Page 38 of The Billionaire Alpha's Surprise Baby

Garrett’s lips twitch as if forming words, but no sound comes out. He lifts one shoulder in a careless shrug, and I get the feeling he doesn’t want to tell me. “It’s a shifter thing.”

I narrow my eyes and tilt my head to the side. “Garrett . . . What aren’t you telling me?”

He ignores my question and starts fussing with my blankets, tucking them securely around my legs. I watch his ministrations in fascination. My big bad wolf is nervous.

Finally, Garrett stops moving and heaves a heavy sigh. “I . . . healed you with my venom.”

I can’t help it. I laugh.

Garrett jerks his head up and looks at me as though I’ve lost my mind.

“Your venom?” I repeat. “Like, vampire venom?”

“No.” He shakes his head. “It’s a venom wolf shifters only secrete at a . . . very special time in our lives.”

“A very special time in your life?” I repeat. “What’s that? Like, shifter puberty?”

“No.” He screws up his face. “What, you think I just went through shifter puberty tonight?”

“I don’t know how your species works!”

Garrett chuckles and takes my hand, his expression growing serious. “Wolf shifters produce a healing venom when we give the mating bite.”

I swallow. That sounds pretty serious. “The mating bite?”

Garrett nods. “We don’t bite people to turn them into wolves. The only time a shifter will bite another, apart from a fight, is when he’s marking his mate.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “Marking her?” I’m not sure I like the sound of that. “Like, marking his territory?”

“Basically.” Garrett chokes out a laugh. “Only we don’t pee on our one true love. We mark her with a bite.”

My mind starts and stutters as I try to piece together everything he’s telling me. “And . . . why would you be, uh, secreting your super-special venom tonight?”

Garrett licks his lips and moves his other hand to my belly, roving possessively over my bump. “I’ve produced the venom every time we’ve been intimate,” he murmurs. “My wolf wants to mark you.” His blue eyes flicker up to meet mine, and I remember when they were that wolfish silver. “You’re my mate, Ava — my fated mate.”

My heart does a funny tumble in my chest. “I-I don’t understand.”

“Most of us mate for love or politics, but it’s said that every shifter has one true mate. I always thought that was just a myth, but . . .” Garrett drags a hand through his wild curls and lets out a throaty chuckle. “Here you are.”

I gape at him.

“I’ve known shifters who’ve supposedly found their fated mates,” he says, playing with our interwoven hands. “I always thought they were pretentious assholes.”

I lift an eyebrow. “Says the guy who drives a nineteen twenty-eight Mercedes Roadster.”

“Touché.” Garrett’s mouth turns up in a self-deprecating grin. “They say that once you find your fated mate, it’s impossible to let her go. You crave her every minute of every day. You are . . . soul-bonded.”

“That . . . sounds intense,” I murmur, because I have no idea what to say.

But there’s no mirth in Garrett’s eyes when he meets my gaze again. “It’s what I felt the moment I met you. This feeling that I had to be with you or I’d spend the rest of my life going crazy.” He swallows. “That’s why I tried so hard to find you.”

“I’m really sorry I left.”

He shakes his head. “You never need to apologize for that again, angel. You never need to apologize for anything.” He presses his lips together in a thin line and winces. “Besides, my sister tried to have you killed, so I think we’re even.”

I snort, and Garrett tightens his grip on my hand. “I don’t care about what happened before, angel.” He nods at my belly. “We have our son to think about now. I just want to move forward.”

Chapter Fourteen

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