“Eh, I don’t know about that.” An uncharacteristic insecurity entered my twin’s tone. “She’s not like anyone I ever tried to chat up. I brought my A-game to our earlier conversation, and she saw right through me. Pretty much called me an opportunistic lothario to my face.”
She was right about that.
Calwasan opportunistic lothario when it came to tourists.
But that was all over now—just like my indifference to finding a mate.
“Also, she still doesn’t know we’re shifters,” he added. “So that’s another big reveal we need to figure out. You know what? It’s time to call in Rys, isn’t it?”
I sensed his movement to pull his phone from his back pocket in my peripheral.
“This is his wheelhouse. Better give him a heads-up. He’s going to go insane when he smells her tomorrow morning, and he’ll know exactly how to sell her on giving up her city life and moving in with?—”
Cal cut off.
I stood up straighter when the door opened and our mate stepped out with a sheepish look on her face.
Why had she taken so long? Was something wrong? Worry churned in my chest as I continued to track her.
And she continued to avoid my eyes.
“So…” she said, once again turning her entire body to address Callum, as if I were a gamma radiation leak she needed to shield herself from. “I should have asked for your name earlier.”
“No problem.” Cal grinned down at her. “I’m Callum. Callum Baerlow. But everybody calls me Cal or Twin. You do whatever you want. And my brother’s name is Gideon.”
“Okay, Callum,” she said with a nod. As if she hadn’t even heard my name. “Callum, I’ve got another request, and it involves your invitation to host me.”
She shifted her eyes to me. Then quickly glanced away.
Fuck.
A bad, sour stone dropped into the pit of my stomach as she told Callum, “I hate to put you in this position. And I realize now I shouldn’t have promised to stay at your place if the hotel room fell through earlier. Because, in light of recent information, I don’t think I can bring myself to accept your kind offer—I mean, I won’t be able to sleep peacefully unless…”
Another furtive glance. Even quicker than the last. Didn’t even stay on me for a microsecond.
I locked my bear down as tight as I could. But I wasn’t sure it would be enough. Not if she told my twin I’d creeped her out and needed to be gone before she could feel safe enough to stay.
“Again, I’m so sorry to put you in this position. But as it turns out, I’m ovulating—and long medical backstory short, I need you to fuck me without a condom.”
Cal’s mouth dropped open. He stared down at her in mute shock.
“You, too, if you’re willing,” she told me with a quick side glance before looking back to Cal. “And you don’t have to worry about me asking for support or anything. All I need is your sperm. Hopefully more than once. Over the next four to five days. To increase the chances of a pregnancy before I go back to Vancouver.”
She bowed her head, then looked up again. “I know it’s a lot to ask. But I have a limited window to try for a baby, and I can’t let it slip away again.”
She waited for his answer. Our answer.
But Cal could only gawk at her, completely at a loss for words.
His silence sagged her shoulders. And even though I’d misread her body language earlier, this I understood: She was about to feel hurt.
And her feeling hurt? That shot straight to the top of myNever Let Happen Againlist.
For the first time in all the years since I’d come back to Bear Mountain, I stepped forward and spoke for both of us.
“The answer is yes,” I said. “We are ready and willing to fuck a baby into you, little bird.”
She turned to me and almost…almostgave me her eyes.
