Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 116909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 585(@200wpm)___ 468(@250wpm)___ 390(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 585(@200wpm)___ 468(@250wpm)___ 390(@300wpm)
“Daytrips?” Noelle burst out.
“Sweetheart,” began Les, sounding tired, “it is only fair that we support their contact. Other parents do it in our situation—many shifters find their mates when one is young and then choose to watch over them in such a way. It happened to your own cousin. Luke’s not asking for anything unreasonable here. All he wants—”
“I don’t care what he wants,” she clipped.
Yeah, we’ve noticed, thought Blair, rolling her eyes.
“And what about what is fair to our daughter?” asked Les. “What about what she’ll want?”
“Just to be clear,” said Luke, “I will never attempt to force Blair to go anywhere with me. I would never do anything that would cause her any upset. I simply want easy access to her. It’s my right, Noelle, whether you like it or not. She’d be angry at both of us if I agreed to stay away. Maybe you’d be fine with that, but I wouldn’t be. I won’t neglect her to placate you or anyone else.”
“We wouldn’t ask that you neglect her,” said Embry. “This news has been something of a shock, that is all.”
“It doesn’t bother you that your mate is presently a child?” asked Noelle.
“Nothing about Blair could bother me,” Luke told her. “She won’t remain a child forever. When she’s eighteen, I will claim her.”
“Eighteen? No,” snarled Noelle. “No way. That’s much too young.”
A heavy exhale. “Many females that age enter into a mating,” said Luke.
“You will wait until she turns twenty-one.”
“No, I won’t.”
“You do not get to decide this. I am her mother.”
“And I’m sure you love her. So you’ll want what’s best for her. Asking Blair to fight claiming her own mate for longer than necessary isn’t what’s best for her.”
“At eighteen, she’ll be barely an adult. You’re an alpha, which naturally makes you difficult for anyone to contend with. Give her a few years to discover who she is and develop her own identity before you take over her life.”
Blair held her breath as silence again fell.
“I’ll wait until she’s nineteen,” Luke reluctantly conceded.
“Twenty-one,” Noelle repeated.
“If she declares she wants more time I’ll of course give it to her,” said Luke. “If she doesn’t, I will claim her when she’s nineteen—I’m not budging on that, so don’t bother pushing me any more than you already have.”
Blair felt her nose wrinkle. She wasn’t pleased that he’d agreed to wait an extra year, but she did appreciate that he’d suggested a compromise to keep the peace for her sake.
“Your word, cat,” said Noelle. “I want your word that you will wait until then.”
“You have my word that I will wait until she turns nineteen before I claim her—”
“And that you’ll give her additional time if she wants it.”
“I will wait however long she needs.”
“Fine,” Noelle threw out.
Blair narrowed her eyes at her mother’s easy agreement. The woman was undoubtedly thinking that she could convince Blair to hold off on mating him until she was twenty-one, or maybe even older.
“However,” began Luke, “you must keep to your word. You will agree here and now not to limit my contact with Blair or ever attempt to come between us.”
Blair couldn’t contain her smile. Oh, her mate was sneaky. He hadn’t simply made his concession to be fair, he’d done it to box her mother into a corner. Noelle would know that if she didn’t concede to make this vow he would then retract his own promise—and that would be the last thing she’d want.
A long pause. “I will not put restrictions on your contact with her or try to come between you,” Noelle grudgingly pledged.
“If at any point you go back on your word, my own vow to you will become null and void,” Luke told her. “Are we clear on that?”
“Crystal.”
Hearing footfalls head for the door, Blair quickly backed up. It swung open, and then Luke peered down at her.
His face softening, he closed the door behind him. “Hey, there. Eavesdropping, were you?” It wasn’t really a question.
She bit her lip. “You’re leaving now?”
He nodded. “But I’ll be back. And I’ll never be far. Whenever you need me, all you’ll have to do is call. You have a cell phone, I’m guessing.”
She gave a heavy nod.
“Do you have it on you?”
“Yes.” She pulled it out of her pocket.
He reeled off a phone number, which she added to her list of contacts. “There,” he said. “Now you can text or call me anytime. Even if only to say hi.”
“You’re definitely going to come back?”
He gave her a serious look. “Nothing could stop me.”
“My mom probably won’t break the vow she just made, but she’ll be … difficult sometimes. Maybe even mean to you.”
He let out a soft snort of amusement, clearly unbothered. “I don’t doubt it. But like I told your parents, I won’t be run off, no matter how much or how often she tries to cause problems—I promise you that.”