Page 34 of Knot My Boss

“She hasn’t left your side,” a soft female voice whispers in a shifter’s register, too low for humans to hear. Looking to my left, I see my mom, looking weary.

“What happened?” I ask, my throat sore, like a cheese grater was taken to it.

“You were shot,” Mom says flatly. “The boys took Darby into the woods after you were gone for three days, looking for you. They said that you started to make your way to them when a poacher opened fire. You lost a lot of blood.”

“How long have I been here?” I ask, unsure how long I’ve been asleep.

“Forty-eight hours,” Mom says, and I drop my head back onto the bed.

“The restaurant,” I mutter.

“Is just fine,” Mom bites out. “We have run it long before you took over.”

“She loves you,” Mom says after a brief period of silence, nodding her head in Darby’s direction.

“I don’t know about that,” I argue. “I haven’t given her many reasons why she should.”

“You’re right, you haven’t,” Darby’s sleepy voice joins the conversation, drawing my attention to her.

“I’ll leave you two alone,” Mom says, rising from her chair. She kisses me on the forehead before leaving the room, closing it behind her.

“I’m sorry,” Darby whispers, tears running down her cheeks.

“You have nothing to be sorry about,” I argue. “I have messed this up from the beginning. I should have come to you, talked toyou. Instead, I freaked you out, scared the hell out of you, and tried to control you.”

“Well, yeah, you have done all of those things,” she says with a watery smile. “I am not, nor have I been, perfect.”

Reaching over, I use my thumb to wipe the tears off her face. Darby leans into my touch briefly before sitting back in her chair.

“Arek, you need to understand something, and you need tolisten,” she says, emphasizing the word listen. “My parents have always had a strained relationship. While my mom stays at home, she micromanages everything and everyone.

“If my father didn’t listen to Kali and me, there’s no telling what kind of miserable life Dayton would be stuck in right now. Mom was grooming her to be a clone. The sister I see now smiles, has a beautiful home, a loving husband, and four beautiful babies.

“That isn’t me,” she says, causing my heart to sink. “Kids can be on the table, later. I want to work, need to work. You need to understand that owning and operating a tattoo parlor means that I have to touch people. I specifically learned how to tattoo paranormals, knowing that I wanted to move here and live here. My mother drove a wedge between Dayton and me. Slowly, we are chipping away at that, becoming closer.”

Darby pauses, and while so many thoughts are running amok in my head, I bite my tongue, waiting her out.

“I love you, Arek,” she says, shocking the shit out of me. “Being a mate is something that I need to adjust to, so you need to find patience. I will never fit into any type of mold, so don’t try.”

When it seems like Darby is done with her speech, I start my own.

“I love you too,” I say as she gives me a soft smile in return. “Thank you for coming to look for me. I will try harder and dobetter going forward, to not only communicate better, but be a little more…flexible.”

Darby rises to her feet, leaning over my bed, giving me a soft, deep kiss.

“Don’t expect me to play nurse once Tavan says you can go home,” Darby quips, reaching down to grab her bag and moving to the door.

“Where are you going?” I ask, somewhat outraged that we just had this breakthrough in our relationship and she’s already bailing on me.

“You are not my boss,” she jeers. “Although once you are healthy, be prepared to spend some time fucking me.” Darby winks before leaving the room, closing the door behind her.

I groan as my head falls back onto the pillow, a smile gracing my lips. My mate is a giant pain in the ass and I wouldn’t want her any other way.

Epilogue

Darby

Idon’t feel good. Knowing what I need to make me feel better, I cut my appointment short. As I clean up my client, I apologize, pull my gloves off, and escort them to the receptionist's desk.

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