Page 15 of Triumph of the Wolf
“No, no.” I waved my hand in dismissal. “I have no idea what they listed it for. It doesn’t matter. I don’t have a real estate portfolio of my own nor experience putting together deals and buying properties. As I firmly told Duncan, there’s no wayIcouldtalk people into investing with me.”
“I agree it wouldn’t be easy, but you have been running almost all aspects of the place for the last twenty years. And you’d be surprised how many people don’t have the needed experience but talk people into giving them money on the basis of being smooth talkers.”
“I’m not a smooth talker either, unfortunately. I get frustrated and show my fangs.”
“That could be more convincing than you might think.”
“Or it would prompt everyone to flee the room.”
Jasmine opened her mouth, but the door to Mom’s cabin opened again.
“You’d best not delay, Luna.” She stood in the doorway, Lorenzo at her side to support her.
I wanted to sigh in exasperation, but I also didn’t want to argue with a dying woman.
“We won’t,” I assured her and headed for the passenger door of the van.
“The cave.” Mom pointed behind the cabin, a reminder that there was a path, not a road. We would have to visit it on foot.
“We’ll head there soon,” I said.
Mom hesitated, but Lorenzo murmured something to her, and she let him guide her back into the cabin. A twinge of sadness swept through me. I didn’t want to accept that her end was near, but it was inevitable at this point.
Before opening the passenger-side door to the van, I removed the medallion from around my neck. I didn’t want to test Duncan’s libido—bothof our libidos—again.
He wasn’t in the driver’s seat, and I peered warily into the back. He’d gone into the tiny bathroom and closed the door. I put the medallion in his cup holder and waited for him to come out, trying not to think about going back there to see if he needed a hand.ThatI could do without the threat of impregnation and Mom getting exactly what she wanted—against both of our wishes. But after talking with Jasmine, and with several of the pack loitering in the area, I was no longer in the mood for carnal activities.
Fortunately, Duncan soon came out. He’d also removed his medallion; I glimpsed it hanging from the spigot of the tiny sink.
When our eyes met, his face twisted in an expression somewhere between embarrassment and chagrin.
“I must apologize for my behavior, my lady.” Duncan managed an impressively smooth bow, considering the tight aisle space with cabinets looming to one side and the bed hemming him in from the other.
“There’s nothing for you to apologize for. I shouldn’t have taken you into the cabin where my mother could bring up mating and offspring again.”
He managed a faint smile and joined me in the cab, easing into the driver’s seat. “She has a singular focus, doesn’t she?”
“I think it’s one of the last things she’s hoping to see before she passes, but I resent that she’s trying to pressure you.”
“Bothof us, certainly.”
“Well, yeah, but I’m family. Mothers pressuring their children is par for the course. You’re new.”
Duncan gazed thoughtfully at me. “I’m certain that you’re disinclined to obey her wishes, out of an understandable desire to be independent, but if she were not requesting more grandchildren from you, would you consider it? Having another child?”
Before, Duncan had always shied away from the idea of children, leaving as quickly as possible when Mom brought it up, but his gaze was more speculative now. His near-death experience with the curse had changed something for him. Since then, more than once, he’d admitted contemplating fatherhood.
“I hadn’t originally, no. Because of my age, if nothing else. But Mom keeps assuring me that my werewolf magic means I get more years of fertility than an average human woman.”
“Your vitality and glow of power assure me that you’re still in your prime.” Duncan glanced at my chest.
I almost laughed, my conversation with Jasmine coming to mind.
“I do feel a little morevitalthese days, but I would have to make that decision soon if I was going to make it. It’s not like werewolvesliveany longer than the average person.” Sadness returned as I gazed toward Mom’s cabin, reminded far more than I wished of our mortality. “Raising kids is a lot of work for a long time. It could kill me.”
“It can’t be any more trying than cousins trying to end your life, bad guys robbing your apartment, motorcycle thugs attacking you on a weekly basis, and tenants demanding repairs and making complaints at all hours of the day.”
“That latter can be vexing.”
