Chapter 7 #3
“I’m sorry, Tracy,” he said quietly.
Her shoulders stiffened, but after a moment, she turned to look at him. Her expression was closed off, inaccessible. She was on her guard against him, and he didn’t like it at all.
Hank tried to be patient and just not let her attitude get to him.
She was probably afraid he’d try to snatch their child out from under her or something equally diabolical.
He had no such intentions, of course. Emma didn’t deserve that, and even though his protective instincts were in overdrive, he knew Tracy had done a good job of protecting their baby so far and she was bonded to Emma in a way he was not.
Emma was intrigued by him, and she seemed to feel a natural affinity for him, but he couldn’t be sure, at this point, whether that was because she somehow sensed he was her father or if she just sensed the jaguar was like her.
It would break his heart if it was just the cat calling to its own kind.
He wanted that bond with his daughter. He wanted her to know she could always come to him and be certain of welcome and protection…
and lots and lots of unconditional parental love.
But he’d missed the first two years of her life already. He didn’t want to miss any more.
That thought firmly in mind, he let Tracy be his guide in the next few hours.
First, playing with toys with Emma in her playroom with Tracy, then sitting down to share a meal with them both.
He complimented Tracy’s cooking, like any polite guest, but he meant it.
Tracy had done wonders with a simple casserole, and he enjoyed the meal more than any other in recent memory.
That was due to the company, even more than the food, of course.
Sitting there, at the table with Emma and Tracy gave him pangs of regret for the past, and hope for the future at the same time.
He thought how it must be to be mated. Sitting down to eat each day with the woman who was your other half, and any offspring that might result of that union of hearts and souls.
Would he ever know that with Tracy? His inner cat was screeching at him to make it happen.
The fickle beast had finally woken up where Tracy was concerned, and even though she was a wolf, the cat wanted her.
He wasn’t being as snobby as he had been about the difference in their beasts.
It was as if Emma’s presence had changed everything, turning the cat from interest to full-on obsession.
Hank wasn’t sure if that was fair to Tracy, but it was what it was.
His cat—and his human side, for that matter—had both been having a hard time with the idea of a cross-species mating.
Both sides of his being had felt a strong attraction to Tracy.
So strong, he hadn’t been with another woman since her.
That said something right there that he’d been too stubborn to admit.
After that one night with Tracy, Hank had been ruined for any other woman. If that wasn’t the sign of a mate, he didn’t know what was. Hank might have been very stupid about all this two—almost three—years ago, but he was aware and thinking clearer now.
The simple truth was, he truly believed that Tracy was his mate. Convincing her, though, was going to take some doing. He’s blown his chance at claiming her when they’d first come together, and he knew her pride wouldn’t let her accept his claims of love now, without a whole lot of proof.
He didn’t know how he was going to accomplish the goal of getting her to agree to be his mate, but he knew he had to try.
He might’ve messed up the past few years of his life by being a blind fool, but he wasn’t going to screw up his daughter’s life, or the rest of his or Tracy’s lives, by continuing to be a jackass. He was going to win her heart. Somehow.
They shared a pleasant dinner, both adults focusing outwardly more on the child than on each other.
Hank’s thoughts were churning inwardly, though he tried not to show it.
He kept things as light as possible on the outside, knowing he’d have time to talk more seriously with Tracy after they put Emma to bed.
Tuckered out from her exciting day, Emma went to bed early that night, even though she tried to stay awake.
It was kind of comical the way she kept yawning and catching herself as she nodded off.
Finally, Tracy took her upstairs and tucked her in, bringing a baby monitor back down with her so they would hear if Emma stirred.
Hank knew baby jaguars slept more than human babies.
All the shifting took more energy out of them than normal human growth patterns.
Multiple naps throughout the day was the norm for his tiniest Clan mates, and seeing his own daughter follow suit gave Hank a warm feeling in his heart.
She really was the most adorable child he’d ever seen.
So independent, yet so loving and attached to her mama.
Hank wished wistfully that Emma might, someday, feel the same love of child for parent, for him.