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He sounded angry. And she could sense how scared he felt.
Then his words sank in. “Mated?” Suddenly, that new presence in her head made sense. “No. Oh, no.” She shook her head. “That’s impossible. Wecan’tbe mated! I never agreed to that!”
Mating bonds were permanent. And irreversible.
She couldn’t be sealed for life to a man she’d only known for a couple of days!
Am I really mated to him?she asked her wolf, desperately hoping that Lucas was mistaken. This had to be some kind of a bad joke.
Yes, came the immediate reply.He is ours now.
How could you do this to me without asking first?Malia demanded in shock.
Because he is meant to be ours, her wolf replied, sounding bewildered at the question.He is our mate.
Do you know how much trouble this is going to cause?Malia asked.
Her wolf gave her the canine equivalent of a shrug, then trotted away, retreating to a place where Malia couldn’t contact her.Stupid, manipulative beast!
“How the hell did this happen?” she said, despair welling up from deep inside her. “How am I going to explain this to everyone?”
Lucas sighed. “I have no fucking idea. And there’s at least one person I know who’s going to blow a fucking gasket.”
She wondered who. The mother of his children, maybe? He was divorced, right?
It struck her that there were so many things she didn’t know about him. That hadn’t been important when it came to a quick fling.
A mate, though. That was completely different.
What have our beasts gotten us into?She fervently wished she hadn’t tried to change Lucas’s mind about dating her.
Then he gathered her close to him, and curled his long body protectively around her. “But we’ll figure something out. Everything’s gonna be okay.”
“Okay,” she whispered, trying to hold back tears.
It was strange how comforting it felt to lie in his arms, even as her life exploded into messy fragments and her mind hamster-wheeled through a host of possible scenarios for the aftermath.
Her parents and Rob would probably be shocked by her unexpected mating but supportive. Same for Ellie and Maggie. She could count on all of them to have her back.
It was the firestorm of gossip and judgment from everyone else that worried her.
Great Uncle Bill was going to be furious about having to admit a stranger, and a suspicious one at that, into his pack.
And what will Kymberlie think?
Malia cringed at the thought of her older cousin’s response to the news.
She’d always looked up to Kymberlie, who had taken on a business that everyone predicted was in its death throes. Against all odds and the predictions of all the naysayers, she’d not only revived The Hair of the Dog, but made it one of the most successful venues in the area, if not the entire state. She was a great role model: smart, funny, and she worked her ass off.
“Well, shit,” Lucas said, after a long silence. At least he sounded rueful now, rather than upset or angry. “Did your wolf give you any idea that this was in the works if we got together?”
“No,” she told him. She turned in his arms. “I’m so sorry. I really, truly, didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
He blew out a breath. “Don’t apologize. Please. It’s not your fault. My cat was in on it, too.”
“But what are we going to do now?” she asked.
“I have no idea. We need to talk it out, I guess.” He stroked her cheek. Unexpectedly, he kissed her, a soft, tender brush of lips. “I predict all hell’s gonna break loose in the morning. We should at least figure out how we want to deal with your, um, pack.” His expression twisted. “The ones I’ve met so far don’t like me very much.”
