Here’s a quick [unedited!] introduction to Stacy and Delaney.
“A fake date, to make the pack accept me, the human?” Stacy asked.
“A real date, with the bonus that wolves see me caring for you.”
They were still not on the same conversation plane. Stacy shook her head. “So, what? We’ll go on three dates, impress the pack that I’m a good gal, and then if I don’t want to continue, you’ll give me space?”
His frown deepened. “It would sound creepy if I said no, but…no.” Del looked caught between a rock and a hard place. “I won’t go directly against your wishes, but I’d change it up and find new ways to entice you to spend time with me.”
Um, ugh? “Still sounding a touch creepy,” she warned.
“Yeah. Sorry, downfall of being mat— male. A shifter male.” Del cleared his throat. “Shifters run on a few different rules than humans. We’re not a pack that approves of dominating assholes, but…even polite alpha wolves kind of are dominating assholes.” He scrubbed a hand over his neck. “Fuck. I don’t see any way out of this conversation with my balls intact.”
She outright laughed. “You’re fine. It appears I need wolf lessons, same as my son.”
Del nodded. “There’s more. But just like I won’t drop all the shifter info on Colt in the first lesson, I’m not dropping it all on you.”
“Makes sense.”
A quick flash of guilt raced over his face, gone the next moment. More secrets? They had to have a million of them, from the world, from each other.
Fine, her problem was here and now. Stacy considered, then laid it all on the table. “This is absolutely not why I came to Jasper,” she warned. “I do like you. You’ve proven to be a caring and thoughtful person since the first moment I met you. Plus, it’s been a long time since I enjoyed any physical connection with a man—since you seem to be able to sense my interest. But interest in sex is not the same as the need for another man in my life full time. I’m a bad bet as a date.”
“I’ll take the gamble,” Del responded instantly.
“And you have to promise that if I ever do tell you to back off, you’ll stop. I don’t want to have to call in my friend to use her magic Alpha of the pack voice to neuter you.”
Instead of grimacing, he grinned. “I’m glad you have Cassidy, but you’ll never need that backup option, I promise.”
“Some things are nonnegotiable. We don’t lose focus on what’s most important,” Stacy summed up. “Colt’s training. Pack security. Timberwolf Lodge winning the challenge. You and I are just an interlude. Fun as long as it’s fun. Over when it’s over. Yes?”
His eyes flashed. “Over when it’s over. Fine by me.”
She could have sworn he muttered the word never under his breath.
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