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Her spine straightened. “So don’t talk to me about being weak, okay? I know why you left me, but what I don’t know is why the hell you’ve come back now.” Or why she’d been coming back. Spying, all these years.
Erin had never known that her mother was watching.It hurt.
“I...missed you.”
She wouldn’t weaken.
“I wanted to see how you turned out.”
“And when Dad died? When I stood by his grave, crying,alone, where were you?”
No answer. She hadn’t expected one.Enough.“The reunion’s over, mother. Time for you to go.” Hopefully, before her mother decided to go after Jude—or her—with claws and teeth.
Theresa held her gaze, then gave a grim nod.
Erin and Jude stepped away from the door.
Her mother hesitated. “Things are...good for you. I know you used to be a lawyer?—”
“Still am.”
“—but now you’ve got a mate.” A smile. Wistful, dammit.Her mother had been given a wonderful mate. She just hadn’t appreciated him. Her mother added, “A strong shifter, someone who can?—”
“Mymateis a fucked-up wolf shifter, a hybrid like me who kills and tortures people because it gets him off.”
The smile vanished. Horror took its place on her mother’s face. “A-a hybrid...wolf?”
“Erin.” Jude’s tense voice. “Don’t. There’s something that I need?—”
But she just rolled right over him, the rage too much to hold back. “So don’t think I’ve walked off into some sort of happily-ever-after la-la land for wannabe shifters. I’ve got a mate, all right, mother. A mate who thinks he’s my perfect match in every single, sick way.”
ChapterFifteen
“She doesn’t know, does she?”
Jude led Erin’s mother outside and closed the door behind him. A thud shook the motel room wall.Huh. Wonder what Erin threw.“Ah...Doesn’t know what?”
“That she’s yours.”
His brows rose. Oh, but he hoped the door and walls were thicker than he’d thought.
He caught the woman’s arm and hauled her away from the room. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t I?”
His jaw locked.
“I smell her on you. Smell you on her. That’s the way with mates. Like she’s under your skin and you’re under hers.”
He wouldn’t deny it, because Erin was under his skin. In his very blood. “Then you tell me...how is it possible for a woman to be a mate to two shifters? One a wolf and one a tiger?” Because it wasn’t possible. No way.
“Erin’s not your usual shifter. Maybe the rules don’t apply to her.” Her sharp canines flashed as she said, “Or maybe that wolf who’s claiming her is dead wrong.”
Good emphasis on dead.
“I want to be with her again,” she told him. “I know I’ve screwed up, butI miss her. I’ve missed her for years, and I want back in her life.”
“That why you’re in Lillian? Hunting the locals? ’Cause you’re looking for her?” This setup wasn’t making sense to him.
