“My mother brought me up to not need a male for anything, to be emotionally and physically independent. That was the only thing that made me strong enough to fight the need to slip away when my mate died. I didn’t want to live anymore, but I was strong enough to fight the temptation to let go, and to live for my kids.”
Kathy met his eyes. “I hope and pray that Roni never experiences what I went through. But I was going to make damn sure that if it did happen, she got through it. And if that meant raising her the same way I was raised, if it meant we had a strained relationship, so be it.”
Now he understood. Kathy truly did love Roni—he could see it right there in her eyes. She’d wanted what was best for Roni, and she’d done exactly what she thought was best. It was a messed-up kind of loving gesture, but it was still done out of love.
“So hate me if you want to, Marcus Fuller. Judge me for how I’ve raised my daughter. But I’ll never be sorry. My girl . . . she’s strong, resilient. Tougher than I ever was—not a thing in this world could break her.” It was said with utter pride. “I pray she never loses you, but if she does, she’ll keep on going. She won’t leave children behind who’d otherwise suddenly find themselves with no parents.”
She was right, Roni would have the strength to keep going. And that was what Marcus would want if the unthinkable happened.
Sighing, Kathy returned her gaze to the view in front of her. “Maybe I am a little guilty of putting her down because she’s more dominant than I am. But you’re wrong if you think I don’t love my baby girl. I adore her. I’m proud of her. Not that she’d ever believe that, but it’s true.”
There was a long pause before Marcus spoke again. “I get why you’ve raised her the way you have. I get why you think it was the right thing to do. But I’ll never like it. I’ll never like how it makes her feel. And I’ll never stop defending her if she won’t defend herself.”
Kathy gave him a measuring look. “Good.”
“The least you can do is congratulate her on the mating. She’d want that.”
“I’m shocked at how long it took you both to see you were true mates.”
“You suspected it?” His brows drew together. “But . . . you were always lecturing Roni about being with me.”
She looked at him with what could only be described as pity. “Really, Marcus, it’s good that you have such a pretty face. You’re not too bright.”
“Lecturing her served a purpose?”
“The more I lectured her, the more she . . .” Kathy trailed off, prompting him to fill in the blanks.
“Spent time with me,” he finished.
She grinned. “Exactly. She spent more time with you to get away from me and to be contrary. If I’d tried to push her to spend some time with you, she’d have done the opposite.”
“No, but she’d have tried. I wouldn’t have let her run.”
Kathy chuckled. “I like you, Marcus Fuller. You’ll be good for my Roni.”
At that moment, the door opened and Roni stepped out onto the porch. “Hey, gorgeous.” Marcus held out a hand to her. Eyes dancing from him to Kathy, she slowly walked to him and slipped her hand in his.
Kathy rose to her feet and sniffed at her daughter. “I suppose this is the part where I congratulate you.”
Roni snorted. “Don’t be too happy for me. Really. Calm down.”
“I’m glad you’ve found your mate. I’m not saying you’ll manage to keep him, but . . .” Kathy turned and went back inside.
Growling, Roni shook her head. “She was sent to test me. And I’m failing miserably.”
Marcus curled his arms around her and indulged in a long, thorough taste of that luscious mouth. “Let’s go for a run. My wolf badly wants to play with yours. He wants his mate.”
Her wolf liked that idea too, wanted to finally brand her male. Despite Marcus’s assurances that her wolf was free to mark his wolf as much as she wanted, Roni hadn’t let them run together before. Quite frankly, she’d worried that her wolf would claim Marcus fully as her own, and Roni hadn’t wanted to do that until imprinting started. Only then would she have felt confident that the relationship had progressed far enough to do that.
Now that Roni knew he was hers on every level, she had absolutely no problem with answering her wolf’s desire to run with and brand Marcus’s wolf. So, after dumping their clothes in Roni’s lodge, they shifted forms.
The female dark-gray wolf and the male, whose fur was a mix of gray, brown, and yellow, licked and nipped at each other’s muzzle in greeting. Then the female delivered a sharp nip to the male’s ear and bounded away. He followed her, and together they loped through the woods of Mercury Pack territory. They spent hours mock fighting, ambushing, pouncing, shouldering one another, and jaw wrestling before finally claiming and branding each other.
It was dark when they returned to the lodge. In the living area, Marcus shifted forms first and collapsed on his back. The long day had left him sapped of strength. A dark-gray female wolf stood over him, sniffing behind his ear and then licking at his chin. He smoothed his hands down her graceful neck. “Come back to me, Roni.” Seconds later, he had a gorgeous, naked woman sprawled on top of him.
“Your wolf is as insatiable as you are,” Roni mumbled against his chest, exhausted. She came close to purring when his fingertips traced the length of her spine.
“You weren’t kidding when you said your wolf is aggressive when going after what she wants.” Not that his own wolf had any complaints about the multiple brands.
“Your wolf isn’t exactly shy.” The bite on her nape had hurt like a motherfucker, but it had only served to further incite her wolf. Yep, their animals were well matched.