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I just laughed and got her a new fork when I saw she’d dropped hers. I knelt next to her and held it out like it was something way more important than a fork.

“Thank you, kind sir,” she sighed as she took it. Then she gave me a quick kiss before mumbling not to let the food go cold when she’d worked so hard to make it for us.

I did as she asked and happily gobbled up everything she’d made like a complete glutton.

“You’re coming with me to the gala for Amanda’s Hope, right?” she checked, looking relieved when I nodded. “Good. I’m giving a speech now that it’s out that I’m the head of the nonprofit. I’m thinking of telling the story of Amanda—making it public.”

I froze in my next bite. “Obviously not the blood part?”

“No, not that part,” she confirmed. “I was also thinking of inviting your mom and sister. They could use a bit of good energy and the events for that charity are empowering.”

I nodded in agreement but then froze again. “Am I going to be one of the only men there?”

“No, but we can invite your whole family if you want to increase the testosterone,” she teased. “It will be mainly women, but—there are a lot of men who support what we do. Men who got out their sisters or helped their mothers when older.”

“I’ll invite my family if they can promise to behave.” I snorted. “They do well in public. We fake it well in the Clark family.”

“You arenotthe only ones who do that,” she comforted. “Whatever you feel is best. I know it’s last minute.” She let out a slow breath. “Theresa’s coming, and Aurora is basically running the show so…”

“You’re glad she’s jumping in and using what she knows to help others, but it’s still a lot of mental load for you,” I surmised.

“Yes.Yes, that’s what I’m feeling.” She reached for her wine. “Plus, everything with Renee—gods, what a mess. It—I’ve seen so much darkness that the idea of mating terrifies me. I don’t know if that will ever change.”

I swallowed loudly, hearing what she was trying to tell me. “I would never push you, but I do want that one day. You know that. I want pups too.”

“Soon?” she worried.

“No. I want to be at least double my age—having pups before people stop calling you pup can be dangerous for someone as powerful as I am. So far distant future.”

“But not mating will be difficult for your wolf,” she said, giving me a look not to deny it.

“He’s pretty chill compared to most Alpha’s. Yes, he would mate you tomorrow and be done, but he cannot see you upset. That would upset you. He understands that. It’s more of balancing to make sure he knows we’re the only man—wolf in your life. You should probably spoil him more. You’ve only met him once really and you were annoyed that he saved you.”

She frowned. “We’ve long since dealt with—”

“Wehave,” I corrected, gesturing between the two of us. “Have you said anything to my wolf?” I nodded when she frowned. “Shifters aren’t being dramatic when we say it’s like having another person in here, Ellie.”

She nodded. “Okay, then I’ve got some reading to do. I’ve mostly only been with warlocks, humans—”

“You’ve been with humans?” I asked, thinking most never went there before they were all shipped off.

She seemed shocked by my confusion. “That’s how most vampires got blood before we had modern abilities to bag it, Ha-joon. I don’t know a single vampire my age that hasn’t had a list of human lovers. I know we as a species try to glorify how we killed monsters for the better of society, but that’s not the only way we feed. There wouldn’t be any assholes left if we did.”

Yeah, that was more than fair.

My wolf lurched inside of me and I cleared my throat. “You did nothing wrong but—”

“Don’t bring up my past love life and be careful what we discuss while your wolf is unmated,” she surmised. “Did he hear me accept your love and respond? Can’t he sit with that for a while?”

“Does that work normally with animals even if he’s smarter than a natural one?” I countered, nodding when she sighed. “I know, I know, I’m so much damn work.”

“You are.”

“Yeah, and you’re easy,” I threw right back.

“Do you want me to be easy for you tonight?” she asked with a sexy smirk.

Yes. Yes, I did.