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I watch as she rubs a hand slowly across her belly. “They recently started kicking and it feels a lot like they are seeing who can kick me in the ribs the hardest. Rude! Oh! Last night, Baby A had hiccups and Baby B did NOT like that at all. They kept pushing on Baby A. It was the wildest thing to watch. I can already tell these two are going to be a handful.”

“That sounds like a wild experience. When do you find out what the genders are?” I can’t help but ask so many questions. I’m envious of her, but not in a bad way. I just want what she has, a caring mate with babies on the way.

“Well, the doctor said that since they are wolves, we should be able to find out in a few weeks, instead of twenty weeks like most human babies. I have already asked Silas if we can do a gender reveal party because, hello! I am pregnant with twins.” She giggles into her hand.

“Oh, I didn’t know that we were going to do all these things! How exciting! Well, I can’t wait for that. Gives me something to look forward to in the coming weeks!”

“Oh, Aspen, I’m sure that you will have more things to look forward to than that. He will come around. I’m sure of it.”

I nod my head once as I take another spoonful of ice cream into my mouth. I hope that he does. While I won’t make it easy for him, I also want my mate.

I really like the idea of him having to plan and put in the effort to prove he is serious about being my mate, but it won't be easy letting go of the past and trusting him again. There were so many times that I needed him, but he was with another woman. Nights of depression over missing my father, wishing I could call him to hear him tell me how proud he was of me. Wishing to hear his words of encouragement instead of the hole of his absence. The one person in my life who should understand it, but I can’t talk to because he is too busy for his mate. How many nights I’ve been laying in bed wishing my mate was there to hold me when the inner demons and negative thoughts grew so loud that I was drowning in them, but instead he was with someone else? When I officially opened my bookstore, I should have been celebrating that big moment with my mate.

“I don’t know that he will jump through the hoops, but if you think that he will, then we shall see. I did want to mention something, though. Aside from my mate having to earn his place back, I want to help Chase find his mates. I might not be able to find my happily ever after, but maybe we can help Chase find his.”

She lifts her eyebrow in question. “I’m at a loss here. I barely understand how this works for wolves and now you want me to help a completely different species find his mates?

I can’t help but laugh. “I forget how little you know about the shifter world. The mountain lion shifters don’t mate with just one person. I don’t know much about it yet. At least not more than what he has told me. All I know is that it’s like how we are fated to someone, but they have two mates instead of just one.Weird, right? He casually dropped that it would be two women, but didn’t really elaborate more on that. I’m not sure why he was so secretive about it, given that we aren’t really more than friends. Maybe one day I can coax it out of him.”

Her mouth is hanging open. “Now,thatis something I want to learn all about. Would it be invasive if I just bombard him with all kinds of questions?”

The laugh that bursts out of me is so loud that even Sally looks up from what she is doing with a questioning look on her face.

“Shh,” Nova says with a finger on her lips, while the blush blooms across her face.

I am still laughing when I say, “Yeah, Chase probably would answer all of your questions. He is such a sweetheart that he probably would just to make you happy.”

We spend the rest of our time chatting and catching up while finishing our ice cream. I can’t wait to tell Chase all the questions that Nova wants to ask him now. He will be so embarrassed, but it will be so cute to watch. Also, I want to tell him about wanting to give Warrick a chance to earn his place back.

I wonder if I can get Chase to play along and give Warrick a taste of his own medicine. Wonder how he will like it to watch me kiss another man or sit in another man’s lap. Let him see how it feels—and if he’s willing to prove that he’s going to put in the work to win my heart over.

Chapter 8

Wraith

Gag, how does she even put up with his smell?I suck in a breath as I try to move away from it. He hasn’t marked our mate, but I can tell that they’ve seen each other today. His smell is all over her.I know he is sweet to her, but fuck, he smells awful.

Every time that I smell him on her, I have the urge to pin her down, rutting her till the only smell on her and around her is mine. But Warrick had to ruin that for me with those smelly women he brings around. Listen, they don’t smell gross in the way you would think. More like a sour smell because they aren’t our mate.

The idea is that you are supposed to be repulsed by the smell and not sleep with them. I don’t know how he does it, but it pisses me off every time he lays with someone other than Aspen. I’ve been bitching at him for years to suck it the fuck up and claim our mate. Butnowhe finally wants to listen.

I shake my head from side to side as I make my rounds around Aspen’s cabin. She doesn’t know that every single night I checkto make sure she is safely back home, and that nobody is lurking around. Not sure how she hasn’t figured it out, since my scent is still here in the morning when she leaves.

I lean back on my haunches and put my front paws on the lip of the window to Aspen’s room. She comes walking out of her bathroom with a silk tank top and a short set on that is hugging her curves perfectly. When she gets to her vanity, I watch in rapt attention as she puts her leg on the stool and those silk shorts ride up. Her cheek is peeking out of the shorts. She bends over to lather her leg with lotion and I can see the indentation of the one place I want to bury myself in.

My tongue runs across my lips as lust courses through my veins.

“It’s your fault that we aren’t inside this cabin and inside our mate,”I growl into my mind.

“I know I fucked up, okay? You also know that I have been trying to get her to forgive me. I just don’t think she will, though.” He sounds so defeated.

“Chin up, Warrick. Aisling has told me that she is on board with the mating and she will do what she can to help convince Aspen, too.”

“Really?” The excitement bleeds through our joined mind space. I can feel it building inside of us.

“Yes, really. But you have to keep your fucking dick out of anyone that isn’t our mate. Surely you can manage that, right?”I bark at him.

I can sense his embarrassment.“Yeah, I can do that. I haven’t even brought anyone around in several months, you know that.”