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That smile and that line did something to me. The heat in his eyes ignited a warmth that started in my chest and spread all the way to my core. I tried to keep it to myself, but I knew he felt it through the bond.

Maybe I should put up a wall in the bond.

“Could you please come to my cabin? I made sure to get one here so I could be close by and work on things, remember? How can we work on things if you’re in a different cabin?”

It was my turn to raise a brow at him. “By you coming over to Char and Nate’s house?”

He made an annoyed face but then smiled and shook his head. “If that’s what you wish, then I will learn to deal with it.”

Huh… That’s not at all how I expected him to react. Was this the same guy?

“No. I’m not the guy I was before. If I want you, then I need to fight for you. I won’t force you, though.”

Fair enough.

“Okay. We can go to your cabin. Under one condition.”

“Whatever you want.”

I looked down at the baby nursing on me, and I was tired of him not having a name. I didn’t know what to name him, so we needed to figure one out before we left this place.

“You name the baby.”

He did not expect that. His jaw dropped as he stopped massaging my foot, nearly jumping off the bed. He kept looking at me like I had just dropped a bomb on him. Was this really that unexpected?

“You want me to name the baby?”

Through the bond, I sent him some reassurance that I wasn’t trying to trick him. “Yes. I came from a pack of people who allowed my abuse to happen and didn’t once try to stop my father or his girlfriend. Then my father…” I looked away, stopping myself from letting the tears fall. I wouldn’t cry over the man who never wanted me. “You know more names than I do and probably know one that would suit this little guy better than I do. So please, name him.”

This was something big, clearly, but it was also a gesture of my desire to work on things. If I wanted this to work, then we needed to trust each other.

The baby stopped suckling, and I heard his small snores. It was a good thing he was such a good baby because if he had cried or fussed while Maximus was here, I think I would have lost my mind. Maximus walked over and sat on the bed again, this time higher up so he could see the baby’s face. It took a few moments, but then I could see a smile spreading across his face.

“He kind of looks like my dad. I don’t think I deserve to have a junior, given the way I treated you. So, how about we name him after a great king instead?”

“Titan?”

“Yeah.”

I looked down at my son and had to agree. I’d seen photos of Titan, and I did meet him once when I was very young. He did look a lot like Titan. There were moments I could see a lot of Maximus in him, too, but I was happy with the name.

“Titan… I like it.”

***

It amazed me how easy it was to walk around now. Ever since I connected with my lycan, things had become much easier. I had completely healed from the surgery, and even taking care of Titan didn’t faze me much. However, I also wasn’t allowed to do much for him from the moment I walked into the cabin.

Maximus had taken over everything.

The most I was allowed to do was feed him, and that was because I had the breasts. I knew that if Maximus could, he would feed Titan, too, just so I wouldn’t have to do a thing. Outside of caring for the baby, the only thing I was allowed to do was cook. Maximus didn’t know how to cook much, yet he somehow stocked the house with everything, including some of my favorite snacks, like potato chips.

There were a dozen bags across the countertop, and I had a hard time choosing at times. But I constantly told him thank you and did my best not to fall over the edge into loving him, even though it was easy. He made it easy.

How he was at the clinic was the same way he was here. Anytime we sat down, he would move to where he could grab my leg and rub it with a gentle touch or even massage my feet and legs after a few bouts of Titan not wanting to fall asleep. Each time he touched me, it felt like my body was on fire. It intensified my need to feel those hands all over me, and I had to stop myself from begging for it.

Then, he would be sure to kiss me on the forehead or cheek whenever he could. Through the bond, I could feel his desire to do more than that, but he stopped himself each time he got close to giving in. His lycan was a demanding one. It was pushing Maximus to complete the bond with me again, but he held his lycan back when he told him no. Maximus wanted to show me they could be incredible mates to me and make me desire the bond to be completed before he would do it.

It was too easy to fall into this bond, and I still had to know what this curse could do to Titan. But every time I asked, Maximus would tell me he didn’t know what I was talking about.