Page 165 of The Dragon's Mate

“I really think that grizzly is starting tolike me,” Bren said. “My natural charm is finally winning him over.”

“Have you spoken with your father sinceFriday night?” she asked.

“He agreed to see me at the hospital last night,”Bren said.

“How did it go?”

“He used the opportunity to tell me againwhat a disappointment I was to him. That he should have shot me last night andbeen done with it.”

“Oh, Bren.” She stared horrified at him. “I’mso sorry.”

“I’m not,” he said. His voice was devoidof emotion. “It was a good reminder that cutting him out of my life, cuttinghim out ofTyler’slife, is the right choice. He’s a monster and he’llspend the rest of his life in prison.”

“Your captain said if he was smart, he’daccept a plea deal.”

“I doubt he will. He’s still adamantly denyinghe had anything to do with it. That it was all the HAPI group’s idea and hewas an unwitting pawn.” He sighed and rested his forehead on hers again. “Moralesis getting warrants to go through everything of my father’s.”

“Do you think they’ll find something that connectsyour father to what the HAPI group was doing?”

“If my father was smart, no. But you neverknow. If they don’t find anything, my father will never accept a plea bargainand you’ll have to testify. He seems to think he’ll win a trial, that no onewill believe the word of shifters and his own son over him. He’s an idiot.”

“I’m sorry for the choice you had to make,”she said.

He cupped her face and stared at her. “Kaida,I’m not. I don’t know how many ways I can say this but choosing you over my fatherwas simple. I love you.”

She hugged him tight. “This isn’t going tobe easy. My clan is -”

“Your clan is wary, I get it,” he said. “Butif I can win over a grouchy eight-hundred-pound grizzly, I can win over yourclan. The good news ismyclan already loves you. I told Ty I was comingover to confess my love to you and he could barely contain his excitement. Iwas half-certain he was gonna text you before I even got here to welcome youinto the family.”

“Your brother is important to me too,” Kaidasaid. “He’s a great kid and I’m looking forward to getting to know him better.”

“You won’t be saying that when you find hisdirty socks stuffed between the couch cushions,” Bren said solemnly.

She pressed another kiss against his mouth.“If it means I get to see you every day, it will be worth it.”

He squeezed her hips, his look somber. “Ifyou want to continue on the way we were for a while, I’ll understand. We can flyunder the radar until things quiet down a bit. Your clan doesn’t need to know that-”

“No,” she said. “You are my mate and I won’thide that from my clan. You’re a part of our clan now and they’ll just have toaccept it. At least to our faces. Prepare for them to gossip about us behind ourbacks.”

He grinned at her. “I can handle some gossipydragons.”

There was another knock on the door and, holdingtightly to Bren, she said, “Come in.”

The door opened and Bones stuck his headinto the room. “Hello, human.”

“Hello, Bones.”

“We saw you drive in and the council hasrequested to see you both.”

Kaida took Bren’s hand, smiling confidentlyat him even though the nerves were kicking up in her stomach. “Come, my mate.”

They followed Bones to the main cabin. “Youdoing okay, Bones?” Bren asked.

“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?” Bones asked.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because you wereshot in the side not two days ago?”

Bones shrugged. “Javee removed the bulletfor me and kept the wound clean until the suppressant wore off and my healingabilities returned.”

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