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When Jennifer left for her phone call, the intense heat in Mark's body, and in the air around him, dropped by several degrees. He could finally breathe again.

Never had he been so attracted to a woman before. He noticed everything about the way she moved: her athletic legs and build, the way the fabric of her shirt clung to her breasts, the exhaustion in her light blue eyes. She looked like she wanted to love. Was open to the idea of perhaps even lovinghim.

But there was also sorrow hidden there, a hesitation he'd yet to unravel. She was a mystery he was keen to follow the clues to.

The second he saw her, he wanted to kiss her. He wanted to hear the sound of her pleasure in his ear, to feel her shiver at his touch.

It had been a long, long time since he last had a woman. Back when he was a true Alpha, he could have had anyone he wanted. Now, he knew he would have Jennifer.

It was only a matter of time. A matter of trust. And after just a few minutes with her, he had the feeling that wasn't going to take long at all. When she took his arm on the way in, her touch had been electrifying ... now he wanted nothing else.

Maybe Jake had been right all along. Maybe Mark had been caught up in the idea that Ariya was his mate and never thought to consider the other possibilities: she wasn't his mate, just his first love.

And now whatever he felt for Jennifer, it challenged the misconception he'd been living with for the last ten years.

Somehow, he was okay with that.

Jennifer was new and exciting ... and in just the few minutes he'd been near her, he sensed the possibility of something more.

In the hall, Jennifer raised her voice. He winced at the sound, but crept a bit closer. Not because he really wanted to eavesdrop, he just wanted to make sure she was okay.

"I have enough for the first four payments, which is more than enough time for me to sort out the details of my plan," Jennifer said.

A human wouldn't have been able to hear her through the wall, but Mark's wolf senses gave him an advantage. Just hearing her voice made his whole body prickle, made his wolf raise its ears with eagerness. It was a good sign that his wolf seemed to like Jennifer as much as he did ... but once he got over the initial pleasure of hearing her voice, he realized just how concerning her words were.

She sighed. "Yes, I have a plan."

He had no idea who she was talking to, so that immediately removed a lot of potential useful context when considering what kind of 'plan' she referred to. His immediate worry was that it might have something to do with their pending marriage ... but he didn't think that made any sense, either.

He felt bad for immediately assuming she was up to something. But after so long of being alone, away from other people to interact with, it was easy for him to become suspicious. Part of the reason Mark remained isolated for so long was because of the fear of betrayal, seeing enemies at every corner, that the goblin's cursed treasure hoard once instilled in him.

At times, he worried that it still affected him. But after all these years, and only physically touching gold pieces that werecleansed by a witch beforehand, it was impossible. He was just afraid of himself.

Mark cut away all his suspicions when he heard her sniffling. His wolf's hackles raised inside him, and he gritted his teeth. Jennifer was upset about something. Was he going to have to beat someone up for her?

He shook his head, trying to keep him from jumping to conclusions—any kind. Stood in front of the cold fireplace, watching the way the light reflected through the stained glass leaves. Each leaf, each color, glimmered in a different way from the next.

A moment later, Jennifer came back. "Sorry about that."

The first thing he noticed when she looked at him was the red rims around her eyes, the slight puffiness. "Have you been crying?" he said. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "It's nothing."

Mark came up closer to her. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and hug her close, but he wasn't sure if that was the right move. But his wolf's determination rose inside of him, and he made the move anyway.

He placed his arms around her shoulders, pulling her face against his neck. She melted against him, as if she, too, experienced the burning warmth that came when he felt her against him. A tidal wave of heat and stirred desire, but Mark shoved those sensations aside to focus on Jennifer's needs instead.

"I promise it's not usually the kind of work I do, but if someone is giving you trouble, I have two good fists," Mark said.

Jennifer managed a half-laugh through her sniffles. "Unless you can punch cancer into the dust, I don't think that's going to help."

A trickle of cold invaded the warmth of Jennifer's body against his. He tightened his hold on her, not sure he heard her right.

"Cancer? You're far too young for cancer, tell me it's not true," Mark said.

He knew it wasn't impossible for people in their 30s or younger to develop certain kinds of cancer, but it wasn't typically an illness associated with people their age.

"Not me," she said. "My mother. Diagnosed last year. Her lungs."