“I think I’m gonna be sick.” Cici groaned.
“Join the crowd.” Came from Darius.
She glanced over her shoulder and caught him scrunching his face as if in pain. Poor guy. What the hell had she dragged him into?
When they got up to the cabins, she ran out of the car like a bat out of hell and tried to focus on staying calm. Yes. Calm. Or she’d blow a coronary at thirty.
Her mom sat at the kitchen table, writing notes. She glanced up and inhaled.
“Mom…” She struggled to get the words out past the knot in her throat. How could she have set her up that way? “Did Ryker come to my cabin last night? Do you know?”
“Yes. He stopped here first and then asked if you were in. I knew you were since you mentioned the wine I left for you so he headed your way.” She smiled, eyes twinkling with joy.
She saw it then. The satisfied grin. Her mother set her up.
“But you knew I was drinking, mom. You knew I didn’t want to be alone with him.”
“Sweetheart, I didn’t know you were concerned with drinking in front of Ryker.”
“Mother! That’s not what I mean. I was shit-faced and I,” she gulped. “I thought I was dreaming.”
“Was it a good dream?”
With her fingers gripping the chair across from her, she fought to stay calm, but her heart pounded so hard it was hard to listen to what she said. “Yes. It was great. Except it wasn’t really a dream. And now people are telling me I’m marked but I don’t recall being marked by him.” She bit her lip. He’d kissed his way down her body, but not once had he bitten her, had he? “I don’t understand where that’s coming from.”
Her mother blushed. “Darling, are you sure he didn’t bite you? Anywhere?”
She frowned. God, was she really having this kind of conversation with her mother? “He may have nipped my inner thigh.”
Her mother smiled softly. “That’s usually where women are marked.”
“Are you serious? Mo-ther!” She gasped. “How could he have done that while I was drunk?”
Her mom glanced down at the pad she’d been writing at, put the pen down softly next to it and sighed. “They’re telling you the truth. I can scent he marked you.”
How to process that? She tugged the chair she was trying to destroy with her grip and dropped onto the cushion.
“But why would he do that? He doesn’t even want me.”
Maybe it was a good thing their cabin was further up the mountain. Others wouldn’t hear as she yelled at the top of her lungs. Her fear spiked in her chest. There was something going on that she was obviously unaware of or her brain had stopped working and she hadn’t noticed.
Her mom’s head lifted. She saw the excitement behind the wariness in her eyes. Her confusion grew but she reigned in her temper.
“Please,” she begged with the last bit of patience she had, hands folded so tight in her lap her knuckles turned white. “Do you know why? Because right now, I’m damn confused. Ryker has never made it his business to come see me. Hell, he’s never even called me to ask me on a date in forever.”
She nodded. “You love him. Can’t you just give it a chance?”
Um. No. “I need answers before I give anything my time. I refuse to give in just because he’s decided to bite me. I’m not a shifter. The rules of his world don’t apply to me.”
There was only one thing to do. She stood to go.
She’d loved him since she was a kid. What started out as a crush had grown with each smile and each conversation into a deeper stronger love. However, that didn’t mean they should mate. Her mother rushed behind her toward the door.
“I know you think you’re not good enough for him, but you are.”
That stopped Cici. She whirled around to face her. Fire bloomed on Cici’s face. “It has nothing to do with being good enough. I know I’m good enough for someone out there, but Ryker needs one of his own kind to be his mate, mom. He’s the Alpha. I am a human.”
“You’re beautiful, smart, and an amazing baker…”
“Mother! I don’t have self-esteem issues. You don’t need to tell me all the qualities that would make me a good wife for him. Did you hear me when I said he’s the Alpha? The leader of this pack. Do you think it will be okay for him to have a hybrid child?”
“That doesn’t happen in every case.” Her mother argued.
“No. It doesn’t. But the possibility exists. What if he has a child that turns out like Sara? With very little scent, can’t shift and the only thing they have from the shifter side is the claws. What then?”