Page 89 of Wolf's Redemption

He pulled away. “I wish… That is not all. I… I learned nothing from my mistake. When I returned and heard of my family’s fate, I wanted vengeance. Nothing short of Lothair’s death wouldsatisfy me. I wanted the pack to turn on Lothair. To take him down and destroy him as he had destroyed my family.”

Bek touched a hand to his scars, tracing the raised edges of skin. “Gaharet wouldn’t do it, would he? He was the friend you challenged and lost.”

“Yes. One of many decisions I have lived to regret. Rebekah, I know I have done little to deserve you…”

Bek sat up. “Ulrik, no one is perfect. Least of all me. My family are a bunch of crooks.Iwas an outlaw gang member’s girlfriend. No one could accuse me of being sweet and innocent.” She poked him in the chest. “You saved me from that awful guard that was going to rape me.” She poked him again. “You rescued me from Langeais Keep.” Another poke. “Twice.” And another poke and this time she kept her finger there. “Youdodeserve me, and maybe… Maybe we deserve each other.”

“You do not wish to return—”

“I’m staying.” She frowned, catching her bottom lip between her teeth. “If you’ll have me.”

“If I will have—” He pulled her to him and rolled them over, caging her with his arms and settling his thighs between hers. “Baby, if you stay, then I am never letting you go.”

She couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face.

“But…um…” His forehead crinkled in a frown. “There is something I must tell you first.”

“Oh?” She had a sinking feeling in her chest and a lump formed in her throat. “You’re not…already married, are you?”

“What? No!” He huffed out a breath. “I do not wish to frighten you, after…”

Whatever it was, was it that bad? “Tell me.”

“To stay with me, you will need to become like me. A werewolf.”

An unexpected thrill skipped up her spine. Why did the prospect of becoming a werewolf not frighten her? It should, but she couldn’t dredge up an ounce of fear.

“I have to become a werewolf? Like…you’ll have to bite me?”

He eyed her warily. “Mmhmm.”

“Okay, I’ll…bite.”Pun intended. “Why?”Can I not summon an emotion other than curiosity?

“For one, we are far longer lived than humans, and…” He stroked a hand down her face and her pulse did a little hop, skip and a jump. “Werewolves can only procreate with other werewolves, remember.”

“Oh.” Right. He’d told her that at the pond.

She stared at his bearded chin as she processed what he was saying. Was this the werewolf equivalent of the ‘do you want kids’ conversation? Was he…proposing? Kind of? Bek rubbed her hands across his chest, enjoying the tactile feel of his hair against her palms, her mind racing. There was a lot more involved than ‘putting a ring on it’. A lot,lotmore. It should have her running for the hills.

“I’ll be able to turn into a wolf, like you? Like Aimon and Kathryn? And Erin?”

He nodded.

“And I’ll get an extra strong sense of smell, enhanced hearing, perfect eyesight and increased strength?”

He considered her list, then nodded. “Yes. And more. There are many benefits to becoming a werewolf. A longer lifespan, protection from disease and our ability to heal most wounds, even those that would kill a human. And there is nothing like the feel of running free in the forest as a wolf.”

And she would be with Ulrik. Bek wasn’t seeing a downside here. “What’s the catch? I mean, I get it. You’ll have to bite me, but it not like my tatts didn’t come without pain.”

“I…”

“Oh.” Her eyes widened. “That priest. In the dungeon. That’s what was wrong with him, wasn’t it? You’d bitten him.”

“Yes, but it need not be that way,” he rushed out. “Renaud was a despicable, scheming excuse for a priest who deserved every bit of the agony of a turning. Wecouldhave eased his transition, but we chose not to. I would never put you through the pain Renaud suffered.”

She tracked his line of sight toward the table. Beside the bowl and pitcher sat a goblet. “What’s in that?”

“A herbal mixture.”

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