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Ty put a hand to her cheek. “You’re right, you’re not Cassie.
You’re so much more, Parker. I wouldn’t have been able to bear it if I disgusted or scared you. I was just being a chickenshit, and I knew that, but I couldn’t stop.”
“It’s okay. It’s done now. Just trust me for now on, okay? Nothing is going to make me run. You’re stuck with me.”
He leaned in and kissed her, slow and sweet. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Ty sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “What a day it’s been.”
“Yeah, agreed. Kelsey… She’s your sister, isn’t she? Judging by your and Chase’s reactions, you didn’t know about her.”
Ty exhaled heavily. “We had no clue. If we had, she never would have been out there, alone and hungry, for God knows how long. I hope she talks to us soon. It’s hard, not having answers.”
“Give her time. She came to the farm on her own, even if she didn’t expect to get caught today. She’s scared, though. You and Chase are going to have to be patient with her.” Parker paused for a moment, trying to figure out how to word the next question she wanted to ask. “Did you know your father was having an affair? Kelsey had to have been born before your mother passed away.”
He laughed, but there was no humor in it. “The word affair implies a form of commitment, and my dad wasn’t committed to anyone but himself. He slept around on my mom, sure. He lived for his own pleasures. Gambling, whoring, even drinking. It takes a shit ton of alcohol to get a shifter drunk, but he managed it a few times. He was a poor excuse for a man, and anything he could throw money away on, he did. He’d almost pissed away the farm before he died. Me and Chase inherited it just in time to save it. A month more under my dad, and we’d have lost it. It’s taken a lot of years of slaving away to get to where we are today, but we’re finally making some progress. Even turning a profit these days, although it’s a small one.”
“You guys did good. If you were that close to losing it, I think you’ve done well to be back to making even a small profit so soon.”
“We can’t totally take the credit for that. Our shifter talents helped a lot. Had we gotten different ones, we might not have been able to save it, no matter how hard we worked.”
“Shifter talents?” Parker asked, looking at him in question.
“Yeah. Every shifter has something they’re especially good at. Like Jake, over on Bear Claw. He can fix anything mechanical. His sister Kendall, the vet, can tell what animals are feeling, and can heal them. Chase’s is a gift for management. He always knows the best way to get things done, the best ways to manage the farm. By rights, he should be the one stuck inside at a desk for half the day, but he refuses. He gets claustrophobic if he’s forced indoors for long stretches of time.”
“What’s your talent?” Parker asked curiously.
“Weather,” Ty replied with a rueful grin. “I always know what the weather is going to do, and I can sense it months in advance. It makes planting and harvesting the crops easy. We never lose any now, not like we did when our dad was running things.”
“That’s why you always know when it’s going to rain!” Parker exclaimed. “I knew that weather channel excuse was bullshit.”
He laughed. “You almost caught me a couple times on that. I’m not used to censoring what I say so much.”
“So our baby will have some sort of special gift?” Parker asked, caressing the swell of her belly.
Ty leaned over and put his hand next to hers, smiling when he felt the baby move under his palm. “He sure will. There’s no telling what it’ll be, and it likely won’t become evident until he’s somewhere between five and ten years old, but he’ll have one.”
“I have so many questions about this whole shifter business, but I’m really curious about one thing right now. You mentioned that Jared told Cassie she was his mate, and that he wanted to claim her. What does all that mean?”
“Every shifter has a person that’s meant to be theirs. Who’s perfect for them in every way. We call that person our mate. Shifters want nothing more than for our mates to be happy, well cared for, and safe. We’d do anything for them. Kill for them, die for them. Anything. A shifter’s mate is everything to them.”
“Oh,” Parker said softly, looking at her hands. What did it mean that Ty hadn’t called her his mate before? Was it possible that she wasn’t that person for him? She felt her heart crack at the thought.
“Look at me, Parker.” Ty waited until her eyes reluctantly met hers before he continued. “My wolf… he’s broken. I can’t remember the last time he felt right. When my mother was still alive, probably. When she passed away, every hint of security and affection I’d had in this life went with her. I focused on trying to protect Chase from our father, but I had no one to protect me anymore. I channeled all of that into Cassie. When she chose Jared, my wolf broke a little more, and when she died, the last little bit of sanity he had left went with her. I’ve just been trying to get through every day, one day at a time, working to get the farm in the best shape possible for my little brother before I needed put down.”
Parker nodded, keeping her head down as she looked at the fingers she was twisting together. Hearing this hurt, but she needed to know where she stood.
Ty touched her cheek. “Don’t look like that. I’m not finished yet. I’ve already told you that I didn’t love Cassie like that anymore, but she was my best friend. Losing her felt like losing everything good left in my life. My wolf has been a snarling mess, uncontrollable on a good day, insane on most. Until you. That first night at Crazy Pete’s… I followed you outside because when our eyes met in the bar, he went quiet inside of me, for the first time in longer than I could remember. I wanted more of that. I didn’t expect what happened between us that night, but I could never regret it. It was the best night of my life. My animal was calmer after that, saner. And then you walked back into my life a couple of week ago. Told me you were pregnant, let me get to know you, and the change in him was remarkable. I haven’t had to fight so much for control, and for the first time in years, I felt like I was going to make it.
“I still didn’t know for sure, though. My wolf was content, but he’s still on the broken side. I’m not sure that will ever change. He was completely silent, and I begged and pleaded with him to talk to me, tell me what you really were to us, but he wouldn’t. So I decided that you were mine and it didn’t matter if he never spoke to the words to me. And it truly doesn’t, Parker. You’re my mate. I feel it in here,” he said, putting a hand to his chest, “and have from the beginning. I chose you, in every way I could choose. But today, when I thought you were in danger, the wolf finally talked to me. Called you our mate. Let me know that both sides of my nature adore you. Every part of me chooses every part of you, Parker. You’re my mate.”
Parker looked at Ty through a sheen of tears. She couldn’t imagine ever hearing anything sweeter. He’d chosen her. She was sure that she would have felt just as special if his wolf had spoken to him from the start. But there was something about knowing that Ty the man had chosen her, that he had been determined to have her regardless of how his wolf felt, that hit her like a sledgehammer, right in the heart.
She couldn’t deny, though, that having his wolf confirm it for him finally brought a measure of relief. She wouldn’t have handled that well, knowing that there was possibly another woman out there that the wolf could choose over her.
“Tyler… I choose you, too. I don’t have an animal, but every part of me chooses every part of you, as well. I love you.”
She heard his breath catch and he looked away for a moment, a muscle in his jaw jumping as he clenched it. He turned back, cupping her cheek. “My wolf and I both love you, Parker. We adore you, and the pup you’re carrying. I’d like to claim you one day, but you’ll have to think hard about that. We’d have to do it after you gave birth, and I’d have to bite you. My bite will change you, though. You’d become a wolf shifter, like me.” She opened her mouth to reply and he put a finger to her lips to hush her. “Don’t answer me now. Think about this long and hard, throughout this pregnancy and longer, if you need to. Ask questions, take your time. There’s no rush, and I need you to know that I don’t need you to become a wolf. I will love you forever, regardless if I’ve claimed you or not. Being a human or a wolf won’t ever change that.”
Parker kissed his fingertip. “I’ll think hard about it, Ty. I promise.”
