She wanted to scream at herself. Yell and throw a tantrum.

What the hell was she thinking of asking him to leave?

But her She Bear wouldn’t let her do anything else.

Pride was a cold bedfellow, but both the She Bear and herself had been hurt by the way he’d just rejected her and carried on like nothing had happened.

She had no idea why he was really here, nor what he hoped to achieve but she was having none of it.

Apparently, she had no say though because Chris grabbed her, and before she could do more than think about kicking him in the shins, he planted his mouth on hers.

For a second, time froze.

Corny, she knew, but it did. Everything was in a stasis as she processed the fact her mate’s mouth was pushing against hers with an insistence that had her heart fluttering in her chest with excitement.

She trembled in his arms and gasped as he held her tighter, pulling her deeper into his embrace. He took advantage of her surprise, of that tiny gasp, to push his tongue between her lips. To tease and torment hers.

She’d only been kissed by boys. Kids at school who been as much of a novice as herself. She had no real experience with guys; had had no desire to date even the good looking boys in her year who’d asked her out. Why would she be interested when she knew who her mate was? Had known since she was fifteen?

It would be like knowing you had a queen-sized bed bar of chocolate waiting for you at home, then deciding to slum it on chocolate syrup.

Pointless.

So, when his tongue was rubbing against hers, she felt her inexperience and was embarrassed by it. But he wasn’t. His hands shot down to her ass and he pulled her against him as he rubbed his tongue against hers, moving in a motion that mimicked sex and made the pulse between her thighs start up a merry rhythm of its own.

She groaned as he ate at her with his teeth and lips. It spurred her on. Made her forget her nerves, forget her lack of experience. All that mattered was showing him how she felt. Retaliating and displaying her own needs, her own desires for him.

He pushed his cock, already so hard, against her belly and she rocked her hips, loving the pressure as she fought back with kisses of her own.

Just as she started to fall into the motion, drown in the sensations their kiss caused, he jerked away from her with a speed that left her reeling.

She blinked, blind for countless seconds as she tried to figure out what the fuck had just happened.

He’d been there, then he wasn’t. His heat had gone. His passion had burned away.

He’d left her.

Again.

And he didn’t have to leave the room for her to feel his abandonment.

Mortified, she whispered, “Get out.” Those two words were all she had left in her vocabulary.

“No.”

She froze at his refusal. “What do you mean no? Get the fuck out of my bedroom.”

He let out a long hiss that pushed her attention his way. She saw the hectic flush on his cheeks, the grit of his jaw as he clenched it, but more than that, she saw his Bear in his eyes. Saw the flickering within those smoky depths as man and beast fought for power.

Maybe she should have been scared. His control was wavering, and for a Shifter of his years, control was a battle he should have won long ago. In fact, there was no maybe about it. She should have been scared.

Instead, she was relieved.

Relieved as hell at the visible proof she could affect him, he wasn’t oblivious to her as she’d always feared, as he’d always seemed to be.

His Bear wanted her. The kiss proved that the man did too.

He shook his head once. His chin sliced through the air with a firmness that had her narrowing her eyes at the arrogant gesture.

“No. We have to talk.”

“We haven’t spoken in nearly ten years,” she choked out. “What do you suddenly have to say to me now?”

He gritted his jaw. “You know why I’ve stayed away. It’s not...” Chris hissed out a breath. “It’s not right. This, none of it, is right.”

“I’m a woman,” she cried out, her tone more passionate than she’d have liked, but when was there a better time to be impassioned than when she was revealing the truth to him?

“You’re a cub,” he snarled.

“Only in the eyes of the Clan. I could go out there today, pretend I was going shopping, and hook up with some human. He wouldn’t know. He wouldn’t care that I’ve only see two decades.”

The air suddenly hummed with an electricity that made her cringe. He stalked toward her, a large step that had her falling back. “You wouldn’t.”

It wasn’t a question, more of a statement. Still, he’d felt the need to say the words which meant there was doubt there.

Hell, she’d never meant to do that. Never meant to instill doubt where there wasn’t any. She didn’t want anyone else. She wanted him, dammit.

But his reaction was more than she’d ever seen from him. Should she maintain the masquerade to further induce his interest?

Or was she baiting an already on the edge Bear?

She bit her lip as the quandary weighed heavily on her. What was the best option?

She wanted him. The kiss had only proved what she’d already known. She needed him in her life. Not this endless misery of catching a glimpse of him here and there. Instances that made her long for him all the more, that made her hide deeper and longer in her den until days passed with her not eating, food being the last thing she needed.

But she didn’t want him to be jealous. She didn’t want him to hurt. He’d done nothing but hurt her but that didn’t mean she was petty enough to want him to suffer too.

The silence strung out between them felt like a ticking bomb was waiting to explode in the corner.

He was eying her like she was an angel and a demon incarnate. Like she was his sole source of redemption and yet, his singular vice too.

She lowered her head, unable to countenance the notion that he had competition. Mate bonds didn’t function on jealousy. They were true and pure. She couldn’t taint that, not even if it might mean she could get her own way.

With a grimace that was aimed at the floor, not him, she murmured, “I wouldn’t. Of course I wouldn’t. No more than you’d go to another woman.” She peeked up at him at that, saw his anger had dispersed at her words. When he made no bones about the fact he hadn’t slept with someone else—a fact she knew because the bunnies often bitched about how they could never get him in the sack, she murmured, “I was just making a point.”

“If you have to make a point, then don’t make it around other men,” he growled out. “My control is on the knife’s edge as it is.”

“I didn’t mean to test it,” she retorted. “My reasoning was sound whether it was unwise or not. We both know, in the eyes of the world, I’m mature enough to know what I need, what I want.”

He shook his head. “We have one foot in that world you’re talking about. The other is firmly in this one. Your father would slaughter me for laying my hands on you. And you know he would.”

“If you were a prospect,” she immediately retorted. “Then yeah, he would. And rightly so. They’re just trying to fuck me, and they’re idiots for even making the attempt.” Her top lip curled with how pathetic she found their overtures. “You’re my mate. It’s different. And it would stop the brothers from trying to make it with me, so that would calm tensions in the clubhouse down substantially.”

Something she’d said had him tensing up again. That weird vibration humming through the air that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on edge.

“Mars usually Challenges the brothers who come onto you.”

She grunted. “The ones he knows about.”

A growl whipped along the sound waves. “Tell me who and I’ll kill them.”

She huffed out a breath. “Do you have a pen and paper? Jesus, Chris. Whether you like it or not, or can admit it or not, I look like a fully mature female. An unclaimed one at that. They’re men. They have penises. They think with them. What else do you think is going to happen? They’re not blind. Unlike you,” she finished on a snarl.

He glowered at her. “Give me names.”

“No. I don’t need you to Challenge them. I can handle them on my own. I just want to take the need away. I want my mate. The Goddesses let us find each other so early on in our lives. Why are we wasting that blessing?”

He closed his eyes at her plea, and she knew, felt, that her words were hitting home.

Comforted by that, she took a step nearer to him, then another when he didn’t move back. Carefully, like he was the Bear and not the man, she pressed her hand to his chest. “We could be so good together.”

“We’d be better if you were more mature,” he whispered, the words a low, pained groan.

She sighed. “The Goddesses don’t agree. I need you, mate. I’ve always needed you.”

He sucked in a shaky breath. “You think I don’t need you? That the nights aren’t torturous? I don’t want anyone else, Ava. I want you. Do you know how that makes me feel? Like a goddamn pervert, that’s how. You’re a cub, and I want you like I’ve never wanted any other woman in my life.”

“And that’s exactly how it’s supposed to be,” she told him, infinitely cheered by his confession, a confirmation of what she’d already known but what she didn’t mind hearing over and over again.

“It’s not right,” he repeated his mantra.

She tried not to lose patience, tried and succeeded. This was the nearest they’d been in a decade, and she didn’t want to do anything to spoil it. To make him back off.

“It is right. It’s perfect,” she whispered, stepping closer still, not stopping until their torsos brushed, until his scent was in her nostrils and his essence made her blood boil with need.

They both shuddered as their bodies connected, and she reached up, using her fingers to tilt his chin so she could let their mouths touch.

Another shudder wracked them when their lips brushed, and the delicate touch blocked everything out, even the rattle of the doorknob. The sound didn’t rupture her awareness when every part of her was focused on Chris.

Only when the door opened and another one of those growls that makes the air hum and buzz with tension erupted did she realize they weren’t alone.

And that her daddy was there. Watching her with another male.

The growl woke him up. He didn’t know what spell she’d cast on him, didn’t know what she’d done to make him forget himself, he just knew that Mars, his Clan leader, was there, watching him kiss Ava.

The crazy thing was, he’d spent so long fearing such a moment as this one, that now it happened, he couldn’t find it in him to be scared.

That kiss... so simple, so pure. It changed everything.

She was his mate.

The Goddesses had gifted her to him early, and he’d sacrificed so much to do right by her. To let her grow up without his Claim, to try to give her some freedom at school even though that freedom was limited thanks to their bond.

He sucked in a shuddery breath and rather than pull away from her, he wrapped his arms tighter around her. She froze in surprise, obviously expecting him to reject her, then in the next split second, nuzzled into him, tucking her head under his chin.

Another growl came in reaction to her cuddling into him, but he hardened his stance and said, “She’s my mate.”

The growl immediately desisted. Mars’ Bear stopped ruling the man for countless seconds as the Prez just stood there in the doorway. Watching them. Looming over them even though it was from a distance.

“Mate?”

One word. Said with such passion that it could either have been a threat or a promise.

He nodded.

“Today?”

“No. We’ve known for nearly a decade,” Chris confessed, stunned by how wonderfully liberating it was to be able to make the admission. He felt the tension in his body disappear, unknown stress that he’d been enduring all these years past and without really knowing it.

Mars tilted his head to the side, took a step into the room, then closed the door behind him. He strode past them, ignoring the way they stiffened at his proximity, and took the desk chair she’d left to let him in.

Jesus, had that only been what? Ten minutes ago?

He blinked in astonishment at how things could change so quickly.

He wanted to ask her why the hell she hadn’t locked the fucking door after him, but at the same time, the way he felt, the relief that cascaded through him at no longer having to live a lie, was too much. He couldn’t fault her, not when it brought them to this moment. When it brought their untenable situation to a head.

Mars sank heavily down on the chair, and it squeaked in response to his weight. He wasn’t a small man by an means, and had at least a hundred and fifty pounds on his daughter. Against the Moroccan backdrop, he looked as out of place as Chris felt.

The MC had long ceased trudging around in skanky wear, settling on smart jeans with Oxford shirts underneath their cuts. Some, like Chris who worked in the human business scene, wore their cuts like a waistcoat under a sports jacket.

But, neither male fit into this wholly female domain with its delicate perfume in the atmosphere and the tiny tchotchke she had dotted around.

When the chair had ceased squawking at his weight, he rested his elbows on his knees and let his head hang. More silence fell until Ava pulled away from him a little and said, “Chris has been protecting me.”

Mars frowned at that, but he didn’t look up. “By not Claiming you?”

“She was fifteen when I first scented the truth,” Chris confessed hoarsely. “You know the bond settles through sex. What would you have had me do?”

A heavy sigh escaped the Prez. “Come to me?”

“You’d have thrown me out of the MC, sir,” Chris replied softly, not wanting to jar Mars out of this not-so-violent mood. He shot Ava a glance, saw she was as stunned by her father’s quiet reaction to news of their relationship as he was.

“Maybe you’re right, maybe you’re wrong. We’ll never know now, will we?” Mars finally looked up, studied the pair of them clinging to each other like a koala clung to a tree. His lips twitched, just once, before a stony expression took over his features. “Aggression is mounting in the MC, Chris. Over Ava and Jessie. You need to Claim her before blood is spilled.”

Shock had him freezing in place. “But she’s so young, Prez!”

“You don’t have to tell me,” Mars snarled, then, he took a deep breath and released it in a way Chris knew was supposed to be calming. “She’s far too young to be mated, and yet, the Goddesses let you find each other when she was fifteen. Who am I, who are you, to judge Their actions?” His breath was shaky when he released it. “I don’t like it. I fucking hate it. And I wish to fuck I hadn’t walked in and seen this because I could carry on like nothing had happened, and the wool would keep on being pulled over my eyes, but it isn’t. And I can’t. So I won’t. This is too important.”

In his arms, he could feel the tension strumming down Ava’s nerve endings. That she was surprised at her father’s reaction was an understatement. Hell, he was, but she was the one who had to endure years of Mars’ overprotectiveness. It was no wonder she was stunned into silence.

“We have your blessing then?” he asked, feeling like he needed confirmation before he took this a step further.

The look Mars flashed his way was both irritated and rueful. “No, not my blessing. But I understand. And I won’t Challenge you, so that has to give you some degree of comfort.” He grimaced, swiped a hand across his jaw. “My baby girl has a mate.” Air whooshed from him as he released a heavy breath. “Goddess, this is going to take some getting used to.”

He got to his feet, clenched his jaw, then strode over to them both. Chris let his arms drop from around Ava’s waist as he approached. She clung a little but stepped back, and warily watched her father.

Mars shocked them both by pressing a gentle kiss to her temple. “Be happy, sweetheart.” He held out his hand for Chris to shake. “You hurt one hair on her head, I’ll fucking Challenge you faster than you can say your name.”

Chris grimaced. “I have no intention of hurting her, sir.”

“We never do, but we always do.” He grunted. “Sadly for you, I’ll be watching so be careful with her.” He gritted his teeth. “I’ll tell your mother not to expect any reports from you for a little while.” He stared back at the desk with the three screens that were running spreadsheets. “She’ll have to learn to cope without you for a bit.”

He said the words absentmindedly, then placed his hand on Ava’s shoulder, squeezed, then strode off.

The door closed behind him, shutting them in together. But now he was gone, there was added strain to the atmosphere.

“Should I lock the door?” Ava asked softly, biting her lip as she waited for him to reply.

He shook his head as contradictory emotions plagued him. He wanted to Claim her now. Right this instant. Wanted it so badly that he felt like his Bear was going to burst from his skin in reaction. At the same time, paternal ‘blessing’ or not, he still felt like a creep. Like he was doing her no kindness by binding her to him now.

“Let’s go somewhere together,” he told her instead, watching her shoulders deflate. As Mars had done, he reached over to squeeze her arm. “Hey, this isn’t a rejection. I just need time to process what happened. That’s all.”

“You’ll change your mind,” she grumbled, stepping away and turning her back on him. “I know you will. The longer we delay, the sooner you’ll reject the bond.”

He let out a sigh. “It isn’t like that. Not this time.”

“Getting my father’s blessing just means he won’t kill you when you Claim me. It doesn’t take away the fact you still feel I’m too young,” she retorted, hitting the nail square on the head. “What can I do to prove to you I’m ready? Mischa was my age when Kiko claimed her. My mom was only a few years older. You want me to be fifty when we bind? How can you even believe we could wait that long? Don’t you miss me? Don’t you long to be close to me in the middle of the night?” She firmed her lips. “Or is that just me? Am I the only one who feels so incredibly alone?”

The pain in her voice hit him like nothing else could. A stuttering breath escaped him. “Of course you’re not alone,” he confessed, closing his eyes and pressing his palms to the alcoves of the sockets.

“Then why are you putting us through this?” she cried. “Why make us suffer when we don’t have to? I get why you waited when we first realized what we were to each other. I get why you carried on waiting until I hit twenty-one... but to keep on? To endure this? And to think we could endure it for decades more? I’d go insane first,” she told him bluntly. “I couldn’t. I can’t. These past few weeks have been hell. I know I can’t take any more, Chris. We have to do something or I’m going to go out of my mind.”

There was a sense of desperation that laced her words that jerked him to attention. He strode forward, shrugging off his own needs to maintain a distance from her, and grabbed her by the arms. He didn’t stop until she was against his torso, until they were hugging so fiercely his biceps ached with the pressure.

He’d only ever fucked humans, and he’d always had to be careful. They were frail, after all. Sensitive creatures that broke.

Ava was a Shifter. He’d never seen her She Bear because the girl kids in the Clan only shifted alone and out of sight of the males. His Bear let out a mournful roar at that; he wanted his mate too. The Boar wanted to know the Sow more than he wanted to go tearing through the nearest grasslands on the rampage for his next meal.

She was strong, she was fierce. More than that, she was his.

“I-I’m not going anywhere,” he told her shakily. “I swear it.”

“Then why won’t you Claim me now?”

Her pout had his lips twitching. “Because I can’t just...” He closed his eyes. “I need to just shift gears. That’s all. I want you, Ava. Can’t you feel how much?” He dropped his hands and pressed them to her butt. Dragging her hips close to his, he made sure she could feel his rock hard erection. “I need you as badly as you need me. Probably more. I haven’t had sex in so fucking long, I’ve probably forgotten what to do.” He let out a shaky laugh. “Just let me acclimate to this new reality, okay?”

She fell silent, then after a few seconds, nodded, her forehead rubbing against his shirt as she agreed to his wishes.

“That isn’t to say we’re not going to be together,” he told her, making her tilt her head back to look at him.

“It doesn’t?”

“Hell no.” He smiled softly. “It seems you’ve been given a pardon from work.” He tilted his head in the direction of her computers. “Switch them off. Let’s go on a ride.”

Her eyes widened. “On your hog?”

He chuckled. “Where else?”

Excitement made those grass green orbs of hers sparkle and twinkle. Rosy red patches blossomed on her cheeks as she clapped her hands in excitement and pulled away to do as bid.

He watched her bend over the desk, saw the curve of her ass in those shorts that made him want to run his hands up and over her butt. Jesus, his cock was wondering why the fuck he was delaying the inevitable, but his brain knew this was the right thing to do.

He needed to know that he was in control. He needed to know that she was mature enough to handle what the bond meant.

He’d spent so much time apart from her, he’d stopped knowing her inside out. As a kid, he’d always been drawn to her.

She’d been funny, amusing. The way she saw the world had charmed him, and he’d always felt sorry for her considering how hard her parents were on her.

They hadn’t hung around that much. He’d been an adult and she a kid, for Christ’s sake. But on the occasions when there been a party or she’d sat in on a Council meeting while she colored or did her homework or some shit like that, they’d always ended up chitchatting.

Her maturity had always astonished him. He was praying to the Goddesses that after a couple of conversations with her, he’d feel equally as astonished by the so-called adult version of her.

“You’ll need to wear something hardier.” His words were gruff, because though he loved the idea of her getting on the back of his hog with nothing more than those thin clothes, her safety was paramount.

He knew riding on the hog was a novelty to her. She was only allowed to ride with Mars, after all. And even then, that was rare as he took her mother. So, this was more than a treat.

But no way was he going to let her ride with him without wearing some protective gear.

She pouted but nodded, and once the computers sounded a notification that they were closing down, and she switched off her TV, he watched as she scurried away to a door beside her bed.

The devil rode him into following her steps, tracing her path. He cleared his throat to let her know he was there when he hit the doorway, and she turned to look at him, a wicked glint in her eye but a modest blush on her cheeks as she rifled through the racks on the wall in search of something appropriate to wear.

Resting his shoulder on the doorjamb, he stood there in silence as she looked on. Seeing a pair of jeans, he said, “They’ll do fine.”

“It’s too hot for them,” she groused, but did as bid, and dragged them off the hanger.

“It won’t be when you’re on the bike. We can buy whatever you need when we’re on the road.”

Her eyes rounded again as she stared at him. “We’re going on a road trip?”

He nodded. “We’re going to do this right.”

She gawked at him for a handful of seconds, then grinned. Widely. “Seriously?

“Deadly.”

She let out a hoot then began her rummaging all the more. She found a long sleeve shirt and a bomber jacket. “These do?” At his nod, she grabbed them from the hangers and shoved them on top of a chest of drawers opposite the wall of clothes.

He watched as she grabbed the hem of her camisole and rolled it over her torso. Each inch she revealed made his heart stop beating. When her tits bounced into view, no bra to hinder the exploration of his gaze, he felt pre-cum bead on the tip of his shaft.

She must have sensed the sudden charge in the atmosphere because when the camisole was promptly tossed on the floor, Ava shot him a look. It was a combination of coy and naiveté. She knew what she was doing to him, but at the same time, her innocence was quite visible too. Though she knew he was aroused by the sight of her nakedness, she didn’t really know where to go from there.

How could she?

She was pure, because she was his.

She’d learn his wants and his needs, and only through him would she learn what hers were in return. He’d have to help her discover the sexual creature that lay beneath the veneer she presented to society. And Jesus wept, wasn’t he dying for those lessons to begin?

With a groan, he watched her put on a bra, then shove on the shirt. She pulled down her shorts, baring hot pink panties with a lip stick kiss embossed on the front. She was as long and lissome as he’d known, and it was a goddamn shame to watch her hide those fucking gorgeous legs behind jeans. The only compensation was, when she turned around, the denim covering her ass was framed to perfection.

She dragged on the bomber jacket, then asked, “You sure I shouldn’t pack a few things?”

He shrugged. “If you want. A nice outfit, something fancy, change of panties. That kind of thing. We’re packing light though,” he warned. Jesus, he’d seen Christie when she and Mundo went off on the hog. The damn bike nearly toppled over with all the shit she just had to take with her.

Only Mundo had the patience to put up with that shit.

She bit her lip as she looked over at him, then murmured, “Do you mind stepping outside? I don’t want you to see the fancy outfit I’ll take.”

Charmed, he smiled. “Of course.” Doing as asked, he headed over to the bed and sat at the foot, deciding to wait for her there.

He let himself fall back, unsure as to when she’d be ready—women always took a goddamn age in scenarios such as these, didn’t they?—and stared up at the drapes on the ceiling.

From his vantage point, he couldn’t see all that much of the room, but knew these would be his quarters until Mars agreed to let them move.

The bedroom was bigger than his, and the only room in the clubhouse now was smaller bedrooms for prospects. The MC had an estate about two miles away with houses for some of the lower ranks who had families. Over the years, the MC had been blessed with more mate bonds, and dens had been required to house the cubs.

They could go there if there was an empty property. Or, if there wasn’t, they could have something built. He sure as hell could afford it and he knew Mars would help out to make sure his baby had only the best.

Maybe Ava even had some money of her own, but he didn’t hold much hope on it. Mars had never mentioned her earning a wage—something that had never sat right with him considering how much fucking work she did. He could easily imagine Mars just giving her pin money or some such shit.

It didn’t matter that that pin money was probably more than a decent salary in corporate America. It was the principle of it.

Now she was his mate, and that knowledge was out in the open, things would change with the way the MC dealt with Ava.

He should have stepped in long ago, but he’d been fearful of being tossed out of the MC, never mind being Challenged. Doing without Ava, being held at a distance from her, was something he’d never been able to countenance.

Suddenly being able to speak his mind about her was going to be infinitely liberating.

Resting his arms beneath his head, he reckoned this was a decent enough space. It was formal and fancy where he was used to bare minimum, but hell, if it made her happy and kept her comfortable, that was all that mattered.

She’d have the major say anyway when it came down to their den, as he really didn’t give a fuck about wall colors or whether they had tile or wooden floors. Shit like that had never mattered to him, and having a mate didn’t change that.

A smile creased his lips at that.

‘Having a mate.’

Jesus. Was this really happening?

Sure, a part of him felt like a dirty old pervert, but another part was riled up with wonder at knowing that Ava, his mate, would soon be his in more than just words. It would soon be deed.

A shudder wracked his frame at the notion but he hid it when he heard her bustle into the room. Swiftly sitting up, he watched as she darted about, picking things up here and there. A perfume bottle, a pot of lip balm.

She had a small satchel that astonished him with its size, and when she turned to him he cocked a brow. “Is that everything?”

“Yeah. You told me to pack light,” came the bright reply.

“I just figured you’d need more.”

A snort was his first reply. “I only got something fancy. Like you said, anything else we can buy on the road. I don’t need a lot of stuff.”

Neither did most women in North America, but it wouldn’t stop them from packing two suitcases for a two day trip.

Still, he wasn’t about to question his good fortune. He held out a hand for the bag, which she promptly passed over, then with his free hand, he grabbed hers.

“Together,” he told her firmly, loving how she lowered her head timidly then, coyly, looked up at him under her lashes.

The minx.

Jesus, when she’d been Claimed, she’d give him a run for his money. He knew that like night kissed day every dawn and every dusk.

As a unit, they strode over to the door. He opened it, let her pass, and waited for her to lock up—she was intensely private. It was why he was astonished she’d left the door unlocked when he’d come to visit. He could only assume his presence had riled her into forgetting, because there was no way she’d have known Mars was coming.

Would she?

The thought made a scowl pucker his brow.

Had she set them up?

He pursed his lips as they strode down the empty corridor, then, when the need to know burned a hole in his gut, he asked, “Was it a surprise to see your dad?”

She blinked at him. “Of course. I didn’t expect for him to find us the way he did. How could I have?”

“I just wondered if he’d said he’d come visit with you today or something.”

She tugged at his hand and jerked him to a halt. “What you’re really asking is if I knew he was coming and if I plotted for him to catch us the way he did.” Her tone was bland but there were sparks in her eye. “Well, fuck you, Chris,” she retorted, firming her lips and pulling her hand from his. She stalked off down the hall though, and for a second, he was content to watch the delicious sway of her ass as she moved further away from him.

Then, realizing she was heading down the stairs, he started to run to catch up with her.

He grabbed her hand again, tugged her to a halt on the steps. She glowered up at him, her long blonde hair a tangle of waves about her shoulders, and those bright green eyes sparking flinty embers his way.

“I had to ask,” he told her softly. “Better to ask than to let a doubt fester, no?”

Her head tilted to the side at that, and he knew she was considering his words. After a few seconds, she nodded. Slowly. “You’re right,” she told him. “Very right.”

It was like she’d just had an epiphany. The wonder to her words had his lips twitching in amusement.

“Don’t laugh,” she snarled, narrowing her gaze at him. “I’m only letting you off being so goddamn suspicious because I like the way you reasoned that. I don’t want arguments and points of contention to fester between us. I’d prefer to hash things out then get on with our lives.”

“That’s exactly how I want it too,” he told her easily, speaking the earnest truth.

And he couldn’t lie‒ her maturity astonished him.

Because of the distance he’d placed between them, he knew Mundo’s youngest cub better than his own mate. Jessie was only a few years younger but a lifetime more immature.

She was flirty and flighty, young in nature and naive.

She truly was a cub, and the MC treated her as such. She had few responsibilities save for the MC’s clothes store where she worked and would, someday, take on more of a managerial role.

It wasn’t necessarily fair, but the Council had long ago decided that the cubs had to be integrated into every aspect of the MC’s business strategy.

If The Nomads were to survive and retain their place as a Clan in the Channelview, Houston area, then they needed to provide jobs for its brethren and their families.

Chris was proud to say that he’d been a part of that. Even though he’d been born into a Clan in Michigan, he was Nomads till he died now.

Something that was only confirmed by his mate being the President’s only baby girl.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked, scowling at him then peering down at herself. “Are these jeans not right for the road?”

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t make out you don’t know what to wear. I know you’ve broken your daddy’s rule more than once. I only let you get away with it because his leash on you was so tight. I thought it was strangling you. Plus, Matty is a good rider. One of the best.”

“High praise.” Her brows rose. “I’ll be sure to pass on the compliment to him while ignoring the fact that you think you had the right to ‘let me get away with anything.’ You don’t have that right now, buster.”

Rather than feel annoyed, he chuckled. “Thought that might piss you off.”

“Yeah? Then why did you say it?”

He shrugged. “I like getting a rise out of you. You’re cute when you’re mad.” Her eyes widened, and just when he thought steam was about to come bursting out of her ears, a whirlwind scurried down the corridor.

Mischa burst between them, gaze passing between the pair of them. “Is it true?” She clapped her hands. “Oh my God, it is!”

Ava’s irritation died a swift death as she grinned at her friend. Mischa held out her arms and Ava rushed into them for a hug.

“Babushka, I’m so happy for you.” She squeezed Chris’s mate and rocked her a little. “You be happy, my darling. Enjoy your trip.”

“We will,” Ava’s choked out. “Thank you, Meechee, for everything.”

“Hey, this isn’t goodbye, ladies. We’re only going away for a while.”

Mischa shot him a look of outrage. “This moment has been ten years in the making, Chris. You keep your nose out of it.”

“Even though it’s my mate bond you’re celebrating?” he demanded, thoroughly bemused by that backwards logic.

She sniffed. “You’re lucky to have my girl.”

Ava squeezed her arm. “It’s okay, Meechee. Don’t worry about it. I’m not anymore. This is finally happening. How did you find out?”

“Overheard your Pa telling Kiko, of course.”

“Overheard meaning eavesdropped?” Chris questioned, folding his arms across his chest. A smile blazoned forth at her complete lack of shame when she turned to him and said,

“Not my fault if they talk too loud, is it?”

Ava snorted. “Plead the fifth, Mischa, it will get you farther.”

The older woman pushed at that. “All these years in your country and I still do not understand these amendments of yours.” She wafted a hand. “You two go before your mother finds out.”

Ava’s eyes flared wide, and she nodded swiftly. “You’re right.” To Chris, she murmured, “Let’s go.”

As she strode toward the door, she pressed a kiss to Mischa’s cheek.

“Be safe, babushka.”

“Of course,” she told the older woman.

Mischa narrowed her eyes at Chris as he followed his mate. “Take better care of her than you have been doing.”

The barb hit home, and its sting was decidedly painful. He couldn’t stop himself from wincing at the gash it left behind.

Nodding jerkily at her, he strode past without saying another word.

When he hit the hall, Ava waited for him, and together they walked down the corridor.

“She means well,” Ava’s murmured softly.

“I know. I’m glad you have her for a friend.” The smile he shot her way was taut but genuine. “Why are we going this way? It’s quicker to go downstairs.”

“This way leads to the fire door on the third floor,” she told him as they went upstairs rather than down.

“So?”

“Those stairs lead right to the garage.”

“You really don’t want to see your mom, do you?”

She shot him a look. “Would you?”

He grimaced. “My turn to plead the fifth, I think.”

A laugh burst from her. “Wise decision,” she told him as she started jogging down the stairs once they hit the fire door.

He grimaced, as he usually did, once he left the air conditioned comfort of the MC and hit the outside air. It was scorching hot, as was usually the case come summer, but even though fall was approaching, the temperatures had yet to drop.

In his leather cut jeans and tee, he wasn’t wearing the most appropriate gear for the road, but anything more, and he’d melt. Bears ran at a higher temperature anyway and were naturally more suited to the climate in the northern states of the US.

Why The Nomads had settled here, he didn’t fucking know and didn’t care; he just wished someone would turn the sun down a bit.

“Didn’t they get the memo it’s September now?”

Ava shot him a look. “What you grumbling about?”

“It’s boiling hot.”

She snorted. “Don’t be a baby. You’ve been here for three decades now. You should be acclimated to the weather.”

“Nobody gets used to hell,” was all he said, wiping a hand across his brow as he steered her toward his hog which was right on the front row, pride of place thanks to his seat on the Council.

Cherry red body with trims so shiny Ava could paint her face in their reflection, he sighed at the sight of her.

His Bear began to stir too. It was an odd sensation. Like a low throb in his blood, a hum that made no sense but one that left him feeling super charged and energized.

Ava sighed when they reached his hog, and he didn’t cringe when, with a loving touch, she let her hand stroke along the curves of the body. “I’ve dreamed of riding on the back of this with you.” She peered up at him. “Stupid, huh?”

He smiled at her. “You think I haven’t dreamt of riding with you at my back?” He cocked a brow. “You’d be mistaken if you think the answer is no.”

Her cheeks pinkened, and his smile widened at the sight.

These next few days were going to be interesting. They were mates, had known it and each other for so long, and yet at the same time, they were strangers thanks to the distance he’d shoved between them.

This impromptu trip was his attempt at bridging that distance he’d pushed between them, but also, a chance for them to be alone when it was impossible to be alone in the crowded MC clubhouse.

To learn one another in a more intimate sense.

For her to get used to his hand on her back, and for him to not rear away when she touched him.

It was going to be hard work, truth be told.

But it would be damn worth it.