When the window shattered, and Luke heard Quinn’s battle roar, he’d tried to scale the wall to get to her. Unfortunately, a werewolf can’t jump twenty feet, and there was nothing to hang on to even if he could. He’d had to run through the house, worried the entire time he might be too late.

But Quinn had prevailed. She’d taken down her attacker with the bravery of an army ranger. He carried her to her room and laid her down on her bed. Soon they were joined by the Orson ladies, Melody, Monica, and Alisa.

“What the hell happened in there?” Quinn’s mother asked.

“She was attacked,” Luke said.

Melody balled her fists on her hips. “Thank you, Captain Obvious. Why was she attacked? Why?”

“Do you live with your head in the sand?” he asked.

Alisa put her hand on her mother’s shoulder. “It’s her favorite place to vacation.”

Monica nodded. “Mom, you have to know that this was Trey Steele’s doing. He’d burn us all to the ground if it meant he could take charge of the clan.”

Quinn’s hand slid over Luke’s. A simple, quiet gesture that probably meant nothing more than she needed the contact of an ally but his inner wolf surged at her touch.

She met his gaze then turned a hard stare to her mom. “Trey told me that you gave your blessing for us to be married. You can’t believe he’s a suitable mate. Not even you can be that dim.”

“Do not take that tone with me Quinn Ann Rachel Orson,” Melody snapped. “I’m still your mother, and you will treat me with respect.”

Luke felt a surge of power from Quinn’s skin. Melody’s eyes widened, and she looked away from her daughter.

“I’m the Ursula of this clan. I love you, mother, but you’re not in charge of my fate. That is up to me. I’ll do what’s right.” She moved her hand away from Luke’s. His heart sank. “I’ll do it for you, Monica, and Alisa, and for our clan, but I won’t do it because I am a child who has to be told or guided. I’ll do it because it is my duty. That also means choosing the right alpha to take as my mate. One who will be fair to our family and our people. Trey Steele is a stupid, cruel bully. If you are so blinded by your fear of being thrown out of this home, that you would encourage your own flesh to join with him, then you are as vapid as you are shallow.”

“I…” Melody crossed her arms over her chest. A strand of her nutmeg brown hair fell out of its nest on top of her head. She tucked it back in, and Luke could see she was considering her daughter’s words. “I never told Trey he had my blessing. Not explicitly.” Her mouth formed a grim line. “Not exactly. He asked if I would bless a union between the two of you, and I said that if you chose him, I would. I never truly believed you would pick him, so there didn’t seem any harm in being politic with the man. I know he’s a jack-ass. Your dad wanted to rid the clan of Trey years ago, but none of the men would step up to challenge him, and he wasn’t dumb enough to challenge your father.”

“That’s not good enough, Mom. You’ve been shoving me down his path since Dad died. I get it. You can’t make it on your own. You need Dad’s wealth and holdings, and if I don’t pick a mate, you’ll lose everything.”

Melody’s eyes narrowed. “Where do you think your father got his money? Yes, he inherited some, but he gave the majority of it to his mother, as he should. I brought a huge dowry with me when he chose me as his mate.” She poked herself in the chest. “My money. Not your father’s. I invested our money, and more than quadrupled our profits over the past thirty-four years, not him. I paid for all of this. Hell, I paid for your college. I didn’t want this for you anymore than your father did, but he’s gone now, and we stand to lose it all because of a freak accident.” Tears streamed her face. “I can’t believe Santos is gone.”

“Oh, Mom.” Luke could feel Quinn’s life-force tense as if it had forgotten how to breathe. He touched his fingers to hers, willing her the strength she’d need to process these revelations.

“I’ll leave you to rest now.” Melody wiped at her face. “We have a big night. Lots of guests, and I have to redo my makeup.”

Luke blinked. He’d never seen anyone compartmentalize so quickly.

“I’ll go too,” Luke said. “You should nap. Your arm will heal quicker.”

Quinn gripped his forearm. “Stay.”

Melody, Monica, and Alisa smiled. They didn’t know Luke was a wolf. They thought he was a bear. And in their thinking, Luke guessed, they thought they had the answers to their problems.

“We’ll let you two talk,” Monica said, and the three Orson women left the room, closing the door behind them.

“They have the wrong idea about me,” Luke said.

Quinn forced a smile. Her wild curls fanned the white pillow under her head and made her look like an angel. “I know. I’m sorry.” She shook her head. “I seem to be saying that a lot.” He watched her throat bob as if swallowing a knot. “Mothers are strange creatures.”

Luke smiled. “You’re telling me. My mom is a force of nature.” He hadn’t seen her in two weeks. He’d had a couple of missed calls, but hadn’t called her back. Guilt reared its ugly head. “My father’s pack had migrated from Canada to Alaska in the nineteen fifties, and he’d been born in the wilds of the Klondike. He left his home to find his own way in nineteen ninety eighty four and met my mom.” Luke gazed down at Quinn. Her dark eyes swirled with attention.

“How’d they meet?”

Luke laughed. “That I’m not sure about, but after my meeting with Geraldine Wilder, I’m pretty sure she played a hand in making the match.”

“Is your mom a wolf shifter too?”

“No.” Luke thought fondly of the time his mother, all five feet two inches of her, threatened the neighbor with a baseball bat if he teased her son one more time. Luke had been a runt until well after puberty. “My mom is human.”

“Where are they now?”

“Mom doesn’t live far from here, but my dad, well, he died when I was six years old.”

“That’s awful.”

He could see the pain of her own loss in Quinn’s eyes. Even at thirty, losing his father would have been too soon.

“My mother took on the role of both mom and dad, and of pack. She raised me on her own, and when I turned eighteen, I repaid her by joining the army.” More guilt washed over him.

“But that’s admirable,” Quinn said. She laced her fingers in Luke’s. “You wanted to serve our country. I don’t think enough shifters do.”

“My father had been a ranger. He was killed in a fire-fight in Iraq a few years before Desert Storm. When I joined, my mother must have seen it as the epitome of betrayal. The army had taken her husband, and I’d given my life to them as well.”

“Was she angry with you?”

“No.” He shook his head, his hair falling into his eyes. “She said she was proud.”

Quinn stroked his face. “But?”

“But I knew she was scared. Other than me, Mom has no family. I can almost understand your mom’s obsessive need to hold on to what she has.” Because he felt the same obsession when it came to Quinn. God, every cell in his body was in agreement that Quinn was his last hope for any happiness.

He pressed her palm to his cheek, melting into the warmth of her, the scent of her.

Crap. The spray was wearing off.

Quinn inhaled deeply. “The real you smells sweet like the air in spring after a hard rain.” She smiled. “Dew on fresh cut grass.”

“You think?” Luke chuckled. “I’ve never been described in quite that way before.”

“I don’t understand why everything about you screams that you’re mine, but we’re not even the same species. We shouldn’t work.”

The urgency to touch Quinn, to taste her, to fuck her overwhelmed Luke. He could smell her desire now, thick and heady like clover and oranges mixed with spice. He kissed the palm of her hand, his control rapidly crumbling. “I don’t know how to do this,” he said.

“Do what?” she asked.

“Watch you choose another man.” He kissed the inside of her wrist.

“I don’t want to,” Quinn said. Her other hand moved to his thigh. “I only want you, Luke. I...there has to be a way to save everyone, including us.”

“I could kill Trey.” He narrowed his gaze on Quinn, gauging her reaction. His offer was deadly serious. “He sent someone to take out Brandon, and he sent that woman here to kill you. It would be within your right to retaliate.”

“I won’t lie. Killing Trey is not a new idea for me. Hell, I thought of ten ways I wanted to kill his smug self at my dad’s funeral.” She shook her head. “But the rules of the clan are clear, if Trey, as my father’s second, isn’t defeated in a challenge, I forfeit all the rights to clan, property, and money. The only work-around is if it could be proven without a shadow of a doubt that Trey was behind both attacks.” She squeezed Luke’s thigh. “Proof. Not just hearsay. Even if John or Carly agree to testify against Trey, and I get a strong impression neither of them will, it will be their word against his. He could just say they were fanatics who acted on their own accord.”

“I’ll challenge him.”

“That’s sweet, but unless you actually can change your animal to a bear and not just your scent, if you do manage to take him--”

“I would defeat him.”

Quinn smiled. The spicy fragrance of her lust and desire kicked up a notch. “As you say. Even so, it will be the same as killing him. We still lose.”

Luke’s phone rang. It was Rick. “Hold on.” He answered. “Go.”

“I’ve traced the origin of the audio and visual equipment. The shop owner has agreed to talk to us.”

Luke looked down at Quinn. She nodded. “I’ll be right down.” He hung up the phone. “If all goes well, I’m going to hand you proof on a silver platter before tonight’s events. I won’t let Steele win. This is my solemn vow to you. And even if you must choose another, know in my heart you will always be my mate.” He kissed the healing wound on her forearm. “I’m in love with you Quinn Ann Rachel Orson. And I will never harm you or your family.”

Even if loving her meant letting her go.