Page 48 of Into the Lion's Den (Secrets of the Northland Shifters)

“No,” I said, practically choking on the word.

They should both know I’d never be formally mated. Besides, if I’d entered a mating bond, it wouldn’t just be my scent that was different. My whole personality would change. I’d be irritable and snarly, lashing out, and overprotective to a ridiculous degree.

Nobody needed that. Most of all, me.

“But you’re thinking about, right?” Angel’s assessing focus intensified. “With Sarah?”

“What?” Melanie asked, sounding concerned.

I shook my head. “Relax. I’m not thinking about it with anyone. I won’t be repeating Dad’s mistakes.”

“Mom wasn’t a mistake,” Melanie said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“She was weak,” I reminded them both.

“I don’t think Sarah’s weak,” Angel said.

I left the front desk before the conversation could go any further and headed for my own office. Wanting a noncommittal sexual relationship with Sarah was one thing. Bonding with an actual mate was something entirely different.

As I passed Sarah’s office, something caught my attention. Something that rankled. Sarah was on the phone, her voice coming through the wall.

And she was speaking in a tone that suggested something other than a business conversation. It was personal. It was intense. Then a name fell from her lips: “John. I said I was sorry.”

I stopped in my tracks, my keen hearing picking up the threads of her conversation.

“It was a mistake,” she said.

I clenched my teeth. I could only assume thatIwas the mistake, but who the hell wasJohn?

“I’m sorry. I’m not exactly thrilled to be admitting this to you either, but you said…”

Christ, was Sarah confessing her transgressions to a boyfriend? Was she insane?

I didn’t know what bothered me more—that some other man had claimed her, or that she was too honest for her own good.

If it weremeon the other end of that phone call, I’d already be in my car and driving up here.

“I don’t know what to do,” she said.

Well, I knew what to do. Forget about giving her space. I needed to keep away from her for good. The resort had enough trouble this season without throwing a jealous boyfriend into the mix.

Christ, I knew she’d been harboring a secret, but I’d thought it was a secret worth having. A boyfriend could have been mentioned earlier, and definitely before I had my cock pressed against the thin cotton of her pajamas.

Damn this whole miserable situation. I knew letting myself get close to Sarah was going to bite me in the ass, but did I listen to myself?Hell no. Classic dumbass move.

Well, I wouldn’t be repeating that mistake, no matter her secrets. No matter her allure. No matter the mountain lion flashing its teeth.

* * *

SARAH

I glancedtoward my closed office door while Deputy Marshal John Riordan continued to lambast me for putting my job at risk.

“We talked about keeping a low profile. Do you remember that?”

I rolled my eyes toward the window, hating that I had to have this conversation. My sex life—even myalmost-sexlife—was not something I typically shared, but my situation was not typical. Any possible interference with my living and work arrangement needed to be reported.

“I remember,” I said. “I’m not a two-year-old.”

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