Page 54 of Protected By Her Mate

If only I could calm my bloody wolf so I can think clearly, maybe draw her into conversation, but he’s sad, angry, and frustrated by our mating situation and on top of that, his fear of flying is coming through loud and clear. Every time the plane takes a turn or we hit a pocket of turbulence, his howls fill my mind until I want nothing more than to bash him in the head, even if it means hurting myself in the process.

There’s no calming his instinctual fear of flying and once more I’m reminded of why most shifters don’t do it.

He settles as soon as the plane touches down and slows to a reasonable speed, curling up inside my chest with a disturbed huff and going to sleep, exhausted by nearly six hours of non-stop howling. It never ceases to make me feel like a headcase.

I see a smile split Charlie’s features for the first time since we left L.A. and know she’s listening into my thoughts. “You like that I was forced to listen to him for the entire flight?” I nudge her arm with mine.

Her grin gets bigger and my heart stutters. “You deserve it,” she says.

“Why is that?” I demand, leading the way to the parking garage where Charlie left her truck.

She sobers. “You should’ve been the one to tell me about the curse, not Vanessa, though I’m grateful she did. It helps me understand things a little better.”

“I’m sorry,” I say sincerely. “Part of it was cowardice and the other was the fear that even knowing, you would still want to mate with me. That you wouldn’t take the curse seriously. And that I would be too weak to resist.”

She’s silent for a moment, her brain working. I still can’t see through the fuzzy barrier she seems to have erected in her mind and I’m beginning to suspect it has something to do with my sisters-in-law. Both of them, because Vanessa wouldn’t know anything about shielding unless she’d talked it over with Mags, the interfering witch.

Just when I think Charlie isn’t going to respond, she says in a low voice, “I suppose I probably wouldn’t take the curse seriously if it was just me involved, but I don’t have that luxury, do I? I have to think of Luke, and if there’s even a small possibility that you’re right about this curse – ”

“I am.” The words are grim to my own ears.

“Then I can’t take the risk. Luke needs his mother. He deserves to grow up with at least one of his parents, so gambling with my life is no longer an option.”

I don’t speak because there’s no reason. We find ourselves in an impossible situation. No, not impossible for her. She can go back to her life once we’ve finished our investigation, and I will spend the rest of mine keeping her safe.

We toss our carry-on luggage into the backseat of her truck and climb in. We seem to have reached an understanding.

There is love and passion between us, but it can’t go anywhere. Not with the curse hanging like a sword over our heads. I’m glad Charlie is choosing the safer path.

She stops in front of my apartment building where I collect my bag and step out into a cold New York rain. With regret, I watch her truck as its taillights disappear around the corner. When I get into my apartment, I drop my bag and head up to the rooftop where I shift into my wolf.

It takes me a couple of minutes to catch up to her vehicle, and she’s making the last turn onto her street when I land on the rooftop opposite hers. I watch from above as she climbs out of the truck, reaching into the back for her bag. She flips the hood up on her jacket as she bounds up the stairs of her apartment building.

I leap across to the roof of her building and pad my way down the fire escape until I reach the one outside her window, hunkering down beneath the sill as she greets her son with loving enthusiasm, picking Luke up off the floor in a bear hug.

No, not a bear hug, a wolf hug.

Charlie chats with her parents for several minutes before hugging them goodnight. I watch as they exit the building. Instead of getting into a vehicle, they open an umbrella and stroll leisurely toward their own apartment building two blocks away.

I follow them through the rainy night, knowing Charlie would want them to be safe. I hear her mother’s laughter followed by her father’s deeper chuckles and I’m struck with envy. Their happiness after so many years together is painful to witness when I know I can’t have the same with Charlie.

Maybe I can’t, but someone else can.

As soon as the thought enters my brain, my wolf howls his denial.

Shut up, I tell him.She deserves better than a wolf who can’t give her a future. I hope no one is listening into my thoughts. I don’t need one of my brothers ribbing me because I’m arguing with my wolf.

She’s ours, my wolf says stubbornly.

She is ours to protect only. Otherwise, she belongs to herself and her child.

After making sure Charlie’s parents make it safely home, I bound back through the rainy night to gaze longingly through her window again. She’s safe, I know it, yet I can’t bring myself to leave.

Our bond grew when we had sex and leaving her now would be a kind of torture I’m not prepared to subject myself to.

“Bedtime!” I hear her voice sing out followed by a muffled complaint from Luke. The child does not enjoy bedtime. The night I’d stayed over, he was also difficult to settle.

Charlie handles him with expert ease, promising that if he goes to bed without a fuss, she’ll take him to the zoo tomorrow. I’m surprised by this until I remember tomorrow is Sunday and unlike me, Charlie isn’t married to her job.

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