Page 4 of Cowboy Devil's Embrace

But those hopes were thwarted as both Avail and Grandmother kept up with me.

Of fucking course they did.

Grandmother was going on and on about the family legacy and the importance of this last quarter moon. Of course, Avail was trying not to laugh and failing miserably as she went down the list of things I was doing wrong with my life.

The prick.

But what did he know? Avail had no problems appeasing their demanding and utterly frightening grandmother. He already had his promised one. She had agreed to his mate claim and bore him children. They even had one on the way.

Whereas I was just sick and tired, and well, bored with everything. I’d become completely jaded. Forty was right around the corner, and I hadn’t spied hide nor hair of my fated mate.

I was tired of looking. I would never find my promised one. That was my harsh and cold reality. My Devil would never be sated.

I only had three weeks left before this last quarter moon. It was a special one. I knew it all too well.

The last quarter moon before I turned forty. Four decades on this earth with no mate to satisfy my inner Devil, and that meant trouble for my kind. There was a balance to maintain between my humanity and supernatural sides, and I needed a female to help me find that balance.

Without it, I could go mad. Lose control. Risk being put down by my own kin.

Whatever.

Maybe Grandmother was just being dramatic with all this nonsense. I could survive without a mate. It’s been done. I think.

But no money?

Now, that was a problem.

I admit I’d grown too used to this lifestyle to think about starting from scratch. Then again, maybe that would be a good thing.

Maybe if I had something to strive for, I’d give my Devil something to worry about besides searching for a mate.

I could stop wasting my life sleeping around and partying like some trust fund brat with my own reality show.

Gods, no.

“Fine. Okay? But what am I supposed to do exactly? Move? And then what?” I asked as Mother Leeds turned her back and walked away.

“Figure it out, dear boy. Now, I will take my leave of you and, with your cousin to guide, maybe you will do the right thing. Henries will be in touch.”

“Okay, fine. Goodbye, Grandmother,” I replied.

What else could I say? She held all the cards. I followed Avail’s lead and kissed her cheek before she disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

Terrifying woman.

Still, I loved the meddling old female. She was my blood, after all.

“Come on, Max. I know what your Devil is going through. Let’s talk,” Avail said.

I heaved a sigh and turned my gaze to my cousin. How could he know? How could I explain my angst and inner turmoil to him when his life was so perfect?

But maybe he was right. Maybe a talk would help. I pushed open the door and nodded for Avail to precede me.

“I don’t know where to start, Avail. Everything is so fucking boring.”

“I get it. Which is why Grandmother and I have found a solution.”

“You?What the fuck do you have to do with all of this?”

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