Page 41 of License to Kill

Would I ever be? When given the choice of Jake or dealing with FBI bullshit paperwork, I picked up the top folder, plopped it onto my lap, and opened it up. While Dr. Howards had taken the signed copy of the NDA, I had my copy of it, and I read through it.

There was something comforting about the legalese.

“Amelia went to a pack in Florida to search for a mate.”

I understood enough about Fenerec culture to understand what he meant; Fenerec bonded with their mates during sex, and when they failed to form a bond, they moved on. I wondered how many other bitches he had tried to mate with, but then decided I didn’t care what he did.

Closing the folder, I shook my head. “So go find some other bitch to fuck until your precious new mating bond sticks and leave me out of it.”

“I didn’t sleep with her, Karma.”

“Well, you’re not going to have a whole lot of luck finding a proper wolf bitch if you don’t.”

“I was frustrated and said things I shouldn’t have said. Things I didn’t really mean.”

“Don’t bullshit me. I’ve been fed enough bullshit.” I jammed the folder under the entire stack of papers, and with a hard flick of my wrist, sent the whole pile to the floor. The pages scattered. “I knew how I’d spend the rest of my life after our last fight.”

“Oh?”

“Alone.”

My answer startled him, as though it never occurred to him the possibility existed he wasn’t the only one trapped by the vows we had both once wanted. For a long time, he stood in the doorway and stared at me. “It’s not—”

“It’s not what? It’s not the same? Because I’m a fox instead of a wolf? I built a den for children I’ll never have. While I waited in the hospital, you apparently pursued a new mate—one who could be just like you. You couldn’t even give me the time of day. Or be bothered to visit. Then you just had to come hunting for me when I wasn’t bothering anyone. I hid in my den and I hunted. I stayed away from the farms. Yet, you couldn’t even leave me with that, could you? If you wanted a new mate so much, you should have just let me drown. It would have fixed all your problems.”

“Don’t say that.”

“The only thing I regret is that Ma didn’t kill me, too. Leave me alone. Haven’t you done enough?”

Pauline came, but unlike her son, she invaded my prison and made herself at home at the table, watching me. “Every time I start to think we’ve made progress, I realize we’ve actually gone backwards rather than move forward. It’s very frustrating.”

“What do you want?”

“I want my son to be happy.”

Of course she did. “Then shoot me, ditch the body somewhere, and wait until next winter. Then all of your problems will sort themselves out when he can mate with someone of the appropriate species for your needs.”

It didn’t even hurt thinking or saying it anymore.

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

“Then you encouraging him to file for a divorce was a lie?”

“It wasn’t a lie.”

“And what were you hoping to accomplish?”

“I was hoping he’d mate with her.”

“I heard. She went to Florida. He claims he didn’t sleep with her. I don’t believe him. So, it’s simple. You shoot me, ditch the body somewhere, and your problems will sort themselves out next year.”

“He didn’t sleep with her. She was so offended by my proposal to court my son she immediately filed to transfer to a new pack. I was wrong.”

It annoyed me she chose to ignore a very realistic albeit final solution to all of her problems. “It doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t change the fact he was prepared to file the papers, at your encouragement, to get rid of me once and for all.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“I said I’d sign the papers. What else could you possibly want from me?”