“He will remain in his human form for now. When he approaches his adult stage, around the age of twenty, he will shift for the first time.”
Cate struggled to maintain her composure. What kind of life had Dimitris sentenced her child to? “And then what? Every full moon he shifts into a wolf and runs around biting humans and killing rabbits? What kind of life will he lead? What will this do to him? Will he be able to love, to have children, to get a normal job and lead a normal life someday?” Dimitris stepped toward her, but she retreated. “Don’t touch me,” she threatened quietly. “Just answer my questions.”
His hands fell to his sides. “Cate, he needed to be healed. My bite did that.” Dimitris wanted to tell her that Peter had been dying, that his bite had saved the child, but he hesitated. His most primitive-self raged because she did not trust him completely. He wanted her to trust him fully, in all things, and yet she didn’t. His wolf whimpered at the pain of her distrust.
“But at what cost, Dimitris? Please tell me.”
“Yes,” he relented with a sigh, “he will have a normal life. He will not shift with every full moon unless he wants to. For the most part, he will have one hundred percent control over his wolf. He will have some urges that human men do not, he’ll need more exercise and be more adventurous than most, more aggressive, but for the most part you will not notice a lot of differences in him. As a shifter, he will never be sick again. He will have a long and healthy life and you will never have to bring him to the emergency room for the rest of his life.”
What Dimitris said sounded wonderful, as if he had given her child a gift instead of a curse, but Cate’s anger did not quell. Dimitris had made a decision that affected Peter’s life without once consulting her. He had overstepped his boundaries. Cate doubted she could forgive him. “I need you to leave,” she demanded with a quiet fierceness.
“Cate, I need to tell you —”
“Leave,” she said again, this time with a bit more force.
Dimitris did not move. “I can’t, Cate. You need to understand how wolf shifters mate. The Goddess chose you for me. You are my mate. We are fated to be together. To live together forever.”
She turned her eyes from him and looked upon the sleeping form of her son. “Tomorrow, Dimitris. We can discuss this tomorrow. Right now I can only worry about Peter.”
Dimitris’ wolf howled in agony. He had shown himself to his mate and she was sending him away. “I’ll leave for now, Cate, but we will continue this tomorrow. For everyone’s safety, you cannot tell anyone what happened in here. You may not care about me, but it will put Peter at risk.” Without turning to look at him, she nodded that she understood.
Look at me.Dimitris willed her eyes to meet his, but they remained on her son. Finally he turned to leave, informing Mylo as he left to continue his watch until further notice.
eight
Dimitris eyed the clock on the dash of his car. Seven o’clock on the dot. It was time to talk with his mate. He knew she was up, he had seen the light come on in an upstairs window earlier, and then more lights flooded the house from the first floor. He imagined her, sleepily walking from her bedroom down the stairs, into her kitchen, flipping lights on as she went. What would she be wearing? Dimitris’ thoughts filled his mind with images of Cate in a see-through red nightie. He smiled at his silliness. She had a six-year-old child in the house. More than likely, she was wearing a robe and slippers.
He yawned, covering his mouth with his hand. He had not slept at all last night. When he left the hospital he was anxious – nothing had gone as he planned. His wolf pawed at his insides for the entire drive from the hospital to his estate. As soon as he parked his car in the drive, he shed his clothes and shifted. His wolf needed to run. Mylo must have called Lukyan and Alek from the emergency room, because they were there, already shifted, waiting for him to lead them on a race through the woods. The three ran for the better part of the night. Finally, Dimitris’ wolf began to tire and they headed back to the house.
Alek and Lukyan dutifully waited for him to tell of what happened, but Dimitris was not ready to share. He went to his suite, but sleep eluded him. The run had tired his body but not his mind. Mylo had messaged at three that Peter had been released from the hospital and he and Cate were on their way home. Around five, he gave up on sleep. After he dressed he drove to Cate’s. After nearly two hours of waiting, she was finally awake. It was time for them to talk.
Cate opened the door after his second knock. “Shh,” she hissed. “I would love it if you refrain from waking my child. You remember him, right?” Dimitris put his fingers to his mouth and mimed locking his lips. He threw away the invisible key and sent Cate a pleading look. She sighed and opened the door further, allowing him entrance. Wordlessly he followed her down the hall into the kitchen. Her hair was tousled from sleep, thrown lazily into a knot on the top of her head. Tendrils of hair had escaped her haphazard bun and fell softly against her face and neck. Dimitris thought she looked beautiful. He glanced at her ass, its roundness was concealed by the baggy pajamas she wore. His cock began to stir, not by what he saw but because of what he knew the pants hid. The light blue pants were covered in small white chef hats and wooden spoons. Their whimsical nature seemed to mock the seriousness of his visit. He willed his libido to reside. This was a serious visit. His mate deserved his mind’s full attention.
Cate gestured to a seat at the bar, while she took two mugs from the cabinet. “Would you like a cup of coffee?” She poured both cups before he had a chance to answer her. She handed his across the counter and turned to her own mug. He watched as she inhaled deeply, savoring the smell of the rich coffee blend before her first sip. Her eyes closed as she took in the full flavor of the hot liquid. Dimitris wondered if she was always grouchy in the morning or if her lack of sleep and ire with him were driving her actions.
He took the mug and put it to his lips and inhaled, just as she had. The smell of the rich brew intensified the already fragrant aroma of Cate. Her cinnamon coffee scent called to him far more than this exotic Jamaican blend. He longed to crush her to his body until he was covered in her natural perfume. He wanted to kiss the sleepiness from her, to wake her up in the way only a mate could.
“I was going to make chocolate crêpes this morning. They are Peter’s favorite. Would you like some?” She pointed to the ingredients she had neatly placed on the counter. “I was waiting for him to get up, but I could start a batch early if you want.” Cate’s chocolate eyes urged Dimitris to say yes. Making the crêpes would give her something to do. Standing in front of him as he silently drank his coffee was torture.
“I would love some if you don’t mind,” he answered.
She nodded and began to pour flour into the bowl. She had made the batter so many times, she did not need to measure anything. “His school called,” she said. “All classes are canceled today. They had two reports of bacterial meningitis yesterday. They are going to have to disinfect the building before anyone can come back.” She picked up an egg and deftly cracked it into the bowl. “I suppose there would have been three confirmed cases if it hadn’t been for what you did last night.”
“Cate,” he began, “none of this happened like I had planned. Unveiling my shifter nature in the middle of a hospital room was not what I had intended.”
Cate stopped stirring her batter and looked at him. “You can’t really think that is what I’m angry about?” There was confusion in his golden eyes. “I’m not angry that you are a shifter, though I don’t really know what that means. It’s weird, but I think I could have handled it. I’m not fragile.”
“I know, it just th—”
Cate held her hand to shush him. “What I’m angry about is that you didn’t include me in the decision to heal him.” She ducked her head and wiped at her eyes. Her tears were a betrayal. She wanted to remain stoic, calm. It was Dimitris’ turn to feel out of control. “You didn’t ask me what I thought or wanted, you just acted. There was zero communication.”
She willed herself not to cry. Her throat was tight from the effort, making her words come out in tight bursts. “My ex-husband never communicated with me, either. He just made decisions for us. Not long after we married he came home to our apartment and announced that he had bought a house. I had never seen it. Had no idea he even wanted a house. I certainly didn’t want one. I liked being close to work. I liked that we didn’t have any upkeep on the apartment. It didn’t matter. He handed over the keys like I should just be thrilled that he did all the negotiation without me. Then just after Peter was born, he informed me that he had quit his job and was moving to Paris. He said he had always dreamed of being a chef in the city famous for its food. He had never mentioned that to me before. Not once had he said a word about Paris. When I argued that I didn’t speak French and that we needed two incomes, he filed for divorce. Of course, he didn’t consult with me on that, either.”
“But Cate, I –“
Again, she held her hand up to silence him. “When Mike left, he signed over all rights to Peter. He left me alone to be a single mother. Things were hard. Finances were tight. I was saddled with a house I didn’t want and could barely afford. I vowed then and there that I would never let someone else make decisions for me. I would run my life. And then you came along, Dimitris, and you ruined that. You can’t seem to help yourself. You make decisions that greatly affect me, and you don’t even stop to ask if I’m okay with it.”
“Cate, I know you are angry now, but in time you will come to see that what I did, I did because I thought it was the best thing for you and for Peter. He was sick and he needed to be healed.” She went back to stirring the batter, her angry strokes causing sticky blobs to fly from the bowl onto the granite counter top.
