Alpha's Vow (Shifter Ops 2)

I nod. “Listen, Charlie. You know how I said I started things all wrong?”

“Oh, we’re way past all wrong, Lance.” Charlie throws both hands in the air, turning and pacing away.

“Yeah, I know. See, the thing is, I didn’t fully catch your scent at the hot springs. No, that’s no excuse.” Fuck. I’m not even making sense, and Charlie’s already freaking out. “This is what I want to tell you. Wait. Can we sit down? Or—come here.” I catch Charlie’s waist to pick her up and sit her on her sturdy dining room table. My hands lightly rest on her hips. I just need to be touching her, have her close. I know she doesn’t seem to want it, but my wolf is frantic.

Her eyes are even rounder than before. “Whoa. So you’re really strong.”

That wasn’t what I was trying to show her. I shake my head. “Sorry. I don’t want to scare you.”

“Scared is not the emotion I’m feeling. Freaked out. Hysterical. Out of my mind… those all come closer.”

I suddenly I catch the scent of her arousal.

What? She’s turned on? She’s distraught and confused but… apparently still likes to be manhandled by me.

Taking it as a sign her body knows me as her mate, even if she doesn’t see it yet, I step in close, between her open knees. She’s in a pair of faded grey leggings that show off her toned legs. I brush the backs of my fingers over her cheek. “I know you think I’m a player. You probably think I’m not father material for our baby.”

“Our wolf baby.” Her tone definitely suggests she thinks she’s out of her mind.

“Wolf pup, yes.”

She blinks.

“Anyway, you’re not wrong—I was a player. That was totally me. But what you should know is that wolves mate for life. We have one mate who we know by instinct, and once we find that mate, we never leave. We’ll do anything to protect and provide for our mate. To keep her satisfied and make her happy.”

Charlie’s face shows her obvious disbelief over what I’m telling her.

“You know how I said I screwed up?”

She nods.

“I’m such a jackass, I didn’t figure out you were my mate until I was balls deep in you.” I shake my head. “I honestly never expected to find my mate. It’s a pretty slim chance of ever finding your true mate, and I wasn’t thinking she’d be a human.” I slide my hands up and down the outsides of her thighs. “What I’m trying to say and doing a terrible job of, is that you’re my mate, Charlie. Pregnancy or not, there’s no getting rid of me.”

Her soft lips part and she stares into my eyes, almost as if mesmerized. “Lance… I can’t digest this.”

“Obviously, this is not how I intended to tell you. I mean, I was going to take you on that date.”

Her hysterical laughter bubbles up again.

“Right. Our date.” Her lower legs loop around behind my ass and she pulls me closer. “This is so weird.” Her arms come up around my neck.

I wrap her up in mine and hold her. “Please give me a chance, Charlie. I want to be your man in every way—a father to our pup, the guy who makes you scream to the rafters, the one you can always count on.”

She lifts her cheek from my chest. “I’m having a wolf pup?” There’s a trace of amusement in her tone now. Or maybe it’s joy.

I smile tentatively. “Half-shifter. We won’t find out until puberty whether they can actually shift or not.”

Charlie suddenly gasps. “Is Deke a werewolf too?”

I nod.

“So that’s what Sadie meant when she said there’s a lot I don’t know about you.”

I let out a rueful chuckle. “Probably, yes. Does she know?”

Charlie nods. “So what does this mean? Will the pregnancy be different?”

I shove my fingers through my hair. I’d spent the evening researching it. “I don’t think so. You can go ahead with normal gynecological care. They shouldn’t detect anything different about our baby because it’s in his or her human form. If anything, it will be a safer pregnancy than most because my species has regenerative healing properties.”

Charlie sits a little taller, her palms stroking down my pecs. “You do?”

My dick punches out. Was that a purr in her voice?

“Uh-huh.”

“And you’re extra strong?”

Definitely a purr.

“Shifter strength. Yeah. Good stamina, too.” I wink.

She smiles. “This is so crazy.”

“Not as crazy as I am for you.”

She shakes her head, but she’s still smiling. “You don’t even know me.”

I sober. “I want to. Charlie, I really want to. Will you let me?”

“Of course,” she relents, shoulders sagging. “Whether we become a thing or not, you’re the father of this child.”

Whether we become a thing or not.

She’s still resisting me. I need to find out what her objections are, and break them down.