This bunch of ruffians had convinced me easily.
She looked back at me, and I was once again floored with how beautiful she was. “So, what? Me and Raiden have sex, he steals my eggs, and you guys go away?”
Gatlin lowered his chin in agreement. “If that’s what you wish, yes. It’s not the ideal scenario, but if that was your decision, we would accept it.”
She clenched her jaw like she was preparing for a fight. “And if I said I wanted nothing to do with this whole twilight zone scenario?”
Gatlin dropped his eyes. “Then we would accept that as well. However, you would need to move on from Montana. My Pack will protect you for this heat cycle either way, but if you stay here, other Packs will eventually scent you and come down from the mountains. Some may be less… polite with their invitations.”
I snarled at the thought of anyone doing anything to Naja against her will, and it made her head whip toward me.
“They’d rape me?”
Gatlin inclined his head solemnly. “Perhaps. The heat can make us crazy and some Manix are from a more barbaric school of thought than ours. But even if they have complete control over themselves, you are something that hasn’t been seen in many decades. They will take what they can from you, with or without your permission.”
She looked like she wanted to crumple, but instead, her shoulders went stiff like she was injecting her spine with steel. “They could try.” She looked over at Seven. “Who’d have thought that you guys, with your abduction, would be the polite option?”
She screwed the cap back on the tequila, settling down on the couch beside Ellar. I hid my smile as the soft Beta didn’t move a single muscle so as to not frighten her. I loved that man. “Say we do this, and I give Raiden my eggs. You guys leave, and then what happens next year when the, uh, heat hits again? Are you going to try and breed an army of tiny Manix out of Raiden?”
I shook my head vigorously. “Oh no. Not for many, many years after the birth of the cubs would we even consider doing this again.”
She nodded her head. “Understandable. So next year, when I go into heat again, and my milkshake brings all the Manix to the yard, what then? I’m on my own?”
Finlo rumbled low in his chest. “You will be the mother of our cubs. We would never abandon you to that fate.”
I winced when her face went pale. Until Finlo had opened his big mouth, she hadn’t thought of the eggs in terms of being actual children. I knew, looking at her, that she wasn’t the kind of person who would happily abandon her kids into the care of others, even if I did birth them.
She held my eyes as she asked, “And what would be the ideal situation?”
I couldn’t help but move closer so I could touch her, reassure her. “The ideal situation would be that over the next few days, you would get to know us. When your heat hits, we would spend our time making love in the hope that we ease your suffering through the heat, and that we would be well on our way to having a large bounty of beautiful cubs. Plus, you know, a countless amount of wonderful orgasms.” I grinned. Her lips twitched, so I soldiered on. “Then, if you decided you liked us, and wanted to pursue something more permanent with us, we’d move you back to our home on the mountain where we could protect you properly. We would take care of you. You’d never have to be scared or unhappy again.”
Her lips parted as her eyes grew so wide that I knew I was selling her a dream right now. I knew in my very soul that she’d never felt completely safe or happy in her life. I could give her that. Hell, I would do nearly anything to give her that.
As if Fate knew how close we were to getting everything we ever wanted, a cry from the other room pierced the silence.
I watched as she took a shuddering step away, building her walls back up, letting go of the dream I’d presented. She turned on her heel and moved further into the house, leaving us all staring pensively at her back.
6
Naja
Luisa was awake, probably roused from her sleep by the voices of the men in the other room. She was a good baby, but the sound of men still upset her. I didn’t know if it was a throwback from her beginnings or it was just a pitch that she didn’t like, but the only guy she’d ever let hold her without wailing down the entire neighborhood was the man who’d smuggled us out of Mexico in the back of his beat-up old car.
She held her arms up to me sleepily, still whimpering. “Hey, baby. Bad dream?” I said softly, grabbing her out of the bed. She clung to my neck with her chubby little arms.
I hugged her tightly to my chest, like just the smell of baby shampoo could help me keep my head in the hot soup of pheromones and sexy men occuring in the living room. She continued to fuss, and I felt around in the darkness for her pacifier, tensing as I suddenly picked Raiden’s scent behind me.
“Would you like me to try to settle her? I have a way with kids. Comes with the designation.” He walked over, brushing a finger along Luisa’s sleepy cheek.
“Sorry, she doesn’t like men…”
As if to prove me wrong, Luisa held her arms out to Raiden, and he looked at me for permission before pulling her into his own. He murmured softly to her in another language, and I saw the gentle vibration of her cheek. He must have been doing that purr thing that Ellar did. Whatever it was, it put Luisa back to sleep almost instantly. That would have been a handy trick to have when she was a newborn.
He laid her back down in her crib, and we both snuck out of the room. When we got back to the living room, everyone had shifted around like they’d been pacing. Raiden gave me a loaded look. “She is beautiful. Looks like you.”
I smiled tightly at him as I moved back to my chair, thankful that they’d left it for me. “Thank you.”
He looked at me appraisingly. “She’s not Manix though. She can’t be your daughter.”
