Page 127 of Eclipse Sector

Just tell Diego to charge my account. And if you can get some strawberry lemonade for Ivana, I would appreciate it. Because Ivana loved fresh strawberry lemonade, too.

Benz didn’t reply immediately, his mind processing everything I’d just requested. A hint of surprise colored his thoughts, as well as a note of respect.Okaywas all he said.Give me thirty to forty minutes.

Thank you, I replied to him, then refocused on my Omega.

She didn’t stir as we entered her building or moved up the stairs, her head resting against my shoulder as she slept.

I shuffled her a bit to find a key tucked haphazardly into her jeans pocket and unlocked her door, then settled us both inside on her couch.

“I never said anything about not wanting our child,” I told her, recalling her thoughts from before. “Why would you think that, macushla?”

My mind tracked through everything that had happened when she initially woke from her heat, recounting all our comments and twisting them around in my head.

“I thought you didn’t want our baby,” I continued out loud while combing my fingers through her damp hair. She must have showered before heading out. My wolf and I weren’t too fond of that notion, our scent notably missing from our Omega’s skin. “I thought you were upset with me for not using any birth control.”

Still nothing.

No sound.

Not even a thought.

Unless she’s blocked me from her mind yet again.

If I bit her now, I would solve that issue. But I wanted her coherent—and accepting—when I staked my claim.

“Oh, but it will happen,” I added out loud. “I’m going to bite you, Vana. Even if I have to beg you for weeks or years to let me do it. You’re mine, macushla. I think you’ve been mine since the day we first met.”

Which explained why I’d taken her back to my lair that day rather than to one of the many temporary homes we had in Blood Sector.

It explained why no other Alpha was ever good enough for her; why none of the Alphas in Blood Sector had eventriedto court her.

“I’ve been a fool to avoid this for so long,” I admitted to her, my gaze on the wall across the room while I processed everything out loud.

I’d have to repeat it all to her once she was awake, but I wouldn’t mind. I’d do anything and everything for her. Fuck, I already had. I just hadn’t realized it.

“You’re my priority, Vana. I think you always have been, but keeping you at arm’s length just made it easier for me to focus on Blood Sector. Or perhaps it just made it easier to trick myself into thinking I was doing the right thing for both of us.” I swallowed, my fingers still gliding through her hair.

She felt so fragile in my arms.

So small and still.

I wanted to feel her fight, hear her voice, explore hermind.

Instead, I continued talking, hoping that maybe my voice—underlined with my purr—would help comfort her.

“I realize now how wrong I’d been. Because the right thing is what I’m doing now—putting you first. Even when it’s killing menot to help Lorcan and Kieran track down Ashlyn, I know this is where I need to be. And I know I can trust them to find her. Just like they would?—”

“Find her?” Ivana repeated, causing my gaze to snap down to her in my arms. I hadn’t even realized she was awake, let alone looking at me. She’d been so motionless and silent that I’d assumed she was still unconscious.

“How long have you been awake?” I asked.

“Long enough,” she replied, her gaze searching. “What’s happened to Ashlyn?”

“Don’t worry about Ashlyn,” I murmured. “Lorcan and Kieran are handling it.”

She tried to push away from me, to sit up, but I clutched her tighter.

“Ivana—”