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Her eyes felt heavy. She could just sleep here, right in his arms ...

"I think it might be bedtime for real now," Mark joked. He hefted her up in his arms, carrying her like a husband would his bride, and carried her off to the house.

She closed her eyes, utterly at peace, and let him take her wherever he wanted.

Chapter 6 – Mark

Mark woke with his heart so full he thought it would burst.

He squeezed his arms around Jennifer's sleeping form, enjoying just the feel of her body pressed against his. The curve of her hips and ass, her soft skin and hair, the gentle rise and fall of her chest.

Having her by his side was like living a dream.

He hadn't expected to sleep with her as soon as she arrived, but it had felt so right that he couldn't stop himself.Everythinghad felt right since Jennifer arrived ... those ten years of loneliness and guilt were erased the second she smiled at him. Like everything he'd gone through was worth it all because he now had her with him.

Ariya couldn't have been his mate. If she had been, he wouldn't be falling for Jennifer already. He loved everything about her: her compassion and fearlessness, her sexy body.

He never wanted to let her go. It was too early to tell if she was his mate or not, but that didn't matter to him right now. They were to be married soon, and Mark knew for a fact that he would be more than happy to spend the rest of his life with Jennifer.

When he lifted his head to get an idea of what time it was, he knew from the level of brightness on the other side of the room that they'd slept in. But he didn't mind at all. He didn't have anywhere to be, except with Jennifer. In fact, he was glad. He couldn't remember the last time he had a good, full night's sleep that wasn't filled with guilt-ridden dreams about Ariya and his old pack.

Instead, he dreamt of what his life would be like with Jennifer: once they were married, they would spend most of their life here together at his mansion, exploring the wilderness beyond. Together.

Maybe start a family.

But they could only do that once it was completely safe in the area ... and so long as Mark had that cursed gold beneath his mansion, and those treasure goblins were after it and him, it would never be truly safe to live out that dream.

He had to deal with the goblins sooner rather than later. He'd been patient for ten years, now he needed results.

Before Mark could start thinking about how to expedite the process, Jennifer stirred in his arms. She turned over, and Mark brushed the hair from her face, kissing her forehead, her nose, and then her lips.

Warmth trickled through him. He became even more aware of the press of their naked bodies. He wanted her again ...

"Hey, you," she murmured, her voice still heavy from sleep.

"Good morning. Sleep well?"

She yawned. "Yeah. That flight really did a number on me. I haven't been on a plane since ..."

Jennifer trailed off, and he realized right away that it was because she was thinking of her mom. Whenever she did, she had a certain look in her eyes. A mixture of mourning and guilt.

"Tell me more about her," he said.

"My mom?"

"Mhm, what's she like? She must be an amazing woman to have raised you, and for you to love her as much as you do."

She bit her lip, but there was laughter in her eyes. "She's something, that's for sure. She's the most stubborn person I've ever met ... when she wants something, she's always sure to get it. Failure isn't an option—in the end, she always gets what she wants in one form or another."

There was an innate stubbornness to Jennifer, too. An uncompromising attitude that gave her an air of confidence even when she probably didn't realize it. That was one of the many things Mark loved about her so far.

"I guess that was why when she told me about her diagnosis, the first thing I did was drop my life in Colorado and move back to Oregon," she said. "Otherwise she would have gotten it in her head that she was just going to let nature run its course on her, and there would have been no changing her mind. I couldn't let that happen."

He kissed her cheek. "You've sacrificed a lot for her sake."

"It's nothing she wouldn't have done for me—nothing shehasn'tdone for me. She raised me, after all. For some reason, she doesn't think that's a good enough excuse, though."

She chuckled, but it was laced with her ongoing sadness and worry about her mom. In some sense, Mark understood. His father had died a long time ago, passing the position of Alpha onto him when he was only twenty-one. And his mother died in the treasure goblin attack. There was very little he wouldn’t have done to keep his mother alive had he known what was going to happen.