The white wolf took a couple of steps closer to Kareena, and that was enough to unfreeze her. She turned to get ready to bolt outside, but ended up going nowhere when Jaden just suddenly appeared in front of her. For being pregnant, she could move very fast. The other woman took hold of Kareena’s upper arms. Kareena tried to wrench away, but Jaden was much stronger than she looked, and Kareena couldn’t break free.
“Calm down,” Jaden said. “I know this is a lot to accept. It might be scary, but my dad would never do anything to hurt you. You’re his mate.”
“Your dad? That’s impossible. Miles isn’t that much older than you. He can’t be your father.”
“Werewolves live a very long time. I’m in my twenties, but my dad has seen many, many more years than that.”
Kareena was used to working under stressful situations in the ER. She’d been trained to never panic, to stay calm and do what needed to be done. But nothing could have prepared her for this. How did she get over the fact that the man she’d just proclaimed to love had turned out to be a creature that should be found only in fiction, not real life?
Her gaze was drawn to the wolf Leif had turned into as its body blurred and he became a man once more. He took a few steps toward her, holding his hands up in a gesture to pacify her.
“It’ll be all right, Kareena. Miles is still in there. We keep our human intelligence once we shift and understand every word spoken to us. As a wolf, Miles still loves you as much as he does while in his human form. As Jaden said, he would never do anything to harm you. You are his mate. Your souls joined when the mating bond formed between you.”
Kareena wanted to move away, but there was nowhere to go. Jaden still stood in front of her, Miles the wolf was close to her one side, and Leif was converging on her other. At her back were the sliding glass doors, but having seen how fast Jaden could move, Kareena doubted she’d ever make it without one of the others catching up with her first.
“Do you realize how freaky that sounds? Souls do not join,” she said. Her voice shook ever so slightly.
“I know this is hard for you to accept,” Leif said as he came closer. “But you have to.
You’re already in our world. There’s no changing that. Once a mating bond has formed, there is no breaking it. It’s for life.”
She felt a cold nose touch her hand, and Kareena let out a surprised yelp. She tried to jump away when she saw it was the white wolf that had touched her, but once again, she was stopped. Leif used her distraction to take her gently into his arms. She struggled, even though she didn’t stand a chance of getting free.
Leif easily subdued her and wrapped one of his hands around her wrist. He turned her and forced her fingers to sink into the fur on the white wolf’s back. “Touch him, Kareena. Get to know Miles in this form.” He ran her hand up to the wolf’s head, making her scratch behind Miles’s ears, which he seemed to like since he leaned into her, pressing his furry side against her leg.
The longer Leif forced Kareena to pet Miles the less scared she felt. Miles didn’t try to bite her. He just stared at her with the same violet eyes he had as a human. His gaze seemed to plead with her to get over her fear. Eventually, Leif released her, and she petted the wolf all on her own.
Out of the corner of her eye, Kareena saw Leif and Jaden leave the room. After they were gone, the white wolf’s body blurred and shimmered, and Miles was once more himself. Even though her heart tried to beat out of her chest, she held her ground. She decided freaking out wouldn’t get her anywhere. Instead, she focused on all the unanswered questions about everything she’d seen.
Miles reached out and ran the back of his fingers along her cheek. Kareena jumped but didn’t jerk away. He must have taken that as a good sign because he stepped closer and cupped her face.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I don’t really know. A part of me still wants to run out of here screaming.”
“I know, but I’m glad you aren’t.” He gently kissed her forehead. “Let’s sit on the couch and I’ll try to answer all the questions I’m sure you have.”
He released her and went and sat in the middle of the couch, which gave Kareena only one choice, to sit beside him. She did and waited for Miles to begin. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess.
“I guess I should start with some of the things Jaden and Leif already told you. Yes, Jaden is my daughter, and I am old enough to be her father. I’m nine hundred and ninety-
eight years old. Werewolves live to the age of three thousand. You are my mate. I knew the instant I smelled your scent in the restaurant and it set off my mating urge. The first time we made love, the mating bond formed between us, our souls becoming one. Now we won’t be able to stand to be apart for long periods of time or we’ll suffer through separation anxiety. I’ve never experienced it, but no one wants to experience it.” He met and held her gaze. “I do love you, Kareena. You are still one of the best things that have ever happened to me. It ranks up there with me finding out about Jaden almost two years ago.”
“You didn’t know her before that?”
He shook his head. “No. Jaden’s mother left me without telling me she was pregnant.
She was mortal like you.”
“Did she leave because you were a werewolf?”
“No.” Miles sighed. “She’d come to accept that. It was the path I’d chosen for my life that she couldn’t condone. As I told you before, I’ve done some dark things. When I’d met Jaden’s mother, for a time, I pulled myself back to what I had once been. It didn’t last for long. I let my ambitions get in the way. She died when my daughter was young.”
“Was she your mate?”
“No, but I did love her. I just didn’t love her the way she deserved.” He paused then said, “In my past, I’ve done some pretty despicable things. Having Jaden in my life has shown me I was on a path of destruction. And now I have you to love, to protect.”
Sitting beside Miles, listening to him talk, Kareena became numb. She was having a hard time getting over the fact he was a werewolf and almost a thousand years old. Then it hit her. He’d said his kind lived up to three thousand years. He’d even called her a mortal. She’d die first. He’d stay young-looking and live on for another two thousand years without her.
Kareena wrapped her arms around her middle as the full impact of it sorted itself out in her head. “This can’t work.”
Miles turned to face her. “What won’t?”
“Us. Unless you can turn me into a werewolf, which I’m not sure I’d want anyway.
It’s not as if we can have a happily ever after together. My lifespan is nothing compared to yours.”
“There is no way for me to turn you. You have to be born a werewolf. We’ll still have lots of years to be with one another. I’d rather have that than nothing at all. You are my mate. There will be no one else for me. Ever.”
“Will you feel that way when I’m old?”
He cupped her face and looked intently into her eyes. “Of course I will. My feelings for you will never change.”
Jaden stepped back into the room. “Dad, I need—” She looked down at her feet then her gaze flew to their faces. “I think my water just broke.” She moaned and placed a hand on her stomach.
Seeing the puddle at Jaden’s feet, Kareena went into automatic nurse mode. She pushed away from Miles and went to the other woman. “Are you having a contraction?”
“I think so. It feels like a really bad period cramp.”
“Yup, that’s a contraction. Just breathe through it. Since this is your first baby, I don’t think we have to worry about you delivering before we can get you to the hospital.”