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“I do feel better,” I said in wonder. “It’s exactly like that. How can you understand all this so fast when I’ve barely figured it out myself?”
She shrugged. “I’ve seen a lot of this sort of thing in my nursing career. Not shifter stuff, obviously, though you never know with the neighborhood. I believe there are more shifters around than regular old humans like me. Some of what I see at work scares me while some of it brings me incredible joy. But understanding the human psyche is just part of the nurse package.”
“I haven’t asked if you need to work tomorrow. If so, please don’t worry about me. I’ll wait here for you.”
“I’m off the next few days, but honestly, I’ll take off more time if I need to. Work’s great, but you need me. I do twelve-hour shifts, three in a row, and they’re incredibly long days. But then I have five days off like now. My mom watches Asher when I’m away.”
Would Mazie let me spend time with him by myself?
Not if I spontaneously bolted. But I was done with that. Sure, I’d fly, but I’d make sure it fit into her—and my son’s—schedule.
“I can’t wait to talk with him. Be with him.” Staring down at my half-eaten slice of quiche, I grunted. “I’m going to leave telling him who I am to you. You’ve been his only parent, and I’m so sorry about that even though it wasn’t my fault. If you don’t want to tell him at all, I’ll deal with that too.” Though it would crush me. “If you’ll let me, I want to be a part of his life.”
“Of course I want to tell him who you are. You’re his father, Gravor. No matter what happens to us, that’s not changing. He asks about you. Not you specifically, but he wants to know who his father is. I’ve held off telling him much, just that he has a dad, I don’t know where he is, and that I hope one day we’ll find him so he could see how special Asher is.”
“You’re an amazing mom.”
“I try. No one’s perfect. You do your best and hope that’s enough.” She took a sip of water. “As for telling him, I’m not sure there’s any perfect way or time to do this. We’ll introduce you and let him get to know you first. If you do things with him, it’ll be easier to tell him who you are rather than just introduce you to him while you’re still a stranger. Will that work for you?”
“Yup. I’m never bailing on you or him again. Even if you and I . . .” I was getting ahead of myself. “Sorry. Here is our second date, and I’m making assumptions.”
“We jumped right into a heavy relationship. Five years passed without spending time with each other, but in some ways, I feel as if we were still connected all that time, and I don’t mean because of Asher.”
We were connected through the bond. I’d sensed it back then, though I hadn’t known for sure. Did that mean we were already fully bonded? That usually came after having sex, and we’d done plenty of that.
“I remember a lot of it now,” I said. “Back then, I sensed there was more between us than just a one-night stand.”
She took my hand and squeezed it.
“We connected that night, and I don’t just mean in bed,” I said, staring into her gorgeous eyes. “While we talked and got to know each other at the bar, I felt the bond between us growing.”
“I felt it too. That’s why it hurt so much when you were gone in the morning.”
I’d never be able to make that up to her, though I’d try. “As a human, you had no idea shifters existed. We tell our true mates, but when is always the question.”
“I can’t imagine what I would’ve thought about such a thing back then,” she said. “Now, it’s easier, because I know Kuunik.”
“As I left you that morning, I decided to back off and give you a chance to get to know me before telling you I wanted a whole hell of a lot more. I planned to ask you out and try to see you all the time. My brother and I were staying at a hotel one town over. I’d finished my training, and he and I had talked a lot about building a lodge out here for tourists. We came here to scope out land and figure out the best place to build. The plan was I’d open an exclusive restaurant there, and we’d hire people to work at the lodge.”
“Kuunik never took your plan any further. He works in his lab in the castle your great-grandfather built. It fell into disrepair, and he fixed it up.”
“Our family has lived in this area on and off for many generations. The woods are a sanctuary in many ways. We can fly over them. Hide in them.” Like I’d done after I escaped the commune.
“It makes sense for a shifter. You can’t let the human world know you exist and out here, most of you blend right in with the rest of the wildlife.”
“Kuunik and I got coffee that morning. I told him I’d met someone.” That she was the one, but that I wasn’t going to introduce her to him yet. Soon, though. “We went flying, something we hadn’t had much chance to do over the prior years while I was away at school and overseas studying with chefs. I was overconfident. Beginning to form a plan for my future. A new business. A life I hoped to build with you.” A true mate I’d cherish forever. “It was all wrapped up; I just needed to add the bow.”
I’d gotten cocky, and I didn’t want to make the same mistake now. Would the fates be cruel and ruin this for me a second time? I wasn’t sure I wanted to dare them.
“We flew too close to the commune,” I said. “They shot me. I can still feel the bullets shredding my right wing. When I fell, they rushed out and injected me with something that made it impossible to move or speak.”
“How could they have something like that ready?”
“This wasn’t the first time we’d flown over them, though during the days prior, we’d flown at a higher elevation. I assume they must’ve seen us and made plans to shoot at us no matter how high we flew.”
“You must’ve been terrified.”
“I couldn’t shift; the chemical blocked it. They covered me with something that must’ve disguised me from above. I’m sure Kuunik looked for me. I would’ve done it for him.”
