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He pressed his forehead to hers. “I’m so fucked up right now. I don’t know what to do.”

“We do nothing,” she said. “I wanted this. I needed you, Nico. Like our kisses, it’s our secret. No one has to know.”

He chuckled roughly and his voice was thick with emotion. “Oh, they’ll know. Sooner or later, they’ll know.”

Hayden didn’t want to contemplate his statement. She wanted their last few minutes together before she had to go home to be just them, in the shower enjoying each other. Later she'd worry someone might find out. Later, she'd fret over whether or not she'd get pregnant. Once she was cleaned off, she got out of the shower with Nico's help then redressed. When she was ready to leave, she stood in the middle of Nico's living room, the place where it all happened, where their lives changed and gave him a small smile.

“Thank you, Nico.” She pressed her lips to his. “You know I meant it when I said I love you, right?”

He tugged her into his arms and grunted. “I fucking love you too, Hayden. You got me in all kinds of knots right now. What the fuck have we done?”

“Nothing more than what we’ve wanted from the very beginning.” She brushed her lips over his and a sense of calm washed over her. “I’m not in heat. You don’t have to worry, mate. I promise.”

“I’m going to worry. I wasn’t easy on you. I took more than I should have and I—”

She placed her finger over his lips. "I wanted to be here. I had a choice. If anything comes of this, it is my fault too. Not yours alone." But it wouldn't. Deep down she knew the truth before she even stepped foot in the door, Hayden wasn't like the rest of them. As it stood, she might never be.

“I’m buying you a pregnancy test every week until your cycle starts again,” he said, and she believed him.

“Deal,” she agreed. “When four come back negative, then you’ll be free and clear.”

He gave a sad little chuckle. “Oh, little wolf, I’ll never be free and clear. If anything, I’m going to want you every chance I get from now on.”

She grinned. “Well, bring it.” She opened the door to his apartment. “You know where I’ll be.” She didn’t wait for him to reply. Hayden closed the door behind her and headed home.

She had a feeling as she walked down the corridor to the stairs leading out of the building, her family would be looking for her, and she also knew Nico would call Kalkin too. She didn’t care though. She’d had the best afternoon of her life and it was all courtesy of her mate.

2

Six weeksbefore Hayden’s eighteenth birthday...

Finally, in a few short weeks, she and Nico could go public, and they wouldn't have to hide anymore. A bubble of excitement expanded in Hayden's chest as she skipped her way down the street to Nico's apartment. After their first time together, she'd met him at his apartment every week to take a stupid pregnancy test, and as she'd told him, each one came back negative. Yet, even with the negative results, they both agreed their little trysts could land them in hot water with Kalkin, so they stopped for the time being. Once her eighteenth birthday arrived though, all bets were off.

So, until then, they went on about their lives as if nothing happened, even if it was the hardest thing Hayden had ever had to do. Upside for her, they continued to hang out when they could, and today, they were supposed to go to meet up with everyone at the clubhouse so they could go swimming together.

Even though Nico had been stuck working in the jail at night, three times a week, he still had four days off to take courses at the local college and spend with her. Seemed like yesterday she arrived in town and met him. She’d been so enamored by him. Over the years, after she figured out he was her mate, she’d fondly watched him graduate then go into the Sheriff’s Academy to become a deputy for Apache County.

They’d been practically inseparable from the beginning. At the time, she hadn’t known what drew her to the boy with whiskey-colored eyes and a cocky grin. Maybe it was because, even though he’d been in trouble when she met him, he didn’t have a care in the world. Or perhaps it had to do with the fact her uncle Kalkin liked him too. Whatever the case may be or, better yet, been, her family reluctantly gave in to them being friends.

It'd been the single best thing her family had done for her too. In all the time she'd been on the road, she hadn't made very many friends. Mostly, it'd been due to her not being in a regular school. Being on the run for so many years, her aunt had taken to schooling her via homeschooling. By the time she arrived in Window Rock, and she'd enrolled in the high school, she tested out for junior classes. Mentally though, she'd been stunted, and she decided to take half sophomore classes and half junior classes. By the time she finished her junior year, she'd been ready to graduate. However, she stuck around and waited for Bell and Zoe and Tate and Henry to finish.

Of course, if she’d finished when she’d been qualified to graduate, she would have had a free year to go and come as she wanted. But, she also found, after the first couple of months she’d been there, she really did enjoy school. The high school gave her a chance to learn how to not only be a wolf and socialize as one. She got the full teen experience being there too.

The thought of leaving after finally figuring out where she belonged, sucked. But, she also knew she had a full-ride scholarship to Turnskin University. The place was made for shifters by shifters. They were all-inclusive. The students ranged from human to other, including vampires and demons and such. The idea sent a thrill through her. Because of how her life had been all those years, she never knew there were different kinds of supernatural beings out in the world, along with psychics abilities.

Talk about a crash course. Her aunts Danielle, Caden Raferty's mate, and Keeley, Kalkin Raferty, the Alpha's mate, taught her everything about their gifts. They were kind of like yin and yang. Their powers complemented each other, especially when one might need it most. So, being able to go to a college where everyone co-existed together... she couldn't wait. The only downside was leaving Nico for four years. Yes, she would come home for every break. Yes she would text and call him all the time and yes, they were mates, but it didn't seem right going off without him. She wished she could finagle a way to get him to TSU with her.

Then everything fell apart. She'd been kidnapped again. This time, she'd been taken Phoenix and left in an abandoned warehouse, naked and chained to a table. She didn't know who her kidnapper was or why they wanted her, other than they'd known her. Later, when she recalled the details she could piece together for her uncle Kalkin, they were PBH. Which meant all the work and effort Kalkin put into making his town safe, and shutting down PBH through the government, didn't do a damn bit of good.

However, all those men who’d been in the building with her when Nico and her family arrived, were dead. Keeley had been able to track all of them down and turn the information over to Senator Jefferson Winters, Charisma’s father, so he could get to the bottom of it. Hayden should have felt better, safer, yet there were days when she feared walking out of her home.Well, not today. Today I’m going to have fun with my mate and forget about everything else.

As she rounded the corner of Nico's apartment building, she spotted his vehicle in the lot. A sense of relief flowed through her. She had nothing to worry about, logically. Physically though... She and Nico were still years apart from each other. He'd turned twenty-one a few weeks after they'd had sex. He had a job, a place to live, and friends who were older than her. She'd heard about his exploits around town. She knew he went out to enjoy himself. It would be stupid for them both to not experiment. Heck, she'd done it too. Well, technically, not done it, done it. She made out with a guy and did other things, but never sex with Adam. And, for some explicable reason, she never chose another Alpha.

No... Her wolf shifted her curiosity to someone who didn't possess a single ounce of Alpha or alpha-potential within him. Adam was a little taller than her but much more subdued. He was kind and caring and before she stopped going to see him, she realized it was too easy to take advantage of him. Hayden didn't want to hurt him. Nor did she want to lead him on either. What they did was for fun, plain and simple.

When the time came, she’d given her virginity to Nico, albeit in an unconventional way. Their single afternoon together had split her world in two. As much as she craved her mate, she also knew he was right. Eventually, they’d get careless, and her family would find out. Yet, the memory stayed at the forefront of her mind. She wouldn’t change a single moment of her experience. What they did together was special, and she knew Nico felt the same way. She’d even stopped visiting Adam, knowing nothing good could come from their messing around together.

Hayden walked across the short hall between the mailboxes and mailer bins to the gate where she used Nico’s code to get in. Once she was inside, she went up the stairs to the second floor and continued down the hall. Nervous butterflies built in her stomach. No matter what kind of day she was having, the minute she knew she would be visiting Nico, this small flutter would begin in her belly then gradually becomes this swirl of excitement. She had a bad habit of sporadically giggling when she was happy and right now, she chewed on the inside of her cheek to keep from doing the same.