Page 25 of Wolf Duty

She’d never tire of his body. Even now, in this cold warehouse, she wanted to jump him. Okay, maybe after he’d brushed his teeth and gargled with mouthwash a few times.

“We’ll get an annulment,” Bay said. “As soon as we get to the Marin pack house, I’ll ask Arek to arrange one.”

“You can’t,” Sonya said.

“Oh, because we had sex, right? You can’t get an annulment if you’ve had sex.” He frowned. “A divorce, then. We can ask Nora to get the paperwork started right away.”

“I don’t understand. You don’t want to be married to me?” She shook her head. “What changed?” Dread filled her stomach. Was it because she wasn’t as strong as a shifter? A wolf would have fought Dale instead of being taken. She hadn’t meant to get kidnapped. “I’m sorry I put you in danger. I’ll be more careful, I promise.”

Bay grabbed her hand, and the now-familiar sizzle ignited the nerves along her skin. “Don’t blame yourself. I’m the selfish asshole who put you in danger. None of this would have happened if you’d married one of the Sunbeam wolves.” His beast’s growl echoed inside Sonya. “I’ll always want you,” he continued. “I’ll want you to the end of my days, but you deserve a mate who didn’t blackmail you into marriage.”

She grabbed his face with both hands. “Answer me honestly. Since I can feel your wolf, does that mean we’re true mates?”

His eyes shone as he covered her palms with his own. “Yes. My wolf has claimed you. He chose you… We chose you.”

“No,” she said. “I choseyou. The moment you walked into the coffee shop, I wanted you.”

He paused, his beautiful blue-gray eyes searching her face. “Do you really mean this? There is so much about me I haven’t told you. You might change your mind when you find out.”

“Whatever it is, it won’t change how I feel about you,” she answered. “We’ll face whatever challenges that come our way together.”

“I will spend my life making you happy,” he growled.

“I know. Now go rinse your mouth so I can kiss you.”

The wolf rumbled. It almost sounded like laughter.

CHAPTER 14

AWeek Later

Bay walked through the Pack House, heading for his new suite of rooms after a workout in the gym. He’d moved out of his single room with an attached bathroom to a two-bedroom suite with a living room and a small kitchen. Getting used to having an instant family had not been a chore. He loved having his True Mate and the pup close by. At first, he’d offered to sleep on the couch until Sonya got used to them being married. But she’d vehemently protested about sleeping separately. Bay smiled when he remembered how she’d spent her first night at the house, demonstrating why they should share a bed.

The last few days had been busy with moving Sonya and Karim to the Bay Area and dealing with the aftermath of Dale’s death. He hadn’t run the research lab in the middle of the woods by himself, but they couldn’t find any records of who else was involved. And the rest of the Sunbeam pack either knew nothing or chose not to share their knowledge. Nora had stayed behind to deal with the pack-law ramifications of the situation. Ulf had stayed by her side as muscle, not that Nora needed him.She could hold her own in a fight. But Ulf looked menacing enough, and the unknown of an immortal Viking put the Idaho village inhabitants on edge, so maybe they’d spill something they wouldn’t tell Nora.

The couple had finally arrived home and the entire house was in a frenzy to celebrate Christmas Eve, or Yule, in honor of the winter solstice. The pack had embraced both Sonya and Karim, but the pup got extra attention, not only because of how special his birth had been, but because celebrating the holidays with a kid made everyone embrace their more childish side and the excitement for tonight ran high.

As he passed the game room, he heard Ulf and Karim shouting at the screen. They’d been gaming ever since Ulf had arrived back that morning. It sounded like the pup was winning. Bay grinned. The Viking loved challenging the wolves to a game, but so far he beat all of them most of the time. Maybe he’d found his match in Karim.

As he was about to ascend the stairs to the living quarters on the second floor, Justice poked his head out of his office. “Got a minute, mate?”

Bay swallowed. They hadn’t really talked after the initial short debrief. To be honest, he’d avoided his commander because he wasn’t ready to discuss how he’d almost fucked up this mission too because of his reading problem. “Sure.” He switched direction and entered the room.

Justice closed the door behind him. “Sit.” He gestured to a visitor’s chair in front of the desk. “I have some questions.” As usual, he wore immaculate clothes. The crispness of the matching vest and slacks seemed to fit his British accent.

Bay sat and took the initiative. “I know I should have come to you earlier, before Ulf or Nora told you about my problem. I’m sorry I didn’t.”

“You didn’t?” Justice quirked an eyebrow as he took the chair on the other side of the desk.

“I could blame that I’ve been busy with the move, but the truth is I’ve been avoiding discussing the issue.”

“The issue?”

Why did Justice suddenly speak in short-question form only? “You know, my reading problem.”

The other man watched him for a moment. “What about it?”

“Ulf must have told you I’m dyslexic. I couldn’t read the note that Dale left me on the windshield.”

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