Chapter 24
Instead of going back to Shaw’s the way she’d planned to, Robin went to her apartment. She had busied herself with doing laundry and cleaning house to get her mind off what Shaw was doing.
Knowing that a stunning she-wolf had gone to offer herself to Shaw had Robin’s guts in knots. She knew things made more sense for two wolf-shifters to mate.
Robin fell on the sofa before spraying the coffee table with furniture polish. She covered her eyes with her arm and tried not to cry.
Having never been in love before, Robin had no idea how long it would take for her to get over Shaw if he took the sexy female as his mate. The way her heart and entire body ached told her it might take a very long time. Maybe even her entire life to get over the man.
She chastised herself for being afraid and waiting what may have been too long to become his mate. And as she lay there, trying her best not to lose faith in the man who claimed to love her with everything he had in him, she thought about what her biggest fear was.
It’s losing Shaw.
She sat up and realized that one fear overrode all the others. And now that it was set in her brain that she now knew what her biggest fear was, she knew she had to let Shaw know she wanted to become his mate and she’d do it right away.
Pulling her cell out of her pocket, she looked at the phone. Was it fair of her to do that to Shaw?
He had a gorgeous shifter right there in front of him, and she knew it. He had a female that was just like him who was ready to give herself to him. And he knew she didn’t risk death to become his mate, the way Robin did.
Would Shaw think the risk of Robin dying might not be worth it? Especially since he had another, even better female, who wanted to become his?
Robin didn’t know what to do.
She called her oldest sister, instead of Shaw. “Merry Christmas, Robin,” Wren answered her call.
“Yeah, Merry Christmas, sis,” Robin sounded lackluster at best.
“Wow,” her sister commented on her lack of Christmas spirit. “So what has you so down, baby sis? You should be on cloud nine since you and the mysterious wealthy man got back together. What gives?”
At that moment, when she realized she couldn’t possibly tell her sister much of the truth, she regretted making the call. “I don’t know how to explain it.”
“Just begin wherever you want to.” Her oldest sister always had been the easiest person to talk to. “The trick is to get started. Is this about your guy?”
“Yeah,” Robin uttered the one syllable.
“Is everything less than perfect?” she asked.
Robin could only muster the one word again, “Yeah.”
Wren sighed. “Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. What is making things less than perfect?”
“I should’ve married him when he asked me to,” Robin blurted out.
“He’s already asked you to marry him?” her sister asked in surprise. “You two haven’t known one another for even a month. Now I’m beginning to see why you broke up in the first place. He’s trying to move you way too fast.”
Robin pondered what to say next since she couldn’t tell her sister that the rush had everything to do with the full moon that was only days away. “No, he’s not. I want to get married too. But I’ve been afraid to. You know, the traditional fear of commitment.” She couldn’t admit the fear of death or the pain of transforming into a wolf were her real fears. “But I’ve found an even bigger fear that I have and that’s losing Shaw.”
“So we have a name for this mysterious man.” Wren was pretty proud of herself for getting more information out of her baby sister than anyone else had. “Wanna toss me his last name too?”
Robin felt like she was keeping so much from her family, they should at least know the man’s name. “Shaw Lykan is his name. He owns Luna Enterprises. Don’t bother searching him. I mean, you can, you’ll find out about his business ventures, but you won’t see one single photo of him.”
Wren doubted that and searched him anyway as she went on, “Now, why would you be afraid of losing this man? If this super-rich man has asked you to marry him, why would you lose him?”
“Well, you see there’s this woman who was sent to introduce herself to him by one of his father’s friends.” Robin nibbled on her pinky nail as her stomach bubbled. Picturing the beautiful woman made her feel sick.
“Well, what’s wrong with that? If he loves you the way he says he does, then you have nothing to worry about, right?” her sister asked, sincerely. “Is the reason she was sent because you guys have left his family out of your relationship even more so than you’ve left us out of it?”
“I didn’t think about that until today, but yeah, I guess Shaw hasn’t told any of them about us,” Robin said as she leaned back against the soft couch cushions. Her stomach was really rolling, and she wondered how long she’d make it until she was forced to go throw up.
“Okay, so no one knew, and his dad sent a woman that he thought would be compatible with him. Still, why are you worried at all if you know he loves you?”
“Because she’s in his league and I’m not,” it was the simplest way Robin could think of to explain their unique situation.
“So what’s so great about this chick?” her sister asked.
“Well, for starters she’s absolutely drop-dead gorgeous,” Robin began.
“Hold it right there, baby sis,” Wren interrupted. “You are gorgeous too. Out of all of us sisters, you’re by far the prettiest. So don’t go throwing yourself out of the running just because you have some silly insecurities.”
“Okay,” Robin conceded, though she knew the she-wolf was so above her it wasn’t even funny. “Then we have the fact that she’s a doctor. Now you’ve got to admit that’s impressive. Especially when I’m just a lowly dog trainer.”
Incensed that her baby sister was so down on herself, Wren got a little loud as she said, “Now, look here, sis. You aren’t a lowly dog trainer. This is your passion, and you’ve worked hard to make things happen for you. Just so you know, we’re all very proud of you. And you did say that this guy wanted to go into business with you, making a guard dog training thingy, right?”
“Yes,” Robin agreed. “But the difference between a dog trainer, any kind of one, even the Chief Operating Officer of a dog training business, can’t come close to comparing to being a doctor. A person who saves lives!”
Her sister had heard enough. “Bottom line, if this man loves you, the way he’s told you he does, then he will let this woman know he’s in love already and will send her on her way. By the way, how do you know about all of this? Did he tell you about it?”
“No, I actually met the woman in the park when I was training some German shepherds earlier this afternoon,” Robin told her. “She liked the dogs and came over to pet them. She’s very nice, and the dogs liked her. She told me how her dad had sent her because she’d been melancholy and had closed down her practice. It sounds like she’s burned out to me. Her father thinks she needs a good man in her life.”
“Well, your man isn’t free, right?” her sister asked.
“No, but then again, he is since I won’t marry him.” Robin felt the sharp stab of pain in her heart as she knew she’d messed around too long and lost Shaw.
“He’s not free, Robin. Not if he really loves you, he’s not. You see, love has a hold over a person. Once you fall, you’re not free anymore. Not even one part of you is free. The person who holds your heart is the only one who can set that person free. As long as you let your man know, you’re holding his heart, and you plan to keep his love for yourself, then he’ll never be free.”
“You don’t think that’s a little selfish to do to a person?’” Robin asked her sister.
“Not one bit. Sometimes a person has to be selfish.” Wren came up with an idea to help her sister understand her better. “Let’s say you have this puppy and you love this puppy, like he goes everywhere with you, and you two sleep together, and you can’t imagine your life without him.”
“Okay,” Robin said as she listened. “I got ya.”
“Okay, so you have this pup, and someone comes along. Let’s say this someone is an astronaut. A person who’s going places, you know what I mean? And that astronaut sees you and your pup, and he tells you he’d love to have that pup. He’d take that dog to outer space. Your puppy would see things he’d never see if you kept him with you.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to lose my dog just so he can go to outer space. I can make a great life for him right here. Who cares about going to outer space anyway?” Robin asked.
“Yeah, who does care about it?” her sister asked. “Especially when you have a great person right here who loves you and takes great care of you!”
“Oh, I get it.” Robin found a tear had fallen, and she wiped it away. “If Shaw is truly happy with me, he’ll send the good doctor on her way.”
“That’s right.”
Robin sighed then ended the call. “I’ve got to go. Thanks, big sis. You really are the very best.”
“You’re welcome. Bye. I love you.”
Robin told Wren she loved her too before hanging up and feeling a little hopeful.
Shaw would come to her if he loved her. She wouldn’t push him. She wouldn’t do anything. She’d wait and see if his love was true. And if it wasn’t then she really never lost anything at all.