Page 80 of Spark
“The part about only one of us winning in the end.”
“Well, yeah. Duh,” Chris said, flatly. “We’re shifters. We only get one mate. At a time, anyway,” he added, since it was possible for a shifter who survived the loss of a mate to sometimes find another mate.
“Yeah, that’s true…forus.” An idea was beginning to crystallize in Matt’s head. “But what about Sophie?She’snot a shifter.”
“Wait.” Chris put his mug down on the breakfast nook table with a hollow thump. “What are you saying?”
“That I don’t want to lose Sophie, and I don’t want to lose you, either,” Matt said, with complete honesty.
He took a deep breath, knowing that he was about to propose something that went against everything he knew about being a shifter.
“Have you ever wondered if we could just share her? I mean, my bear tolerated you courting her.”
Chris’s eyes widened. “You mean you think that we couldbothbe her mates? That’s impossible.”
Matt shook his head. “Outrageous, sure. But impossible…maybe not.”
They both let that sink in for a moment. Matt’s mind was already racing ahead to the next step, which involved convincing Sophie to give him—givethem—another chance.
And to somehow talk her out of taking that job.
“Well, shit,” Chris breathed finally. “That might work. I mean, mating bonds with Ordinaries only go one way.”
“So, you’re willing to try?” Matt asked, just to make sure.
“Hell yeah,” Chris answered without hesitating. “I’m willing to try anything that means that we can all stay together.” He shook his head. “I spent all night thinking about us not talking to each other, and her leaving…and it broke my fucking heart, Matt.” His green eyes were filled with emotion now. “Let’s talk to herright now. Before she starts packing up all her shit.”
Relief poured over Matt. There was hope. They had a possible solution. Chris was on board with the plan. Now, all they had to do was convince Sophie to sign on.
He pulled his phone out his pocket and tapped her name on his contact list.
The phone rang a couple of times.
Then Sophie answered. “Matt?” she asked, sounding wary.
He heard background noise and figured that she was in her car, driving somewhere.
“Hey, I’m here with Chris, and we really need to talk. We’re so sorry about what happened last night, and we have a plan to make sure that nothing like ever happens again.”
She didn’t reply. At first Matt thought that the call had dropped, but the road noises continued.
“Please, Sophie,” Chris said, raising his voice so that she could hear him. “I know we both acted like jerks, but we have something important to say to you. If you still want to leave for that job after you’ve heard what we’ve had to say, fair enough. But just give us a chance.Please.”
“Okay, fine.” Sophie sounded tired, and Matt hated the defeated note in her voice. Especially since he was partly responsible for that. “We can meet sometime this afternoon. I should be back before Chris has to leave for work.”
“Where are you right now?” Matt asked.
“Oh, I’m on my way to Wolf Rock Park to meet with Sven Tringstad. He called me about some photos he found. He said that they might be important for my story, and I—”
Sophie hit a cellular dead zone, and the call abruptly disconnected.
“Sven’s suddenly volunteering information about the murder?” Chris asked, sounding skeptical. “Everyone at the hotel has been telling me that he was the biggest opponent of Laura and Silvio’s mating, and that he still hates the Ornelas family.”
“And now Sophie’s suddenly going to meet him on her own?” Matt asked. “I’m going to ask her to hold on until I can be there.”
He tried calling her, but it went straight to voicemail. Wolf Rock Park was located just off the highway, and it was always hard to get a cell signal there.
Matt swore.
