Isn’t that nice? She narrowed her eyes. “An omission of truth to avoid a lie?”
To his credit, he appeared remorseful, eyes darkening as he sighed. “I’m sorry,” he said, skimming his knuckles along her jaw, the caress gentle. “I should have told you.”
“So it’s over now?” Although the memory of what occurred had faded, the recollection of pain hadn’t. There were no words to adequately describe it, no way to formulate precisely how horrible the sensations had felt.
“There are three stages,” he said slowly, cautiously. “The first is the physical stage, when we make love.”
A lightbulb moment had her freaking out. Yes, she was turned-on when they got hot and heavy, but how could she have been so reckless? So stupid?
You weren’t thinking clearly, that’s how.
“We didn’t use a condom.” Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to think. A baby? Right now? With the way things were? It was too dangerous, too complicated. It wouldn’t be fair to bring a child into their lives.
“Shh.” He took her hand in his. “Pregnancies can occur between a human and a shifter, but it’s extremely rare. It’s only after the final stage of the bloodbond that you’d conceive and carry to term.”
“When can I expect that to happen?” She started thinking about the various ways to protect herself from pregnancy. She wouldn’t have a child suffering what she had. It wasn’t that she didn’t want a family. She simply wouldn’t put a child in danger. She knew only too well where that road led.
Maybe they could put off the bloodbonding?
No, she immediately corrected herself, you won’t be safe. Emory said pregnancies were rare, not that they didn’t happen. There were other ways to prevent conception. Perhaps Emory could wear condoms until she could get on a reliable form of birth control.
“I was hoping soon,” Emory said with a look of hurt on his face. “Do you not want children?”
“No,” she answered without thinking, entangled in her thoughts. What if she had a son? What if her family somehow got their hands on him and turned him into a killer with no remorse?
“Because of who their father is? Because of what they’ll be?”
It took a couple of seconds for his words to register and when they did guilt assailed her, causing her stomach to sink. The misery in Emory’s gaze was her fault. Not only did it sound like she was judging him, it also seemed she was judging the children they might have in the future.
She shook her head, quickly sharing her reasoning. “It’s not that. I would love to have children with you.” At the doubtful look he gave her she explained, “It’s my family. If we have children, they’ll always be in danger. I don’t want any child of mine to end up with them. Thinking about it makes me sick.”
“I think that you underestimate the power of the pack, Mary.” The hurt and doubt in his expression vanished, replaced by a possessive and lethal glint in his eyes. “No one will hurt you here. Since the last attack Diskant has changed everything. All of the shifters—from cats to wolves to birds of prey—have a part to play to keep the city safe. We have moles in the police force now, members of a pride who keep us up to date on anything strange going on in the area. Diskant’s city is the safest one to live in if you’re a shifter.” He smiled. “Or a shifter’s female.”
He stopped talking and sat up, gazing around the room. Sliding the linens aside, he climbed from the bed in all his naked glory, the globes of his ass and the muscles in his thighs flexing. He retrieved her bag, brought it to the bed and took a seat beside her.
“I have to ask you something, and I need you to be honest with me.”
Damn. She was never good at poker. She couldn’t lie if he asked her about the money or the map, and she had a pretty good hunch he was going to ask about both.
“Where did you get the money?”
The first question wasn’t difficult to answer. “From my parents. I have an account in Florida I withdraw funds from when I need to.”
He arched a brow, unzipped the duffel and rummaged through the contents and brought out a wad of bills. “I’m guessing there’s several thousand dollars here. If you have an account, why make that kind of withdrawal?”
“Because I never knew when I needed money and I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t have to make a stop at the bank. Living on the edge means you think ahead.” The question awakened demons from her past, things she wanted to forget—of living in squalor, of working for the biggest asshole in the world…
Oh shit!
“Mr. Montrose,” she choked, feeling sick. “They killed him.”
“Who killed who, sweetheart?” Emory dropped the money and rested a large palm on her thigh.
“My boss!” Oh God, he was dead. She’d always known the old coot would die at the Food Town, but not in the manner he had. “Some of my distant relatives came into the Food Town and shot him.” Alarm bells sounded, magnifying her dread. “If the police search the scene, they might find traces of me.” She looked at Emory, terrified of the danger she brought to him. “They could come here.”
“All of that was taken care of when we found you.” Emory’s cool composure eased a bit of her tension. No one could pretend to be that comfortable discussing murder and a possible visit from the police unless they were telling the truth. “Any evidence is gone. We made sure of that.”
“It won’t stop them.” The admission saddened her but it also made her angry. Like cockroaches surviving a nuclear holocaust, her family would stand the test of time. “They’ll keep searching for me.”
“It’s not a question of stopping them.” Emory pulled his hand away, making a large fist. “It’s a matter of teaching them we’re not people they want to fuck with. Not anymore.”
“You’re going to fight them?”
“Yes, we are.” He didn’t seem the least apologetic, telling her straight. “Those who lost people closest to them have already started visiting compounds to let them know we won’t tolerate any more of their cruelty. Before we gave them a wide berth, since most Alphas felt it was too risky to get involved. If the world finds out we exist, things could get nasty. Now the policy has changed. If our presence is revealed we’ll deal with it. Diskant has the backing of every Alpha and Omega from every pack and pride in the United States. They agree it’s time to take a stand. This problem won’t go away unless we force the issue.”
She was pretty sure that if she wasn’t sitting down she would have fallen over. Her entire body was trembling, each beat of her heart crashing inside her chest. “You’re serious?”
“Completely.” He smiled, relaxed again, his eyes their usual amber color. “Which means you don’t have to run anymore. You’re safe. Your uncle made threats when he had a level of control over the situation. He’s lost that.”
“I noticed he left the farm more often,” she said, thinking aloud, “but I didn’t know why.”
“It’s because he knows his number is up. The last I heard several of the Shepherd farms that were investigated were vacant and the premises were completely empty. More than likely they’re moving around but we’ll find them eventually. If they can’t stay in one place, they can’t capture shifters. They have to be smart.”
“What else did you want to ask me?” It was hard not to grin now that she knew she had something he’d want, a way to repay him for saving her life.
He hesitated, creases forming around his mouth, worry etching across his features. “We saw the map in your bag.” Without looking at her, he removed it from the duffel. “Is there a reason there are so many marks?” He didn’t open the map fully, leaving it so that only the large circle around New York showed. “Is there a reason for this?” He pointed at the circle, the one she’d drawn with her own pen.