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“Listen,” I say, taking her hands in mine. The fact that she lets me, eases the tension building between my shoulder blades. “I know we just met. But like we told you this morning, wolves mate for life.”
“Right,” she says, looking us over warily. “And that made me turn into a wolf?”
I shake my head. “No, that didn’t.”
Her eyes cloud over with confusion and East steps forward, taking one of her hands in his own. “Human women who mate with wolf-shifters are given the power to shift themselves, when they…” he exhales, squinting, and looking at River for backup.
River nods, and with a raised brow tell Remedy the truth. “When they get pregnant.”
Remedy snorts. “Pregnant?” She raises her hands in defense, clearly in flight mode. “Not possible. We had sex less than twenty-four hours ago. It’s too early.”
I speak up, “Maybe it’s too early for a human child but, Rem, you aren’t carrying a human baby. And since you slept with all of us last night, your child is one part of all of us.”
She shakes her head, pressing her hands to her flat stomach. Tears in her eyes. “Not possible. I can’t… I’m not…”
I rest a hand on her shoulder. “Rem, it’s the only way you could have shifted. Your body knows much earlier than a test could.”
“I didn’t have a choice in this,” she says. “I didn’t ask to be… I know we should have used condoms and that was idiotic but––”
“It wouldn’t have mattered. Those don’t work with shifters anyways.”
“Oh, so you have super sperm, too?”
“Yeah,” I say, knowing my tone is cockier than I intend. “Call it super sperm if you want but Rem, we knew where to find you, knew you were––”
She pushes away. “I get it, okay? I was your special prize, you knew where to stalk me, you knew everything,” she snaps. “But what if I say no?”
“You want to raise a wolf shifter in the real world?” I roll my eyes. “Listen, Rem, we know it’s a lot, and hell, we didn’t expect to knock you up the first time we were together—but that’s what has happened. And besides, you’re going to shift at inopportune times, from here on out. If you're in heat, you’ll shift. If you are feeling protective, you’ll shift. You can’t just live in the real world anymore. That reality is off the table.”
She clenches her fists, looks at the sky and screams. Her voice echoes through the trees and bounces off the mountain. Her anger courses through the ground beneath my feet and reminds me that she is one hell of a woman.
“This is so not how I wanted my life to go. You get, that, right?” she asks, wiping her nose with her sleeve.
“What did you want your life to be?” East asks. “Because we will do whatever we can to give you what you want.”
She looks at him as if he has no clue. “You can’t give me what I want.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because you’re freaking wolves. You live in a cave … you … you’re animals.”
“We’re men, too. Or did you forget last night? Look at me, Rem,” I say stepping in front of her. “I know this is all crazy fast, I know it’s confusing, but can we try?”
She presses a hand to her forehead. She looks exhausted and all I want right now is to pull her into my arms and take away her worry. I’m not usually the consoling type—I give that to River and East—but looking at Rem right now, I want to take care of her. Protect her. Forever.
“So, what, we just go back to the cave and pee in the woods and eat nuts and berries? That’s my life now?”
I furrow my brows. “What?”
“The cave, isn’t that where you live?”
I shake my head, realizing our mate really has no idea what she’s gotten herself into.
“No, baby,” I say. “We have a home. It’s where we plan on taking you.”
“Like, a house?”
“Uh, yeah. A house.” East grins. “With electricity and everything.” He doesn’t ask permission, he just pulls Rem to himself and kisses the top of her head. “Did our mate think she was going to be roughing it for the rest of her life?”
“Does this house have a shower? Because it’s been weeks since I bathed beyond a sink and a washcloth.”
“What do you mean?”
For a moment it’s like she’s realizing her admission says more than she wants. But then, she shrugs, and her eyes glaze over with defiance. Suddenly, there’s a wall up she doesn’t want us to break through. “Well, uh, I’ve been living on the streets for a while.”
I look at River and East, the three of us surprised at this detail.
“And before then?” I ask. “Where were you? Where’s your family, Rem?”
She smirks like we have no clue. And maybe we don’t. “I’ve always been on my own,” she says. “Told you I was a loner. You might say, until now, I was a lone wolf.”
