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“Far as I know, Bull Shifters do not create Shifters through their bite.”

“Why did you even do that in the first place?”

“What? Bite you? Ah, well, I bit you because you belong to me. I mean, not in a creepy way! Not in a you’re my property way, but, dammit, I mean we belong together, er, to each other.”

Her brows shoot up like they’ve just hit escape velocity.

I lift my hands.

“Okay, listen. You’re smart, you’re gorgeous, and you’re absolutely terrifying when you’re pissed off, but this isn’t a pickup line, I swear. We’re what my kind calls?—”

“Let me guess.” She narrows her eyes. “Fated Mates?”

I blink. “Yes?”

She sighs, dramatically. “Of course. Of freaking course.”

Then, after a long pause where she glares at me like I just admitted I eat puppies, she mutters, “Can’t even have a one-night stand without someone biting me and declaring supernatural marriage like that sexy Werewolf novel I read with that Book Club I just joined! My life is so weird.”

She huffs, and I swear, it’s like she’s not even talking to me.

But despite everything—the panic, the danger, the naked toddler formerly known as a Bear cub—I laugh.

Because she’s here.

She hasn’t run.

Not yet.

She’s processing out loud. Of course, she is doing it in a way that is completely off kilter and totally, gloriously Arliss.

But for a guy like me?

That’s a damn miracle.

And I’ll take it.

I’ll hold on to it.

With both fucking hands.

Chapter Thirteen-Arliss

I’d just hung up with Gramps, who insisted, for the third time, that he could make his own damn toast.

“I’ve been feeding myself since long before you were even an idea,” he grumbled.

I already told him I was with Kian, or as Gramps knows him, the Romeo cowboy I met at the rodeo last month. We don’t have secrets from each other, and I am well over the age of consent.

“Don’t worry about me. Mrs. Stevens is coming at noon to play Bridge with her famous tuna casserole. You just go handle whatever hot mess you got going on over there, and when you’re done, bring the boy by. Gotta make sure he’s up to par for my grandbaby.”

My heart squeezed.

But I kept it light.

“Play nice, Gramps. I’ll see you in a bit.”

Truthfully?