Page 53 of Titan’s Mate

Brandon grinned. “Leave it to Squatch to bring a pacifist into this crew. Gods help you.”

“I wish they would,” Mari said. “If they did, I would stay here and love Titan forever. But if I can’t have that, then yes, I want him to have someone to love him the way he deserves to be loved.”

Brandon nodded. “Fair enough. You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want—as long as he wants you to. And, if he loses you, we’ll take care of him. You have my word.”

She realized she’d been clenching her fists, and unclenched them. The alpha had accepted her. “Thank you,” she said.

He got up to leave, but then stopped and stood looking down at her. “But I would like to say one thing. A mating bond is its own kind of magic. We’ve all seen it do some incredible things, and so have our parents. Things that no one would have believed were possible.”

He looked off into the distance, a little smile coming to his face, as if he were remembering something close to his heart. Then he met her eyes again. “Maybe you should ask your bear if there’s anything she hasn’t told you.”

Chapter 22

In the next days, Titan couldn’t stop thinking about his talk with Brandon earlier, and what the alpha had said about true mate bonds.

He wondered if Brandon had said the same thing to Mari during their talk, but she hadn’t mentioned it and he was afraid to ask her.

A mate bond was some of the most powerful magic in the world. Especially with a crew behind it. He couldn’t believe it wouldn’t help Mari.

But then he’d remember what Tyr said, about Titan and his power. He’d never forgive himself if he was the cause of Mari being taken by the demon.

Watching her with the crew—the way she fit in, the way they accepted her—and watching the mates with each other was making him crazy.

He was so close to having everything anyone could want. And he wanted her to have it too.

Assuming she felt the same way about him.

There was only one way to know.

But he couldn’t just ask her like it was some casual thing. It had to be special, so he started making arrangements. He found a jeweler online who made custom pieces, and sent him a sketch, and money for a rush order.

He planned their date.

He let himself start to hope.

While all his plans were being put into motion, Titan did other things to make Mari happy, and to make her laugh. He read to her, snuggled with her, indulged in more cooking disasters with her.

He finished the carving of her bear and made a special place for it in the living room. He kissed away her tears of happiness as she ran her fingers over it, and then hugged him tight.

He hoped against hope that Tyr would come up with some kind of cure, even as the days went by and it didn’t happen.

So he just kept doing all the things he’d been doing, plus whatever else he could think of. He’d ordered dozens of rubber duckies off the internet, so he could amuse Mari by creating little scenarios for her to find.

Drunken rubber duckies in the kitchen sink, surrounded by empty airplane-sized liquor bottles. Duckies getting abducted (and probed) by aliens; pooping chocolate chips onto a plate of cinnamon buns; watching a half-naked Barbie doll on a stripper pole, with dollar bills in their beaks.

A horde of tiny ducks coming up out of the bathtub drain and streaming into the bedroom, with Sebastian and his friends dressed in aluminum-foil armor, swords in their beaks, fending them off.

Every time he made her laugh was a victory.

Every time he made love to her was a joy.

Every time he thought about losing her, it crushed his heart.

They had to find a way to beat this thing. And until they did, he was going to make her happy every fucking minute he could.

Chapter 23

One cold morning, Mari was kissed awake by Titan before it was even thinking about being light out.