Chapter 8
“She sleeps an awful lot now that she’s shifting all the time,” Tracy observed, coming into the living room where she’d left Hank sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee.
“That’s to be expected. Shifting takes a lot of energy. Some of my Clan mates claim the reason the Mother of All makes the little ones sleep so much when they start to shift is to allow their parents time to recover from chasing after them.”
Tracy chuckled as she sat on the couch next to him, reaching for the cup of coffee she’d left on the low table in front of the sofa.
She saw a large brown envelope on the coffee table.
Hank must’ve brought it in from his vehicle while Tracy had been occupied.
She didn’t say anything, figuring he’d get to it in time.
She didn’t want anything from him. Not really. She wasn’t a clingy female, nor was she greedy. No, her inner wolf was a true bitch—strong and independent. Growling at the merest suggestion that she couldn’t provide for herself or her daughter.
“There might be something to that,” she replied, sitting back then taking a sip of the dark roasted brew she preferred.
“Before you say anything, that envelope contains the details on the trust account I set up for Emma.” He held up both hands, palms outward.
“I know you can provide for her. Just think of this as a fall-back position. I will continue adding to it every year. Whether or not you use the money is up to you. If you don’t need it now, think of it as a college fund.
By the time she gets to that age, she will be able to pay for any school she wants with what I’m putting into the trust for her, even accounting for inflation.
A certain amount will always be available if you need it, but a portion of the principal will be invested in high-yield funds, so it will continue to grow.
If you want more than the available cash balance, that can be arranged within one business day.
All you have to do is call the bank. You’re in charge of the entire account until Emma reaches the age of eighteen. ”
“It’s too much,” Tracy protested. “I don’t need it, and we don’t even know if she’ll want to pursue her education when she’s older. I mean, I hope she will, but I won’t force her into anything.”
Hank nodded. “Agreed. She makes her own choices. But, if she wants an Ivy League school, or to study abroad, I want her to have that option.”
Tracy was silent a long moment. She didn’t like the idea of taking his money, but he’d set this up in such a way that she wouldn’t have to. The money would just sit in the account, earning interest and growing, unless and until Emma needed it.
“I’ll take it with the proviso that it’s strictly for Emma’s future.” She still felt a little odd about accepting his money, but as long as she treated the account as something for Emma, for the future, she felt a little better about the whole thing.
“Okay, but use it if you need it. The trust can be your emergency fund, too,” Hank told her, blue eyes hesitant and seeming to plead for her understanding.
She couldn’t say no to him when he looked at her like that, so she just nodded and tried to let it go. There were even more important things to discuss here. The money matter—while a big one—was more or less trivial when compared to the custody issue.
Hank had never come out and said he wanted custody of Emma, but Tracy knew he’d be within his rights to demand visitation at the very least. She didn’t want to deny either him or her daughter the ability to know each other, but she was also a jealous mama wolf who didn’t want to let go of control where her baby was concerned.
There had to be some kind of compromise, but she didn’t know what Hank was thinking on the subject yet, and it had her worried, frankly.
“Okay,” Hank said, taking a breath as if going through a mental checklist. “The next issue is more complicated. I know you’ve done an excellent job raising Emma alone up to this point, but now that I know about her, I want to be part of her life.
Of both your lives. Tracy, I think we could make a go of it… together. If you’re willing to try.”
What was he saying? Tracy scowled. “You want to try to raise her together?”
“As mates,” he confirmed, nodding. He didn’t look happy about the idea. Or maybe, that was just her interpretation of his very serious expression.
“You’re not my mate.” Even as she said it, jumping to her feet in agitation, her wolf howled inside her, angry. But whether the wolf was angry at Hank, or at Tracy herself, even she wasn’t quite sure.
“I could be,” he countered, standing as well, and stalking around the couch to face her.
“I’ll do anything to be part of your lives.
I’ll move here. Buy a condo nearby. Even live in a wolf town where everybody hates me, as long as I can be around you and Emma.
” He sank to one knee, holding her hand.
“I’ll marry you, Tracy,” he said in a softer tone. “If that’s what you want.”
Frozen for a moment by the unexpectedness of his proposal, Tracy didn’t know what to say. Then, anger flared, and she jerked her hand free and stalked away.
“You’re ridiculous!” She wanted to shout, but conscious of her daughter sleeping upstairs, she kept her words to a furious whisper-scream.
“I don’t want a mate—or a husband—just because we happened to make a baby together.
If I ever choose a mate, it’ll be because he is my Goddess-destined counterpart.
Not some medieval marriage of convenience.
That you would even suggest it makes me want to bite you!
I want a true mate. Hell, I deserve a true mate. ”
Hank got up slowly from his kneeling position and walked back around the couch. He stood there, just looking at her, his gaze inscrutable while he seemed to think over her words. Then, finally, he sighed, looking defeated and spoke in a gentle voice.
“What if we are true mates?”
Stymied, she didn’t respond for a moment.
“What are you talking about?” she finally asked, as calmly as she could, when the silence had dragged on long enough.
“In all the time since we were together, I haven’t been with another woman.
Not one. I just wasn’t interested. I mean, I told myself it was because I was really busy with Clan business—and I was—but there were opportunities.
Opportunities I didn’t take. Didn’t even consider taking.
” He scrubbed one hand through his hair.
“That’s just not normal, Trace. Not for a single jaguar male in his prime. ”
Tracy felt something deep inside. A recognition that she had felt something similar. The wolf inside her had a sense of rightness. Of laughing at the human side that was being stupid, in its estimation.
“I haven’t been with anyone either,” she admitted. “But I’ve got Emma, and males don’t interest me much anymore.”
Hank stepped closer to her. “Males other than me?”
The audaciousness of his question made her breath catch.
He wasn’t smiling, but there was a devilish twinkle in his eyes that spoke to the passion that had remained dormant in her soul since the last time she’d been with him.
Only since seeing him again, had her body reawakened.
She had to confess, within the quiet of her own mind, that she’d dreamed of him in the week since she’d last seen him.
Hot dreams. Erotic dreams. Dreams that made her blush to remember them.
Funny how she hadn’t dreamed of anyone else in all that time since she’d been with him. Not even a faceless lover. Only Hank. Ever Hank.
There might be something to his claim, but she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing she thought he could be right.
Not now. Not after he’d botched his proposal so badly.
He’d have to prove to her that he didn’t want her only because they’d made Emma together. Tracy wanted to be wanted for herself.
“You know I was attracted to you,” she told him, keeping her words in the past tense, just to keep him guessing. “The proof of that is sleeping upstairs, right now.” She scoffed, but she didn’t move away as he edged closer to her.
“Some might say she is also proof that we are destined mates. You know shifters aren’t really that fertile to begin with and usually not across species lines unless there’s a mating in the mix.
It could be that I was just too stupid to realize you were my mate when we were together last.” He gave her a disarming grin as he shook his head slightly.
He really was a charmer. She’d have to be careful around him if she didn’t want to lose every argument and end up doing exactly what he wanted all the time.
“So, you admit to being stupid?” she asked instead, challenging him. Her wolf liked challenging him. It made her feel playful and young…and happy.
“When it comes to you? Definitely,” he told her immediately, looking not the least bit bashful.
“I’ve been thinking about you ever since that night, and wanting to get back to you.
Duty kept me elsewhere, but I never stopped thinking about you.
I realize now, that’s because there was a bond forming—if we’ll let it—between us. ”
“You really believe that?” It would be so easy to fall for his words. But what if he was just saying this to get to Emma?
What if any woman would do, and it wasn’t Tracy he wanted, but Tracy was just the means to get to his daughter? That would crush her in time. Kill her tender heart and cripple her wolf. She had to be so careful.
“I really believe it, Tracy,” he whispered, drawing even closer. His head dipped, and then, a moment later, his lips were covering hers.
Ah. She remembered this. She remembered the stark passion, the luscious seduction of him. The only man who had ever made her feel this way… Hank.