Satia and Stix lay in his bed, their bodies entwined.

"She came into the bar about five and a half years ago." Stix rubbed up and down her arm absently. "She was cute and fun and liked to party. Back then I was doing nothing with my life but helping my parents run their business and hanging out, being rowdy with friends, and Deacon. Andrea and I hit it off and started going out pretty regularly. But things happened, and we ended up drifting apart."

"What kind of things pulled you two apart?" she asked.

"Her family is a clan of strict wolves, no outsiders. They didn't like that I was an ursa. And she didn't like them trying to control her life. So she started partying harder and more often. About a year into our relationship I realized that that wasn't the life I wanted to lead anymore. I was getting to the age where I needed to settle down, if not mating wise at least professionally. I hadn't been to college. I had no real skills outside of the restaurant, and my parents wanted to leave the bustle of the city. We may have left Aurora, but their hearts will always long for it. So I stepped up. Learned the business. Started working on a business degree online. She and I would see each other once in a while, but I finally told her I couldn't keep playing hard like her. I wanted more from my life. After that, she stopped coming by. Her family had never approved of us anyway. Her dad and her brother were really against inter-species mating. I figured she'd finally agreed with them and moved on."

"Did that bother you?"

"I knew from the beginning that she wasn't my mate, but she was fun at the time."

"You knew right away that she wasn't your mate?"

He looked down at her. "My ursa never once even turned his head in her presence."

Satia smiled into his chest. She felt terrible for it, but at least she didn't have to worry about that with Andrea. "What are you going to do about Andre?"

What was he going to do about Andre?

"Honestly, I don't know. I don't know what to do."

She didn't want to press the issue but she wasn't sure what to do with the news. "Do you want him to live with you?"

Stix stopped rubbing her arm, and she rested her chin on his chest, meeting his eye.

"Do you?" he asked.

"Me? Why are you asking me?"

He opened his mouth and then closed it and then opened it again. "I... I thought we were on the same page, maybe I was wrong. I thought you said that I was your mate."

"You are."

"Well... then Andre would be in your life too. I assume as mates we would live together."

She chuckled. "True. I just thought this is a decision you would be making, not me."

He caressed her cheek. "As my mate, you aren't a second-class citizen. We make decisions together. If you aren't comfortable-"

"If he is your son, I am comfortable."

He stayed silent for a moment. "You're serious."

She shrugged. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

He shook his head and snorted. "You really are remarkable. There aren't many women who would be willing to take on a man's son as their own, especially a man they haven't known long. Even more, a shifter child. He may not even be an ursa. He may be a wolf."

"So. If we had children, they might not be ursa. They may be sabers. I would love them either way. Growing up we raised the young together as a community. Everyone helped. Even Affina and her mother helped."

He kissed her softly. "Remarkable."

* * *

It was close to one p.m., and Stix already felt like he'd been through a full day.

Satia snored lightly, her body draped across him as he stared up at the ceiling. He had a kid. A kid with his same dark hair and dark eyes. A two-year-old boy that was more a stranger to him than family. It wasn't right. Three years Andrea had kept him apart from his son. There had to be a reason she wanted to do it on her own. There had to be something more, and there had to be a reason she'd come back now. Again he was grateful to Satia for keeping him from doing something he would regret and for setting up a date for the next day. The only problem was, it wasn't Andrea he wanted to spend time with, it was Andre. But to get to Andre, he had to deal with Andrea. If the boy shifted into a wolf, there was no way her family would let Stix near him without a fight. But if he shifted into a bear... They would all but give him to Stix. Only time would tell. It might be years before he had his first turn.

The boy's soft eyes burned into Stix's mind.

He had a son. He wouldn't turn his back on the boy- no matter who the mother was.

His phone beeped, and he reached for it. Deacon texted to say he could only stay until eight because he had a gig.

So much for dinner with Satia. It didn't matter. What he had planned could wait another day or so. She wasn't going anywhere.