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“Nero, I don’t know if I can be okay with the whole mate thing,” she whispered.
His heart sank. His hands were cold, but he’d never admit they were shaking. “Right.”
“Not yet,” she added. “Sorry.”
His head snapped up in her direction. “What?”
“I know you’ll expect what happened with Reece and Celestine, but I can’t do that. I need time.”
Nero leaped out of his chair and knelt at her feet. He cupped her knees in his palms to steady her. “I will give you all the time in the world. Those two jumped on it. That doesn’t have to be us. We don’t have to …mate,until you’re ready.”
She blinked down at him. “Oh. Okay.”
He chuckled despite the tightness in his chest. “What did you expect me to say?”
“That we had to do it now. I just escaped my father’s house. I don’t want to be locked in again.”
His heart clenched painfully. “Of course, love. We can revisit the actualmatingwhen we know each other better. But no matter what happens, you will always be my mate. The perfect woman for me. Fuck knows you’ll get me in trouble, but for you, it’s worth it.You’re worth it. I promise you, Valentine. We’ll wait until you say you’re ready.”
He would wait until Val was safe. Until this threat had passed. He would wait and wait some more. Nero knew what he had to do.
As they prepared for the vampire onslaught, he had some work of his own to do.
“You’re a good man, Nero,” Val whispered.
He just hoped they would both be alive so he could keep his promise.
TWENTY-SIX
VALENTINE
Valentine had a strict schedule to follow now that the vampire council must have guessed that something happened to Nikolas. Lilliane’s phone had been confiscated so thatLordcouldn’t call or text her.
Some wolves didn’t think Lil was on their side. Lilliane wasn’t trusted, and as much as it pained Val to admit, she, too, didn’t fully trust her once-beloved sibling.
Lilliane was no longer the person she knew.
Something had happened in that month away, and it was Valentine’s fault.
She should have gone off to find Lil long before. Waiting four weeks had been too long.
Glancing at the clock as Valentine did her hourly inner rant about her failings as a big sister, she walked out of the cabin, ready to do rounds. She had to check the cabin’s perimeter and a few other places along the path in the woods.
It was her first time doing the rounds, and she was surprised the wolves …Atlas,more specifically … were okay with her doing them alone. At least the mistrust they had for Lilliane didn’t follow through to Val.
“Hey, there, love,” a deep and familiar voice said. Nero leaned against his truck, smiling at her like she was his favorite snack. “You doing rounds.” It wasn’t a question. He had the schedule.
“Yep,” she said. “So, whatever it is you want to say, come back later.”
“I’m doing rounds with you.”
She arched a brow at him. “No.”
“Yes.” He followed her down the forest path.
“I don’t need a guard dog,” she explained calmly, but her fury sparked when Nero laughed. “And you said you would give me time to think about stuff.”
“I did. Time. Not space.”
