Hollis grinned at her before looking at Ellen, excited. “Can you make a list? Names and anything relevant, if they were mates? To test your theory.”
“Yes, yes,” Ellen waved her hand at Hollis. “But don’t put me in the basement.”
“No,” Finn agreed. “You are our guest. Until you prove otherwise.”
Jessa smiled at him, mouthing, Thank you.
…
Jessa’s excitement was a thing of wonder. Finn’s heart, his body, responded immediately. He loved her so completely he could not, would not, lose her.
“Odds?” Finn asked, his gaze fixed on her.
Her green eyes met his.
“I… I don’t know,” Hollis said. “She bears your mark. She is your mate, part of you. Cara wasn’t. Ellen and I need to do some digging, I think. But I have no guarantee.”
“There are never any guarantees,” Ellen said. “Time will tell.”
“If she gets sick?” Dante asked.
“We move forward with treatment,” Hollis said.
“Or you infect her,” Ellen offered.
“Or I don’t get sick,” Jessa said, smiling at him. “What have we got to lose?”
Everything. But Finn kept his mouth shut. If Hollis’s idea didn’t work, then he’d consider Ellen’s. He’d never thought to turn her. She deserved better. But she wanted this family. And, selfish bastard that he was, he would do whatever he had to keep her. Even turn her… If that’s what she wanted.
Hollis and Ellen seemed pacified. Jessa, amazingly serene. He wanted that. Wanted her peace.
“Food’s ready,” Anders called out.
Finn watched the rest of the kitchen come alive, as if the previous conversation hadn’t torn him to pieces.
“Eat,” Jessa said, offering him a bowl of stew.
He took the bowl from her and set it on the mantel next to him. He cupped her head, tilting her toward him so he could see all of her.
She stared up at him.
He took her hand and led her from the room, down the hall, and into their bedroom. He let go of her, pacing from the fireplace to Oscar’s crib. His son, sleeping peacefully, content. “I’m scared,” he whispered.
She stepped close, taking his hand in hers. “Don’t be. I’m right. We’ll be fine.” She seemed so right. He wanted her to be. “You trust us? You trust our bond?”
He nodded.
“Then trust me. Try,” her tone was soft, entreating. “I feel it, Finn. As strong as our bond.”
“I will.” He stared down at her, searching for the right words.
“But?”
“I’ve lived the last ten years giving a shit about nothing. Nothing, Jessa. I did what I was supposed to, followed through on my responsibilities, went through the motions. My wolf was as much my enemy as the Others, something I resented. A curse. One I’d forced on those I valued most.” He paused. “Now I have you. And I realize how desperate I am to keep you. If it’s the only way, I’ll turn you—for me. Because I can’t give you up.”
“You won’t have to.” She hugged him, pressing her cheek against his chest. “Cyrus said the bond didn’t count because I wasn’t a wolf but I—”
Finn’s held her tightly, needing the pump of her heart and the thrum of her pulse. “I should have killed him.”