Page 9 of Shifter Mates for the Single Mom

My heart ached to see my little boy’s innocence ebbing away because of Matthias. To a kid his age, a sword should have been something cool to daydream about, not something he thought he needed to protect himself and me. But with a side yard that still stank of spilled blood from a monster’s visit, I couldn’t blame him for it. I probably would have felt the same.

I didn’t know how to make myself useful while the Pack did their survey, so I stayed with Aidan, relieved to have a bit of peace in the middle of all of this.

Aidan eventually went back up to bed with his belly full of roast beef sandwich and sliced apples. I wanted to join him, but I had to make myself available in case Nathan and the others needed me.

I was working on some preliminary sketches of Aidan’s knife on my drawing pad when Nathan came back in. “Hey,” he said, tilting his head to check on the sketches. “Just came in to check on you. How are you doing?” His hand settled warmly on my shoulder. The innocent gesture almost made me drop my pencil.

“Tired. Angry. Trying not to be scared.” I sat back and set the sketchbook down as he settled onto the couch next to me. “You’re… going to have to kill him, aren’t you?”

“There’s no prison that can hold one of us for long,” he replied quietly, and I knew the answer was yes.

It made me feel a little sick how satisfied I felt with that answer. Something in me was out for blood. Something in me wanted to see Matthias torn to pieces, along with his nasty grifter mother. Then there would be no chance they could hurt me or my little boy.

“Okay,” I said softly, and he trailed his fingers over my shoulder, caressing me soothingly. “I guess I should have figured that out.”

“There’s no excuse for the local Sheriff not stepping in before now, don’t mistake me on that. But now that they know it’s shifters, they won’t touch the case. If we weren’t already involved, they would call us or another outfit.”

“I should have expected it. Ben always called the local Sheriff a lazy bum.” Just mentioning Ben’s name hurt. “I just didn’t know how bad it was.”

“There have literally been multiple court cases in which the Supreme Court stated that police have no obligation to protect people. Some cops take more advantage of that ruling than others.”

It pissed me off to hear. “What the hell use are cops, then? What’s the point of calling them if they don’t help? If all they do is show up after, take notes, maybe catch the guy but probably not?”

“Not much use at all in a situation like this. If you couldn’t afford a security team, I would be telling you to get a damn gun.”

“I’ve got one. But I’m guessing it wouldn’t be any good against a shifter.”

“Not without silver bullets or maybe a solid headshot. Is it a nine-millimeter?”

“.45 caliber. Ben got it for me.” I couldn’t keep the sadness out of my voice.

He cocked his head slightly. “You still miss him, huh?”

I took a shivery breath and nodded. “Never stopped.”

“Me too.”

We were holding hands. I didn’t know how that had happened. My fingers were lost inside his grip, and I could feel the warmth all the way up my arm. I laid my head on his shoulder and felt a shiver go through him.

“Haven’t seen you since Ben’s funeral, thinking about it.” He looked down at me, his breath warm on my face.

“Yeah.” I stared at his lips, wishing he would kiss me and feeling guilty for it. He and I knew why we had avoided each other after the funeral. Desire and guilt. Looking at each other, wanting each other, even when my husband had been barely in the ground.

We had stayed apart so nothing would come of it. I had tried to forget the chemistry that set my hairs on end every time I was around Nathan, but we had let it go on for years after that. And in the meantime, Matthias had swept in and manipulated me into his arms.

“I don’t apologize for walking away at the time,” he said, fingertips stroking my shoulder and sending electric jolts through me. “You know I had to.”

“I do. I had to, as well. I just wish we’d gotten back together sooner.”

He looked at me sharply, a gleam in his eye that I couldn’t ignore. “I should have. And not just because of Matthias.”

His fingertips trailed across my jawline, and my pussy tightened and started to ache. His eyes hooded, and he leaned a little closer to me…

…only for the front door to open and let in Jamie, who was distracted tapping something into his laptop. Nathan moved away from me instantly, leaving me empty and frustrated.

“Hey, so we’ve gone over everything,” Jamie told us, then looked up and looked between us in confusion. “Did I interrupt something?”

“No,” said Nathan far too easily, making my heart sink more. “Not at all.”

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