Page 28 of Daddy's Mail Order Mate

… And I want to take care of her. To what degree I deserve to do so, after everything that happened to her because of me, because of how I failed her. Beneath the guilt of the man, my wolf growls and bristles, ready to defend its right and protect its own.

I grit my jaw and look away, though I move closer to take hold of the handle and nod a silent thanks to her.

“I can carry him,” she offers quietly.

I open my mouth to refuse, but then a voice catches me from behind.

“Gwen!!”

I force my face to be neutral as we turn towards her goliath of a brother walking towards us. Several of the other bachelors trail casually after him, and it takes all I have to not growl. There’s an edge of violence in my blood, a hypervigilance stirring; my wolf is far too aware that I don’t have a sense of security about Gwen, about the bond. And it isangryat the idea that some idle interloper could be anywhere close to her and either harm her or steal her away.

I find myself stepping closer to her, to the point that I can swear I feel the body heat radiating from her arm through my shirt. Even with that distracting me, I notice the glance she spares up at me. Part of me feels a strange harmony in that moment, but then her focus locks in on her brother as he closes the distance.

“Lucas. Wipe that grin off your face.”

Her brother tucks his smile a bit at her deadpan warning, but apparently can’t stop beaming.

“What’re you talking about?”

Gwen clicks her tongue; my heart clenches with nostalgia. She’d often done that when we were young.

“Don’t be a smartass, and don’t get ahead of yourself. I’m not joining your pack.”

“I know, I know. But can’t I just be happy my big sister’s finally visiting my new home?”

I see one of the young men’s eyes trail up Gwen’s willowy legs, and bite my tongue to stop the urge to warn him off in the way a wolf would: all teeth. He seems to catch himself when he notices me glaring down at him and awkwardly shuffles in place.

“Not if you’re going to be smug about it.”

“So uh, congratulations on the mate, Mister Vata, sir,” one of the other new recruits remarks with a sort of hopeful anxiety in his voice. My memory pulls up the dossier on him like clockwork: Xavier, young, recent recruit, observed to be relatively meek and well-meaning, with a tendency to gawk at me when I had to come here. Fine enough kid, but the innocent effort to try to talk to me is much more of a landmine than the poor boy realizes.

The three of us who know the truth tense up. Gwen and I share a look; even after all these years, I know that poker face well enough to sense the tension beneath. Her throat bobs subtly and for a microsecond, I can’t look anywhere else. Our faces turn back and I see Lucas’ eyes narrow at me with quiet wariness.

“Thank you,” I state with disciplined calm.

I hear Gwen’s breath hitch, and it sets off a tingling in my palms.

“Thorn,” she speaks up in a careful murmur, “Rowan still needs changed.”

That’s something I realize I missed with her. She didn’t spare needless energy with unnecessary questions or comments, and trusted me to understand and keep up with her wavelength.

“There’s a bathroom nearby.”

We both start to step away, with my first step guiding our direction in silent understanding. But just as we’re starting to disengage, there’s another voice hailing us.

“Thorn,” Eli calls out behind me. “Could I borrow you for a moment? There’s something I’d like to run by you.”

And I can tell from his perfectly measured tone that it’ssensitivebusiness. Why else would he need to pull a council agent aside, after all?

Gwen looks up to me and nods. Just that silent gesture says so much: urging me to comply, affirming that she can handle Rowan, asking me to trust her with this…

My heart pangs.

I’ve missed this. I’ve missed the way we can understand each other without words.

I’ve missed her.

I swallow tightly and give a small nod back. Her eyes almost seem to glitter despite her tightly composed expression. But I can’t linger in this look or this moment. I turn towards Eli and resolve myself to trust in her to look after herself and my son, at least for a few minutes.

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