Page 32 of Expensive

“You don’t need to feed me.”

He grabs two cans of the beef stew. “Nonsense. You came all this way. How are you doing?”

“I think I found my mate,” I say.

He turns around and considers me carefully. “What do you mean? We can’t—”

“We can’t bond to anyone. I know. But Andrew can’t bond to anyone either. He had a run-in with a warlock that didn’t end well. We’re both in a situation where a bond bite wouldn’t work, and we want to be together.”

He pauses before saying, “I’m happy for you.”

I think about how this conversation would feel if the situation were reversed—if Manny told me he’d found an omega willing to be with him, despite his inability to bond. I’d want to be happy for him, but I know I’d be jealous too. All of us have lost our families. We all want an omega of our own.

“The problem is that he’s the heir of an enormous fortune. And he has a mental health issue that has led to his father being appointed as his adult legal guardian. To make matters worse, Andrew is a widower, and the money he inherited belonged to his former mate. So even if we paid off his father, the family of his former mate could come after him. He’s in very real danger of being committed to a mental health ward if our relationship is exposed.”

Manny considers me for a few moments. “How much money are we talking here?”

“He’s an ice dragon shifter. A Blue Blood.”

He lets out a whistle. “That’s top brass, Timber. How did you get involved with someone like that?”

I shrug and smile as casually as I can. “Perks of being a porn star.”

He laughs. “Of course.”

Manny may be religious, but he doesn’t push his beliefs on anyone else. I’ve never felt even the slightest judgment from him for doing porn.

“I need to make sure he’s safe, Manny. Permanently. I can’t keep putting him in danger every time I see him. Is it possible to completely disappear with someone like him?”

He sets the cans of stew on the counter. “I don’t know. If he has a lot of money and there are people who feel entitled to it… That’s tricky. Greed makes people do desperate things.”

I sit back in the wooden chair and sigh. “Do you think Steppe would let us hide in the sanctuary?”

All the red wolf shifters Manny saves need somewhere to go. Just like us, they aren’t welcomed back home, so Steppe created a place for them: Lost Wolves Sanctuary.

It isn’t anything like this cabin. It’s more like a hospital. Most of the children have been through so much trauma they require extensive counseling to be functional. The adults are all in recovery too. In addition to the trauma, some of them have heart conditions from the virility or heat-induction medications.

Regardless of their age, all the patients in the sanctuary are mourning family that has either been taken from them or family who doesn’t want them to come home. It isn’t exactly a joyful place to live. But Steppe, H (Hokkaido), and Ken (Kenai) all work around the clock to keep it running. They believe we can make a difference.

It’s my job to keep it funded. Not through my salary. That’s not nearly enough. Scalene Studios helps me put together fundraisers, and there are other groups who pitch in to give the sanctuary food and staff. When we run low, I do another interview to tell people about my experiences in the pits. That always brings in more money.

If I went into hiding with Andrew, I wouldn’t be able to do that anymore. Already, I’m not sure how much the studio will be willing to help after I quit.

“You can’t hide with any of us,” Manny says. “It’s too obvious. And we can’t risk the sanctuary.”

He’s right, of course.

“If it were you, what would you do? How can I keep Andrew safe?”

Manny grabs the first can of soup and attacks it with a can opener. “Any chance you could woo the dad?”

“Manny, I’m a stud from the pits, and I’ve been doing porn for a decade. There’s no way a Blue Blood is going to think I’m worthy of his son.”

And there’s no way Andrew’s father would allow us to be together, even if he thought I was good for him. I think Mitch stopped seeing Andrew as anything but a paycheck a long time ago.

Manny pours the can of soup into a pot. “Are you really willing to go into hiding for the rest of your life? Give up everyone and everything you love a second time?”

It’s a fair question. It was so hard to do the first time around.

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