When Roman had still been single, it had just been a pipe dream for Derek. At one point he thought they might stay bachelors forever. He enjoyed playing the field. He enjoyed dating human women. But then Roman had met his mate. It had taken him five long years to settle down, but now he was the biggest family man anyone could imagine. He was so in love with his mate and so enamored by his kids that honestly sometimes it was a little hard for Derek to be around them.
Now that just sounds like sour grapes, Derek told himself as he moved toward the door of the club. Something caught his pocket. He looked down and saw a small hand snag his belt loop. "Hey, Derek. Where are you going?" a female voice asked.
Ah. That was Leslie, a human woman he'd had a few one-night stands with over the series of the last few years.
"I was going next door but since you're here, I think I'll stay." He pushed the empty feeling from his mind. Leslie was a nice person. She liked to have fun, and she knew what she was doing. He fully supported all of that for himself and for her.
"Do you want to dance, or do you want to get out of here?" she asked.
"Let's dance.” He took her tiny hand in his, admiring her shimmery dress and the way it fitted to her curves. That was all he had to admire because they'd never had a real conversation. He knew almost nothing about her. But that's how it had to be, because she could never know him. He was already picturing her naked, laid out on the hotel sheets.
Just as they started to dance, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw Roman's name flashing. Before he could answer, the call ended, and a text message flashed across the screen.
URGENT! Baby is coming. Everleigh in labor.
Derek knew this was coming, but he still felt the shock freeze his body. He put his hands on Leslie’s shoulders. “I'm so sorry. My sister-in-law is having a baby – right now. I have to go.”
She gave him a rueful smile. “Congratulations, uncle.” She ran her hand down his chest, but unlike the other woman, she didn’t stop there. She traced over his abs and then skimmed the front of his pants, leaving him with a throbbing erection.
But glancing back at his phone again, which was pinging with more urgent texts from Roman, took care of his arousal. He kissed Leslie goodbye and headed out the door.
She was right – he was going to be an uncle, again. Eliza already called him uncle, even though she’d been five years old when they met. He was excited to add another little baby to the family. Just like his or her older sister, this baby would be half bear, half wolf shifter.
He rushed out of the bar, taking care not to crush any of the humans. As soon as he was on the sidewalk, he almost ran into another female. He paused, because this one was different. This one was not human.
She was a wolf shifter.
Her smell was not familiar to him, except… He paused again.
There was a thread of something familiar, a scent that was just barely there. Had he met her before? They'd entertained other packs in the past and hosted plenty of visitors over the years. He and Roman had also traveled to communicate with other packs.
And, of course, he had traveled alone, although he'd stuck to mostly human vacation spots.
She didn't need to be steadied, but he still put his hands on her arms. "Excuse me,” he said, grinning at her. “I didn't mean to run into you."
Then he looked at her, really taking her in. She was stunning. She was tall for a female and slender. Her eyes were dark, just like her hair. Her nose was straight, and her cheekbones were sharp. She was not smiling back at him.
Most females smiled at him. He wasn't trying to be obnoxious. It was just true. Human woman, or shifter female, he always got a good reaction. But not from her. He wanted to stay and talk to her, but he had to go. Roman was waiting on him.
“Excuse me,” she said slowly. “But I couldn't help but notice that you are a…" She looked around, making sure no one was listening. "A wolf shifter."