Chapter Nine
Jackie watched Boone swallow hard, so he totally expected to be told no. It wasn’t as if the man had a submissive bone in his body, either. In the dictionary under the word “macho,” there was probably a picture of Boone Marshall.
Still, Jackie had to try. He usually preferred being on the bottom, but not always, and if there was going to be any hope for the two of them, Boone needed to understand that. He needed to be willing to give a little. Not much. Just a little.
On the other hand, if he was totally against it, Jackie didn’t think he could give Boone up. Even knowing everything he knew, and despite Jackie’s deep-seated fear of shifters, Boone was growing on him.
Jackie wasn’t sure when he’d decided he wanted Boone to keep him. He suspected it’d happened sometime in the night. He had never slept so well or felt so safe as he did being wrapped in Boone’s arms all night long.
Boone could have pressed his advantage the previous evening. Jackie wasn’t stupid. He knew he would have given in easily enough. The mere thought of Boone taking him again had made his cock hard for hours.
Jackie yelped when he was grabbed and pulled up Boone’s body. He tried not to wince when he saw the stern expression on Boone’s face.
Was that a no?
“You want to claim me?”
Jackie bit his lip as he nodded.
“You know what will happen if you do, right?”
Uh…
“I’ve never let another man take me before, Jackie, but I’ll gladly give up my ass for my mate. You just need to know if we do this, I’m not giving you up. I’m not walking away to give you time to get used to me or pretending we’re both not neck deep in a relationship. You will be mine.”
“Yes, but will you be mine?”
“Until I take my very last breath.”
Boone seemed so serious. His eyes didn’t waver. His voice was steady and firm. Jackie ached with everything in him to believe Boone.
“I will never want another, never desire another. Mates can’t be unfaithful once they are claimed. That’s just how things work in the shifter world.”
“So, no divorce then?”
“No, baby.” Boone grinned, which was odd. “Divorce is a human word.”
“What happens if two shifters have issues?”
“They work them out, Jackie.”
Boone sounded so sincere that Jackie couldn’t help but laugh.
“Don’t humans do that?” Boone asked.
“Not without a therapist.”
“We have elders for that,” Boone said. “And omegas like my brother, Simon. They help keep the pride calm. If things get really bad, you can always go talk with Jude. He’s a Regal Elder. They’re like the highest shifter in the shifter world.”
“A Regal Elder?”
Boone nodded. “Jude is mated to Tripp. Jude’s brother, Patch, is mated to my brother Otto. They live in my home pride.”
“Your home pride?”
“The pride where I was born.”
“Oh.”
