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“There’s a chance he could instead begin his own pack,” Deke added.
Isaiah’s brow pinched. “He’s only, what, twenty-one?”
“Shifters younger than that have done it.”
“True.” Isaiah paused. “How’s Bailey?”
“Good.” Her fight with Dayna had been the talk of the pride for the past four days. His mamba had expected to receive the cold-shoulder from some, but none were iffy with her. All she’d done was answer a challenge—she’d had every right to do so. Yes, she’d been unnecessarily vicious, but no one was judging. Pallas cats didn’t really have room to judge anyone for being so brutal.
Isaiah planted his feet. “Have you seen or heard anything from Dayna?”
“No. She hasn’t reached out to me in any way. I didn’t really expect her to. Her pride is hurt, and my mother threatened her with certain death if she didn’t leave ‘her boy’ alone.”
Isaiah chuckled. “Sounds like Livy.”
“According to Tate, Dayna said that though she’s upset that I rejected her, she’ll accept and respect my decision.” The Alphas had paid her an official visit a few days ago to welcome her home—a welcome which wasn’t genuine from Havana, but she’d been civil. “Apparently, Gerard sat with her the whole time and held her hand.”
“Gerard?”
“That’s what Tate said.”
Isaiah twisted his mouth. “It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s jumping on this opportunity to try and win her back.”
“Maybe. Whatever the case, he’s keeping her occupied. That suits me fine.”
“I take it she hasn’t given Bailey any more trouble.”
“Wisely, no, she hasn’t. Dayna claimed to our Alphas that she has no intention of challenging Bailey again because it would hurt me and also get in the way of me and Dayna ever being friends again one day.”
Isaiah snorted. “She’s just worried she’ll get her ass kicked again.”
Deke dipped his chin. “I think she’s taking the high road to save face and hide that she’s hurt.” It was Bailey who’d put forward that theory, and he agreed with her. “All I care about is that she stays out of Bailey’s way. So far, she has.” It was made easier by how Dayna lived in the other pride-owned complex. Though the two females had caught sight of each other once or twice from afar, neither had made a move to cross the distance.
“She’d be a fool not to, because Bailey will just humiliate her all over again if Dayna pushes her buttons or starts another fight.”
His mamba would—not merely because it wasn’t in her nature to back down, but because she wouldn’t hesitate to assert her claim to Deke. It soothed the jagged wound to his pride that Dayna had caused when she kept him dangling for two and a half fucking years, never making his importance to her clear.
“I’m sorry I missed the brawl,” Isaiah added with a smile. “I’ve been repeatedly told it was highly entertaining.”
That it had been. “Where were you anyway? Tate said he invited you to meet us at the Tavern that night but you made excuses not to come.”
His smile fading, Isaiah licked his lips. “I was busy. Genuinely.”
“Doing what?” His scalp prickling, Deke narrowed his eyes. “What’s going on, Isaiah? Is it about Lucinda?”
Isaiah looked away at the mention of his true mate. Deke knew of shifters who’d recognized their mate at first sight. The enforcer in front of him was one of them. He’d spotted her from afar two years ago, but he hadn’t approached her, because she’d been snuggled up against another male. Instead, Isaiah had learned everything he could about her.
Lucinda wasn’t a shifter, she was human. She was also engaged to a man she’d been involved with for several years. As such, Isaiah had kept his distance and watched over her, no doubt hoping she’d separate from her human fiancé at some point.
“She’s pregnant,” Isaiah blurted out.
Deke went still. “What?”
“She was getting IVF treatment,” said Isaiah, his voice like crushed rock. “It worked.”
Deke felt his eyes close. Just as shifters couldn’t produce offspring with someone who they hadn’t claimed as their mate, humans who were the predestined mates of shifters could only reproduce with other humans through IVF. “Fuck, man, I’m sorry,” he said, opening his eyes.
Isaiah scrubbed a hand down his face. “I’m done keeping tabs on her. I have to stop for my own sanity. At this point, I’ve accepted that I’ll never have her.” He pushed his shoulders back. “That’s why I’m entering into an arranged mating.”
Deke felt his lips part. “The fuck?”
“I signed up to FindYourMatch.com the night I declined Tate’s invite to the Tavern.”
Mentally rocked, Deke stared at him in silence. The website in question was run by shifters to help pair up any who sought to enter an arranged mating. Apparently, it was very popular and had led to many successful arrangements. “Wait, are you sure this is a good idea?”
“I’ve been considering it since Lucinda first started IVF treatment. I knew then, deep down, that I was never going to have her. But my cat held out hope. He’s always felt she’d choose us over her human partner if only we’d tell her we exist. But I’d never barge into her life, break it to her that we’re mates, and upturn her world like that. And I don’t see her leaving her fiancé of five years to pursue something with me—a total stranger.”
