Page 75 of Homecoming

“So do you love Noah more than the other two—more than Darius or Digby?”

“No. No, you’re misunderstanding me. I love them all, but in different ways. When I’m with Noah, I do. But I’m bonded to Digby, and he owns my wolf’s heart: her heart aches with want for him. Luna, my wolf, she craves him so much. He makes her heart pound so hard sometimes I think it might burst right out of my chest. And then there’s Darius…” Kat closes her eyes and takes a slow, deep breath. “Oh my God, that man… He drives the sexual woman inside me crazy. He fulfills every ounce of my lust, all of my desires, and he makes my body ache with want. I have an almost physical addiction to him. Every dark, dirty sinful desire—he fills every whim and somehow I melt and I’ll do whatever he wants.”

“Well, I guess he always did have that effect on people,” Alana sighs. “Sorry, what I meant was I imagine he would have that effect on people… considering his dark brooding good looks and what he is… it’s easy to see why he could make someone feel that way.”

Alana gestures to the waitress for more coffee and leaning back in her seat, Kat pushes her cup forward. As the server refills it to the brim, Kat continues to watch Alana as she sips from her own cup. There’s a long stilted silence as the two women pause in thought and then, looking up, they stare at each other.

“He was right, wasn’t he? Darius did know you. You were the dancer he remembered from the club?”

“Sorry, what?” Alana stutters as she avoids Kat’s gaze and nervously fidgets with the serviette on her lap. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Maybe you were a hostess… and maybe you offeredotherservices?” Kat’s frown deepens as she leans forward and focuses on Alana’s eyes, she slowly addresses her. “You did know Darius from the club, didn’t you? Oh my God, did you sleep with him?”

“Kat, I don’t know what you’re…” Alana sighs as she reluctantly offers the truth. “If you really must know, it was a long time ago, and I’d all but forgotten about Darius until I saw him the other day. You have to understand I came from a very poor shifter family. My mom worked two shitty jobs and I needed money to pay for medical school. The work at the club… I only did it for a short time and I’m not proud of myself, but I’m also not ashamed because it got me where I am today.”

“So then why deny Darius? You told him he was mistaken, so why not just say you remembered him? Oh, what, you don’t want Matthew to know what you did? That you turned tricks in a club. Is that it?”

“No, that’s not it. Matthew knows absolutely everything there is to know about me—we don’t have any secrets. Matthew is my soul mate and Darius was just… Darius. Like you said, he has a way about him. He consumes every part of you and in that he was no different back then than he is now. Darius was all wolf, not turned. He didn’t have that vampcharmthat he has now but he was still arrogant and selfish to the core. He had a wife, and I was just some shifter whore that fulfilled his physical needs.” Alana takes a deep breath. “Kat, I will agree to see you again, but it will have to be in a clinical session in my office and not like this. I can’t help you like this… it gets too personal. I could recommend someone else, but my professional advice would be for you to talk to someone. If you think you can fool that psych report by telling them what you think you need to say, then you’re wrong and both your insecurities and your anger will be found out.”

“Don’t judge me,” Kat sneers. “You were a hooker in a club, so you have no right to judge me.”

“I’m not judging you. I’m just telling you the way it is. Like I said, we all want to do the best for our pups and we all make decisions that we have to live with. Now I’m sorry but I have to go. I need to meet Matthew.” Alana drags her jacket from the back of the chair. “As a courtesy to Riley, if you call me tomorrow, I’ll rearrange some things and see you before the review.” Alana heads for the door and disappears into the street outside.

Kat sits alone at the table and takes a breath as she considers their conversation. “Wait…” her brow furrows into a deep-set frown, “… Alana wait!”

Kat quickly leaves her seat and heads to the exit. Pulling on the glass door, she hurries into the street where she soon locates Alana further down the sidewalk.

Following her, Kat grabs at her arm and spins her around to face her. Staring deep into Alana’s eyes, Kat focuses and, with a hesitant breath, asks, “Is Riley Darius’s son?”

“What?” Alana stutters with an incredulous laugh. “I’m sorry, Kat, what the hell are you talking about? No… no he’s Matthew’s son.”

“See, I suddenly made sense of what you said about Riley and it just occurred to me that’s why he can’t shift. And the more I think about it, the similarities between the two of them are striking: that smell that makes them both so damn attractive. And what you said earlier about Riley being in daycare while you and Matthew studied here in the café before you were married. That means you already had Riley… but he told me you didn’t have him until after you were married. So which is it, Alana?”

“Matthew and I got married young,” she swallows nervously. “Riley might be a little muddled with the details.”

“You’re skewing the facts. Oh my God… does Darius know about this?”

Alana struggles with her words as she grabs firmly at Kat’s arm and pulls her into a quiet side street.

“Kat, please... you can’t say anything about this to anyone. I’m begging you if you love Riley, then for his sake you can’t tell anyone.Oh my God… I knew it… I knew this was going to happen. As soon as Riley got mixed up with the goddamn wolves in that commune—I knew it was all going to come out. All these years I kept this under wraps and now…BOOM!It’s just like I thought it would be,” she weeps in open frustration. “Please Kat… I was just trying to do the best thing by Riley.”

“What, by denying him his father? And denying Darius a chance to know his son? You do know he lost his only child. And being turned, he never got the chance to have another.”

“I told you…” Alana growls angrily, “Darius was different back then. Oh sure, he might plead his undying love for Isabella now—but trust me, that’s just his guilt. Guilt because he wasn’t there for her or his pack. He wasn’t where he should have been when she was attacked because he was drunk and… and because he was with me! Back then he wouldn’t leave me alone. He was totally obsessed by me.”

“Holy fuck! He was cheating on her? What, when she… but he lost his child and… Oh my God!” Kat takes a breath in disbelief. “I reallydon’tknow him at all, do I?”

“Maybe he’s different now. And from what little I know, I think he loves you. Even I could read the look on his face, the way he looked at you. Kat, I moved on and I truly love Matthew with all my heart. He has been agreatfather to both my boys, and I don’t want Darius anywhere near their lives. The relationship we had wasn’t good. It was based on a fantasy that Darius had in his head. He didn’t really love me—he was just obsessed with something he thought I was. That wasn’t a good basis for a relationship and looking back now, I can see how desperately toxic what we had was. Both of us were trying to control each other and what we felt wasn’t real. I learned what I needed and deserved was a better, healthier relationship for myself. I told you Darius wasn’t nice back then. He was every inch the dominant and destructive alpha wolf… oh yeah, a great pack leader: a fearsome warrior and sure… he was the fuck of a lifetime. But I needed more, for me, for Riley and at the end of the day—I was just a shifter whore to him. Yeah sure, he made me fell good. Hell, I turned the head of an alpha wolf—a pack leader—but I manipulated that situation, and when it came down to it, what respectable married wolf wants the child of a shifter hanging around? Trust me, I meant nothing to Darius, and neither would Riley have. Please Kat, I’m imploring you, don’t say anything to anyone. You truly want to keep Evelyn’s secret safe? You want me to keep that secret for you?” Alana snarls in anger. “Then you need to keep mine. It’s your choice, Kat. What will it be?”

Four days later

Digbydumpshiscanvasduffel with a heavy thud onto the kitchen floor. “Mm...wow,somethin'sure does smell great.”

He draws in a long deep sniff of the hot cooking sauce and the waft of spicy aroma makes him salivate. Then wrapping his athletic arms around the woman standing in front of the stove he brushes a loving kiss against her cheek but as he dips his fingers into the bubbling sauce, he's greeted with a sharp smack on the back of his hand with a wooden spoon.

“Oww… Shit! Hey, Helena… that was damn hot!”

“Mister Digby, you arenohaving some yet… Now shoo… Go on, be off with you.”

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