Koda didn’t appear any happier. Yet he nodded at his Leader and peeled away in an angry huff.

My intention was to put some distance between us, not generate alone time. I crossed my arms and hurried up the steep incline, wishing things could be better. Although my Dansko shoes weren’t meant for climbing small hills, I managed to reach the top without slipping.

Aric rushed to catch up. “Where are you going?”

“This path runs parallel to the road. It’s safer than walking along the highway.”

“All right, but you’re walking closest to the side of the road. If anything happens, you’re not to go deeper into the woods.”

My eyes narrowed. “Do you like ordering me around?”

Aric rubbed at his five-o’clock shadow. “Yes. Despite that it does nothing but piss you off.”

My cheeks burned. Okay, he had a point. As the sun began its descent across Tahoe, and the long branches of the thick firs darkened the path, my tigress eyes replaced my own. As much as I knew being alone with Aric wasn’t in either of our best interests, I relished this last moment between us. Half a mile passed with only silence. I hated the tension, and, against my better judgment, I spoke.

“Do you think Leya will make it?”

Aric shrugged. “Physically, she can…. Emotionally it may not be possible. She and Paul were mates.”

I cocked my head toward him. “You mean married?”

Aric smiled softly. “No. I mean mated, the real deal.”

Dried twigs cracked beneath my feet. “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

Aric focused ahead. “All weres have mates, the one he or she will love and share a soul with for eternity.” He sighed. “If one mate loses the other, the mourning is so great the surviving half of the union typically dies at the rise of the next full moon.”

My throat tightened. “So even after all we did for Leya, she may still join her mate at the next moon?”

Aric nodded, his expression growing grim. “I’m hoping she’ll choose to live for the sake of their unborn child.” He kicked a few stones from the path. “My presence is what kept my mother alive when my father was killed.”

My body straightened. I hadn’t expected such a bombshell. The sadness in Aric’s voice at the mention of his father nailed me in the heart. My own father had been my hero. And he’d been brought down like a piece of meat.

I said nothing, allowing him to continue. “Our females tend to be stronger when it comes to their young. They fight more viciously for them. And, sometimes, their children are the only ones who can help them survive a mate’s death…but not always.”

I stroked Aric’s back without thinking, wanting to comfort him. My hand slid along his spine and up to his shoulder blades. Warmth flooded my fingertips. His hard muscles tensed beneath my caress. A soft, wolfish sound similar to a growl escaped his lips. I dropped my hand and gave him space, certain I’d offended him and angry at myself for stroking him.

Aric groaned as my hand left his back. His face darkened to red and he seemed to be working to control his breathing. Except his expression wasn’t one of a slighted wolf; it was one of desire. I stepped back. Good Lord, I shouldn’t have touched him. He had fathered another woman’s child, for heaven’s sake. “So-sorry.”

He shook his head, his steel gaze locking onto mine. “I wish you wouldn’t be.”

Aric closed the distance between us. I shrank back, away from the path and into the trunk of a dying tree. Please don’t look at me that way.

He reached for me, but I jerked away, stumbling back onto the muddy trail. “Why are you here with me? You should be with your girlfriend.” I hurried around the bend until Aric’s throaty voice sliced through the air behind me.

“What girlfriend?”

I froze before slowly glancing over my shoulder. Aric stood on the muddy ground, confusion knitting his brows before they angled fiercely. He bounded to my side in what seemed like two strides. “Celia, what are you talking about?”

At that moment, I was no longer sure about anything. I glanced around, as if searching for answers along the shadows of the darkening forest. “That blond wolf I’ve seen you with. She showed up at my house a few days ago. She said…”

Aric’s jaw tightened the longer it took me to form my words. “What did she say?”

“She told me she…was pregnant with your child.”

Something crunched. It might have been a few of Aric’s teeth. “She’s not my girlfriend. And if she’s pregnant, the child is not mine.”

My muscles tightened and my blood pounded through my veins. “Are you sure?”

“I didn’t sleep with her, Celia. That night you saw us together was the first and last time I went out with her.”

Joy should have made me dance to the beat of something Gaga. Except all I felt was stupid. Stupidity made worse by Aric’s next comment.

“Is this the reason you’ve been blowing me off?”

My lids shut tight; I was embarrassed by how I’d treated him. When I opened them, my eyes stung with tears. I wanted to apologize, but all I could do was nod like the fool I was. I should have confronted him sooner, but my lack of expertise with men made me run from a fight, not to it.

Aric huffed. “You can’t sniff a lie, can you?”

“No. Bren’s tried to teach me…but…no.” I’d continued along before I realized my feet had taken the first few steps. “You didn’t sleep with her,” my voice repeated numbly.

“No.”

“And that night…I saw you together was the only time you were with her?”

“Yes. She’s pursued me. But I’m not interested.”

It almost seemed impossible to believe. Blondie could have been my complete opposite. She had everything I didn’t—gorgeous features, perfect makeup, eye-catching clothes. “Why?” I asked without thinking.

“Why what?”

I brushed my hair out of my face. “Why don’t you want her?”

Aric blocked my path, his breath increasing its pace as his gaze bore into mine. “Because I want you. I haven’t been able to think of anyone else.”

I couldn’t have heard right. Males like Aric didn’t fall for weird girls like me. They went for the Blondies of the world. And when they tired of one, they sought another. Except then his hands enveloped mine.

As our skin touched, a wave of heat warmed my body. I thought for sure he’d step away, but then he released my hands and drew me to him, melding our bodies together. For the first time in my life, I felt completely safe, protected, and whole. Yet I fought against the solace, not believing it was possible…or deserved.

Aric inhaled deeply, taking in my scent as his lips swept along my crown. “I’ve been waiting for you, Celia. Please don’t push me away.”

The comfort of his voice and the security of his powerful arms collapsed my defense mechanisms like a wrecking ball. And just like that, the walls built from fear and strengthened by years of cruelty disappeared. My hands encircled his waist, tightening as they met. I shuddered, wanting to cry from the relief his strong presence granted me.

And just like that I realized my beast had met her match.

“I won’t,” I promised.

Aric’s hand pressed against my lower back while the other stroked along my shoulder and neck until his wide palm cupped my face. He greeted me with that sexy grin and smoldering eyes that stopped my heart. “I’ve wanted you for so long,” he whispered.

Something rustled behind the trees. I thought I caught a whiff of the wereraccoon before the furious howl of a wolf blared from high in the mountains.

Aric swore. He grabbed my hand and started tearing down the path away from the howl. “The pack found the vampires.”

I tried to break from his hold. “Aric, wait. I can help!”

He ignored me, propelling us forward. “No. I’m taking you home. I won’t risk your getting hurt.”

At the speed our feet pounded we reached our house minutes later. Koda paced outside his Yukon. He jumped in the moment he caught sight of us.

“Don’t leave the house!” Aric growled before leaping into Koda’s moving car.

I watched him leave, worried he’d get hurt, and terrified he wouldn’t come back to me.

CHAPTER 30

“That’s it. You’re doing it, Carrie. Good job.” My words were reassuring. My voice calm. The delivery was going smoothly. But I was screaming on the inside. We hadn’t heard from the wolves since they disappeared last night. No e-mail, no texts, no calls.

None of us had slept. My first instinct was to search for them in the direction I’d heard the howl. But after the attack on Leya and her mate, it would have been a stupid move to hunt for them alone. Worse yet, my sisters would have insisted on tagging along.

My focus returned to my patient. “Okay, Carrie, one more push and we’ll see your baby.”

Without fail, the beautiful sound of a baby’s cry filled the room. Dr. Summers handed me the sweet infant to place on her mommy’s chest. “Here’s your little girl, Carrie.”

“Congratulations,” said Lori, the second nurse, who had come in for the delivery.

Above us, the overhead paging system clicked on, followed by some static. Lori frowned. “That’s strange. They’re only supposed to turn that thing on during emergencies.”

A few more clicks followed before Taran’s voice rang loud and clear. “Celia Wird. Please report to the cardiac catheterization lab.”

I stopped wiping the baby. A shiver traveled down to my toes. I threw a warm blanket on mom and baby and headed toward the door. “Take over, will you, Lori?”

She nodded, staring blankly at the overhead pager.

Tap. Tap. Tha-lump.

“Celia Wird. You are needed in the cardiac catheterization lab—immediately.”

My quick steps turned into a sprint. Shayna rounded the corner, eyes wide. “Meet me down there!” I yelled to her.