“What about?” Sean asked, trying to keep his voice level.
“I was an idiot. I didn’t tell you ‘No’ because I didn’t love you or I didn’t want to be with you. I said it because I felt like a traitor to my father. He raised Edward and me after Mom left. I thought that I owed him.”
Sean didn’t move. He simply looked at Xyla, trying to figure out why she had come. It was as though someone had ripped a band-aid off a cut and it started to bleed again.
“I was wrong. Sean, I love you. I’m in love with you. I don’t know what you meant by fated mates. All I do know is what I feel for you. I hurt so bad when we were apart. If you still want to go through the mating ceremony with me, I would be honored. Nothing would make me happier than spending the rest of my life with you.”
He simply looked at her in shock.
She fidgeted nervously. “Sean, please say something.”
He stood up, walked around his desk, and knelt in front of her. “Of course, I still want to go through the mating ceremony with you. I’m in love with you.”
Xyla smiled. Sean pressed his mouth to hers, telling her with that single kiss how much he loved her. It was a love beyond words.
He pulled back and looked into her eyes. “Are you sure you want to choose me over your father?” Sean cringed at the vulnerability in his voice.
“Yes. I’m absolutely positive. I will always love my father, but I love you more. I told him this morning that I was coming here to tell you I loved you and to beg you to be with me.”
Sean smiled. “I don’t think I heard any begging in your speech.”
She leaned over and whispered in his ear. “You’ll probably hear begging soon enough when we make it to the bedroom.”
He laughed.
“There’s two other things, though.”
His heart sank. “What are they?”
“One is that I would like Edward to live with us. Dad is toxic. He adores you. Dad threatened that he wouldn’t let me see Edward anymore, and I blurted out that I would take him to court for custody.”
“Absolutely. I love the young man. I would actually look at him more like my son than my brother-in-law.”
She grinned. “Funny that you might say that because there is something else we need to talk about.”
“What might that be?”
“I’m pregnant.”
“You’re what?”
“Pregnant. We’re going to have a baby. I was hoping that Sawyer would be my doctor because I understand that having a shifter’s baby is a lot different than having a regular baby.”
“We’re going to have a kid? Really?” Sean’s heart thumped hard and he couldn’t catch his breath.
“Yesssss,” she said, drawing out the word.
“We’re going to have a baby. I’m going to be a dad.”
“Yes.”
Terror struck his heart. “But what if…”
She put her fingers on his lips and shook her head. “What happened to Ivy was tragic. However, it doesn’t happen very often. I know that the baby and I will be just fine. Then, we can work on making another.”
“How many babies do you want?”
“I don’t know. Two or three.”