Feeling uncharacteristically shy, she said, “Stop being sweet.”
“Not being sweet. Just honest.”
“So you feel better now?”
“Much.” His limbs felt loose and his pulse was now steady. He kissed her again. “I’m sorry about my mother.” It was a surprise that he could mention the woman without wanting to explode. The rage had disintegrated like mist. Maybe it would be back. For now, he was free of it.
“She hurt you more than she hurt me.”
“And then you made her regret it. That was hot, by the way. My wolf likes it when you get all protective like that.” He smoothed his hands up and down her back. “My mother will respect your strength, even though she won’t want to.”
“She’ll never fully accept me, Jesse.” He needed to be prepared for that.
“She will if she wants grandkids.”
Harley cocked her head, surprised. “You want kids?” He’d never struck her as a fatherly person, though he was gentle with Willow and Cassidy.
“Sure, I want kids one day. Little girls with gold eyes.”
“Or little boys with dark eyes.”
“Whatever. I don’t care if they’re girls, boys, pups, or cubs as long as they’re happy and healthy.”
Well, he could change his mind on that. “Quick warning: margay cubs are totally demonic.” He laughed. “I’m serious. They climb before they can walk. You find them in the strangest places. Cabinets. Cupboards. On top of refrigerators. And they hide food everywhere.”
Smiling, he shrugged. “That’s okay.”
“They can also shift before puberty.”
“Really?” Theoretically, any shifter could do so. However, wolves generally didn’t shift until after puberty.
“Most shift for the first time at the age of six.”
“I don’t care what they are, when they can shift, or how much trouble they’ll be. I’ll love them, just like I love you. Just like you love me. Don’t you?”
“Yes. Can we stop acting like girls now?”
“You are a girl,” he chuckled. His girl. And yet . . . they still hadn’t fully imprinted.
“What’s wrong?”
He blinked. “What makes you think there’s anything wrong?”
“I sensed your mood plummet.”
Jesse twined a lock of her hair around his finger. “You often ask yourself why we haven’t bonded? I don’t get it, Harley. We’re totally open with one another. We don’t have any walls up. Our animals want the bond as much as we do.”
“I was told imprinting can sometimes be a slow process. It’ll happen. I can feel the potential of it. Have patience.”
“I don’t have patience when it comes to this. I want you bonded to me. I want our scents to mix; I want to feel what you’re feeling; I want to know I can bolster your strength if you need me to.”
“It’ll happen. Until then . . .” Her nose wrinkled. “I’m hungry.”
Sensing that she was trying to lighten his mood, he went with it. “Yeah, me too. Any Danishes?”
“Cinnamon buns okay for you?”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Hector made Nick wait three days before he would agree to speak with him. Like last time, Derren, Ally, and Eli accompanied Nick while Jesse, Roni, and Marcus remained hidden. Nick and Hector met in the same spot, and everyone was in the same position, including Hector’s guards. So, once more, Jesse was crouched near a thick oak as he watched a meeting between his Alpha and the half shifter.
His stance wide and confident, Hector gave Nick a smile that oozed smugness and superiority; it made Jesse’s wolf snarl. “Nick,” drawled Hector, “to what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I have some things in my possession that I thought might interest you,” replied Nick.
Hector’s eyes narrowed. “What might they be?”
“After our last conversation,” began Nick, rubbing at his jaw, “I just couldn’t help wondering why you hated shifters so much. I don’t like unanswered questions, so I decided to look into it. I was surprised to find you were once part of a pack. I was even more surprised to find out you were once accused of taking part in gang-raping and killing a female juvenile from that pack.” Hector’s guards cast him sidelong glances; it was evident they hadn’t known about that.
Hector tightened his fists but then seemed to make a conscious effort to loosen them. “Accused. Not found guilty of.”
Derren tilted his head. “Is that why you hate shifters? They blamed you for something you never did? Personally, I can completely understand that kind of rage.”
“At first, we thought maybe that was it,” Nick told Hector. “But some things just didn’t add up. So we did a little more digging. I can’t say I was really all that surprised to find out that you were one of the boys who assaulted and killed that girl.”
There was a beat of silence as Hector went completely rigid. “You’re wrong.”
“I’m not. Of course, I’d have an easy time proving that if the wolf who blackmailed your family, leading to you losing all the things you believe you deserved, wasn’t dead. His testimony would have been very useful.”
Hector seemed surprised by the mention of the blackmail. “Is that what you have in your possession? Testimonies of people who once pointed fingers at me?” Hector scoffed. “Lots of boys were falsely accused.”