“You better. I’d hate to have to enforce the terms of our contract because your sister can’t watch her mouth.”

“I said I’ll take care of it. Hey!” Allie snarled when her sister tossed one of the bags out of the trunk. “That’s one of my bags.”

Ronnie hugged the boy in her arms. Only two or so, if she was guessing right, with an incredibly out-of-control baby mane of hair. Not a full mane yet, but one day it might rival his father’s. “Contract?”

“Do you actually think I’d go into this without an iron-clad contract?” he murmured, kissing the top of his daughter’s head and smoothing his hand down her back.

Lord, a breeding contract. Only lions would think of that. Wolves were much more…“in the moment.” A bottle of tequila and a quiet spot in someone’s backyard during a party, and whole Packs were created with matings lasting fifty or sixty years.

Curious, she asked, “What did they pay you…exactly?”

“Pay me?”

“You know…to…uh…” She lowered her voice to a barely there whisper, “Breed?”

Shaw blinked, then he exploded. “What?”

Ronnie took a quick step back while his daughter giggled. “You made him mad.”

“I just thought—”

“Well, you’re wrong.” He looked hurt she’d even think it. “The contract is only regarding the cubs. Everything is spelled out. Custody. Visitation. And basic ground rules. That’s it. Everything else is by…well…” He glanced down at his daughter’s head.

Ronnie grinned. “Mutual agreement?”

“Exactly.” He shrugged. “I wasn’t raised in a Pride. I wanted to see what it was like.”

“And?”

He nodded his head. “I love my children.”

Chuckling, Ronnie hugged and rocked the little boy in her arms.

Shaw’s expression warmed as he watched his son bury his face in Ronnie’s neck. “He likes you.”

“Like father, like son apparently. He’s been nipping my neck for the last five minutes.”

“Be grateful he doesn’t have his fangs yet.”

“Okay. Time to go.” Allie tried to pull her daughter away from Shaw, but the little girl held on like her life depended on it, refusing to let her father go. Shaw took her to the limo himself and buckled her into her car seat with surprising efficiency.

Her little guy, Erik, Ronnie finally discovered, didn’t put up a fight when his father pulled him from her arms, but he did look deep into her eyes for several seconds, then kissed her cheek before letting anyone put him into his own child seat.

As the limos pulled away, Ronnie turned to Shaw. “Good Lord, is that boy like you.”

“So tell me about your mom.”

He didn’t expect that question to send her tripping over her own two feet and flying into the bookstore’s erotica section he’d followed her to. Luckily he had fast hands and caught her before her head could make contact with the Kama Sutra.

“Whoa! Are you okay?” The few times she’d mentioned the woman it hadn’t been very positive. Brendon simply hoped to find out why.

Ronnie gripped his arms and let him put her back on her feet. “I’m fine. I’m fine.”

“You don’t have to answer me if you don’t want.”

Shaking her head, “No. No. I don’t mind.”

“You two argue a lot, I guess.”

“Not often. Only anytime the sun rises or sets somewhere on the Earth.”

Brendon laughed and didn’t immediately release her. He liked having her in his arms. “Okay, so you two have your, uh, issues.”

Ronnie tried to pull out of his arms, but when he didn’t release her, she shrugged and leaned back. “Yeah. We don’t get along much. Never have. My daddy said we started arguing when I was still in the womb.” She leaned forward and grabbed one of the books off the shelf. “Said he’d walk in the room once and found her yelling at her stomach, telling me to stop kicking her so damn much.”

Keeping one hand around her waist, Brendon took the book out of her hands. “Let’s see what we have here.” He quickly read the blurb on the back. “Nope. Forget it. There’s no spanking. You’ll get bored.”

She elbowed his stomach. “I will not get bored.” She snatched the book back. “I don’t need to read about spanking, ya know?”

“True. Why read about it when I can slap your ass myself?”

She slammed her foot into his instep. And, if he were a lesser man, it would have hurt like hell. He tried to get the book back but she held onto it, the two of them laughing as they struggled over it. It took them a few seconds to realize they were being watched. Slowly, they looked over their shoulders at the human male ogling them. They stared at him for several moments, then Ronnie snarled and snapped. The man couldn’t run fast enough.

Grinning, Ronnie looked up at Brendon. “I love doing that.”

She mentioned the schools she had interviews set up with, and Shaw drove her to the closest one. They got out and walked around the deserted campus for a good thirty minutes before Ronnie had to sit down on a bench by a Japanese garden so she could put her head between her legs.

“I can’t do this. I can’t go back to this.”

“Why not?” He sat down next to her, his hand smoothing down her back. “Ronnie, it’ll be fine.”