Page 56 of New Blood

“That’s impossible. I’ve seen the damage. And in any case, there’s only one bedroom in that cottage.”

Danielle put her hands to her hips. “Well, Flora expects me and Priscilla to share a bedroom.”

Jude gently cupped her shoulders. “Breathe, baby. Nothing of that is gonna happen. If Priscilla wants to continue staying with her brother, then that’s what she’ll do. And you’re not going to live in a cottage out there. It’s time Flora finds out that she’s not the one who makes the decisions in his household. It’s you.”

She stared into his eyes, skeptical at first. “That means we’ll have to tell her about us.”

“Not just her,” Jude said. “We’ll have to announce it to the entire family. The sooner the better. I’m sorry. I know you wanted to wait. But Flora is forcing my hand. I’m not gonna allow her to push you around like a servant.”

He expected pushback from Danielle, and he was ready to fight her on this. When she didn’t immediately protest, he brushed his fingers over her cheek.

“You okay with that?” he asked, softer now.

She smiled. “It’s not me I’m worried about.”

At her implication, his heart filled with warmth.

“You’re worried about me?” He pressed a gentle kiss on her lips. “I can handle the Gallaghers.”

“What about the Werewolf Alliance? What will they do?”

Probably call him back to Montana immediately. But he wasn’t going to bring that up right now. She probably guessed it anyway.

“They won’t find out for a while. We’ll announce it to the family and my team tomorrow. And then we’ll see how they react.”

“Eve will be hurt.”

He chuckled. “Eve doesn’t care for me anyway. She’ll probably be relieved that she doesn’t have to mate with me.”

“She did seem to warm up to you tonight.” Danielle cleared her throat. “She touched you.”

“When did she touch—?”

“She put her hand on your forearm after you told everybody about the Alliance’s decision about William. And then she leaned in. You know, as if she was whispering something to you…”

“You mean like I’m leaning in right now?” He brought his mouth to her ear. “I didn’t even notice it, because I was still thinking about how cozy you and Wendell looked over dinner.”

“Oh, but we just talked about the cat…”

“Mmm.” He pulled her earlobe between his lips, licking over it, before releasing it again. “See, I think all this jealousy can be avoided by us letting them know that we’re mated. Then nobody will dare touch you or flirt with you or with me, because they know we belong together.”

“Jealousy? Are you saying you were jealous of Wendell?”

“Yes. Were you jealous of Eve?”

“Well, she touched you—”

“Just answer the question,” he insisted without raising his voice.

“Just a little.”

He chuckled. “See, you’ll never have to worry about that again once Eve knows I’m taken.”

“Well, if you put it that way.”

“And by the way, I like that you’re possessive of me. It feels good to know that you want me and aren’t willing to share me.”

He pulled her back into his arms.