led us to the door and into the cozy living room.

“Go ahead and sit down. I’ll make a fire and get you a drink.”

He opened his mouth to argue, but I cupped his cheek and said, “Please, little bird. You look exhausted.”

With a nod and rapid blinking of his pretty green eyes, he went to the couch and sat down. Within a few minutes, I had a fire going and two cups of hot cocoa sitting on one of the rustic tables Vy had made from scrap wood. The man was immensely talented.

“Robert?” he said, his voice quiet but strained. “I need to know what—”

“You know I love you.” I placed my palm over his heart and sat beside him. “You can feel it. I know you can.”

He swallowed hard and nodded.

“So you have to know I’m not going to leave you. Not for work, not for adventure, not for anything.”

“Okay.” He sniffled. “I was just… I heard you and your mom talking in the kitchen, and then later your parents were both going on about life on the road and how much you love it. It was clear they expected you to move on from here, and they figured I’d follow you, which I would, except I can’t. The ket needs me. So then I—”

“You freaked out,” I summarized with a grin. “You heard something, and then this amazing brain of yours”—I massaged his temples—“started running and coming up with all sorts of scenarios.”

“Don’t make it seem like I was being unreasonable,” he snapped and then crossed his arms over his chest. “The way you grew up, your job, the things your mother said. Anybody would have thought the same thing.”

“Anybody with deep emotions.” I traced his delicate eyebrows with my thumbs. “Anybody who has so much life and fire in him that it erupts whenever his feathers get ruffled.”

He frowned. “I can’t decide if you’re complimenting me or insulting me.”

“It’s a compliment.” Tugging him onto my lap, I wrapped my arms around him and held on tightly. “You got upset because you care about me and want me around.” I kissed his cheek. “That’s always a good thing. Plus, and I know I probably shouldn’t admit this, I find your little temper tantrums kind of cute.”

Narrowing his eyes, he tilted his head to the side and dangerously said, “Did you reduce my legitimate and sincere concern to a temper tantrum and then call it cute?”

“Yeah, see?” I smiled broadly. “That’s exactly what I mean.” I buried my face in his hair and inhaled deeply. “I love all that spit and vinegar. How could you think I’d ever walk away from that? Walk away from you?”

Lowering his gaze, he chewed on his bottom lip. “You like traveling and seeing new places. You have a great job.” He shrugged and sighed. “I thought maybe you’d feel, I don’t know, trapped and bored staying in this little town.” He looked at me from underneath his lashes. “In this little house.”

“This town is wonderful. It’s quirky and unique and full of strangely interesting people.” I took his chin in my hand, tilted his face up, and kissed him gently. “To my parents, staying in one place feels like being caged. But to me, planting roots feels like security and comfort. I want a home, a den, a place to build and grow with. Something like this.” I pointed all around the warm living room. “But those are just bonuses.” I nipped his bottom lip and then licked it to soothe the sting. “They’re not the actual reasons I’m staying here.”