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Moving to the doorway, he offers me a half smile. “I love you too much for that. It’s going to be okay.” He frowns. “At least I hope so.”
“I’m so sorry.” His words swirl in my head. He loves me. I step forward in a rush before he can possibly get away and grab his shoulders to pull him down for a kiss, pouring myself into our connection with the hope that it can keep him with me forever. Ryan drinks me in as if he’s feeling the same way.
When Kevin clears his throat, Ryan and I break apart so he can leave. Once I’m dressed, we get into a black Mercedes waiting outside and head to the mayor’s office. Ryan holds my hand during the car ride and keeps it in his even when we’re sitting across from Mayor Kevin Black before his huge wooden desk.
I squirm in the hard chair with the urge to yank my hand out of Ryan’s and bite at my nails. Or run.
I glance over to Abby, who is standing off to the side with her hands folded in front of her like she’s ashamed.
Kevin leans forward. “Ryan.” He sighs the way one might with a child. “You may not have been properly prepared to meet Charlie, but you do know why we have the kissing-only rule.”
Then Kevin looks at me. “Charlie, it’s very dangerous for you to have sex with a werewolf and for you to know what he is before marriage. Therefore, the two of you will be bonding tonight.”
“That’s our punishment?” I ask. “A shotgun wedding because I know what you are?”
“Charlie,” Ryan chides, and I pull my hand away in exasperation. “There’s more than just a wedding involved.”
“Bonding means that you will be changed into a werewolf,” Kevin says.
Abby gasps softly.
“Hold on a minute,” I say. “Is that what happens when a human sleeps with a werewolf? Is that the reason for the rule?”
“Not exactly.” Ryan shakes his head. “As true mates, my need to brand Charlie as mine is so great that I’d struggle to control it during sex.”
“You’ll brand her?” Abby’s eyes open wide with a fear I’m not sure I understand.
Unless…
I hold up a hand. “If this involves fire, I’m so out of here.”
Kevin sighs. “He’s going to mark you with a scar so other werewolves know you belong to him.”
“Not with fire, Charlie.” Ryan gazes at me. “I’ll bite you.”
“Ha! Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“Actually, you’re going to enjoy it.” He grins. “A lot.”
Abby glares at her boss. “Kevin, first you dupe me into matching my friends with werewolves, and now you say they have to become one?”
Kevin narrows his eyes at her. “Once the couple is married, it would be a choice a wife could make with her husband. An annulment would be granted if she didn’t agree.”
“But if the woman decided not to marry her mate, she’d still know what he was,” I say. “What then?”
Kevin chuckles. “The true-mate bond is so strong that an annulment would never happen.”
Abby takes in a breath. “So that’s why you insisted marriage be part of the contract.”
“Yes,” Kevin says. “For the human’s protection.”
“And to make sure she’d be committed enough to agree.” Abby crosses her arms. “It still sounds like coercion to me, and I feel like you used me to make it happen.”
“Abby, that was not my intention. You would have been made aware of the details once we were ready to launch. It’s unfortunate that you chose not to allow the opportunity.”
Abby gasps. “Me?”
Kevin’s voice goes stern. “Had you not shown Charlie the site, the one you shouldn’t have activated, this situation would have been avoided.”
