Page 48 of Lone Wolf

He slouched on the couch for a moment, his hands limp in his lap, then shook his head and met my eyes. “I’m not surprised they want you under their eye, and this would be an easy way to do it. It’s up to you how you want to handle it. They pay well—we could put money away against Asher’s future. Send some back to your parents. But you have to be happy doing it.”

“How long do you think I have before they force the choice on me?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think they’d force it on you. But you understand, it’s very hard to have a life like we’re trying to build here while I’m working my job. And if you want another pup, we’re going to have to move and hide for six months. We could be transferred anywhere in the country at any time depending on the needs of the job. It’s not particularly stable.”

He didn’t mention that something could happen to him, though the specter of it floated between us. I banished that fear firmly from my mind. “So we go forward as planned then,” I told him. “I’d like another pup. Would you?”

“I’ll have as many as you’ll let me have.” He grinned and reached out to tickle Asher’s foot, then sobered. “Are you regretting your choice?”

I snorted. “Let me get him to sleep tonight and I’ll show you how much I’m regretting this.” I moved over to lean against him and planted a kiss on the underside of his jaw. “No, I regret nothing, except that I didn’t grab you and keep you that first night. But for two shifters in the most back-assward mating I’ve ever seen, I think we came out pretty well.”

“Yeah,” he said, more contentment in his voice than I’d ever heard. “I think you’re right.”

I leaned my head on his shoulder for a moment, then sat up with a sigh. “Can you take him? I’m going to start cleaning up the kitchen.” I didn’t wait for him to say yes, just handed off the baby and made my escape to the kitchen.

Behind me, I heard Damian say, “Who’s Daddy’s little boy… Hey!” He followed me out to the kitchen, a suspicious frown on his face. “He needs to be changed,” he informed me.

“Does he?” I asked innocently and began rinsing things to put them in the dishwasher.

Damian watched me for a second, then laughed. “Devious omega. I’ll remember this.” He hefted Asher on his shoulder and I heard him say as he walked down the hallway, “You get this from your Da, don’t you? Smelly pup.”

I smiled and went back to loading the dishwasher.

We were going to be just fine.