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Chapter Thirteen
Maya watched Zander as he said goodbye to Violet. They’d spent the afternoon visiting her at Zoey’s house because he’d wanted to properly introduce Maya to her. Seeing him with the beautiful little girl, she couldn’t help but think about what a great father he was going to be to their children someday.
The thought shocked her. She’d never imagined herself having children. She’d never thought she would want kids of her own, not after her own childhood had ended so abruptly with the loss of her parents. But everything about this man called to her and made her yearn for the type of happily ever after that she’d always scoffed at before he walked into her life.
“Somebody looks a little bit lovestruck.”
Maya blinked out of her daze and realized that Zoey had snuck up on her. The little redhead was grinning, a knowing look on her pretty face as she looked out over the yard to where her brother was swinging the kids in circles now. Their girls giggled but Zander’s laughter was just as loud and boisterous.
“I’m not…” Maya started to deny it but Zoey shook her off.
“I think it’s pre-programmed into female DNA. We see them with children and our ovaries go into hyperdrive. Survival of the species or something. Whatever it is, it’s how I ended up pregnant yet again.”
Maya snorted, trying to contain a laugh of her own, “You’re pregnant again because you and your mate still act like horny teenagers who can’t keep their hands off each other.”
“Judgy little thing.” Zoey nudged her playfully, “We’ll see how smug you are once you seal the bond and are fully mated.”
Maya looked away, strangely uncomfortable with the conversation. She wasn’t a prude, not by any means. Growing up in a pack, things like nudity, sex and mating bonds were simply a fact of life. But somehow talking about mating with Zander, with his sister, felt too close to the line for her. Maybe it was just because she was having a hard enough time wrapping her head around it herself.
She had gone from completely opposed to the idea of fate deciding who she should mate with to agreeing to let the bond grow and strengthen as she got to know Zander. It had only been a few days but she knew with complete certainty now that breaking the bond was out of the question. Fate had chosen well, she would grant her that, but she wasn’t about to let it force her into this any faster than necessary.
The full moon was still six days away. They had time. She had time.
Maya had told Zander that she wanted them to get to really know one another before they mated but that was only part of the truth. She was also putting it off because she was worried. Not just about how his transformation would affect him but also how it would change her, or rather, her wolf.
“Hey!” Zander’s voice broke her out of her worries and she glanced up to find him moving towards her, a curious look of concern on his face. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, of course.” Maya smiled back at him.
“Zoey wasn’t being weird was she?” He looked between her and his sister.
“Define weird.” Zoey demanded, though she was grinning too.
“Trying to talk to me about my sex life is weird, Zo. I don’t care how supposedly normal it is in a pack. I’m still human and when Maya and I seal the bond…”
“Aka, have sex.” Zoey teased.
“When we seal the bond, that’s between us.” He continued sternly and Maya couldn’t help but grin proudly up at him.
She loved that he had no problem standing up for himself, or for her. Eventually he would realize that mate bonds weren’t typically private but rather quite a big deal among the packs, but for now, she liked that he wanted to keep their mating just between them. It was rather sweet.
“You know, when I first realized you two were bonded, I wasn’t sure about how it would work but now…” Zoey motioned between them, “You two are perfect for each other.”
Maya wanted to ask Zoey what she meant. She wanted to know what Zoey saw when she looked at them. What was it that made her so certain fate had gotten this mating right? But before she could demand answers to questions she herself had been asking, Zander slid his hand into hers.
“You ready to go?”
“Sure, if you are.” She nodded.
“Yep, we better hit the road otherwise I might get attacked by spider monkeys again.” He winked playfully, motioning to where the three girls were rolling around in the grass singing a song from a Disney movie Maya had watched with Nova recently during a girls night in.
“Oh you love it.” Zoey teased and Zander chuckled.
“I do.”
“Don’t let her fool you. So does your mate.” Zoey winked before sashaying away with a finger wave, “You two go enjoy your nice, peaceful, child-free evening and Zander, we’ll talk about living arrangements after the full moon.”
That stopped him in his tracks and Maya had to tug on his arm to get him moving again. He followed her to the Bronco but when he made no move to get inside she stared at him. He looked deep in thought so she held her hand out expectantly.
