“How about if he challenges me?” Rafe asks.
“There’s nothing to challenge if I say no-go. This isn’t the dark ages when she-wolves didn’t have any say over who claimed them.”
“We could move in together.”
This time she was the one who stopped walking. “Wait, what?”
Rafe ran a hand through his dark locks. “Listen, I didn’t tell you this…because it’s bullshit. You know how much my dad likes you, but he kind of thinks you haven’t gone into heat because you’re not really in love with me.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What? That’s not even how it works. It’s purely physiological. Like getting your period. It happens when it happens. Doc Fischer says she-wolves can go into heat as late as their thirties.”
“I know what Doc Fischer says,” Rafe said. “But Dad’s old-school. He’s not buying it. And he’s the Colorado alpha. So if this guy steps up, claiming you as his fated mate, and you’re not even physically living with me, he might pull the king card and say we can’t get married.”
Chloe studied his face and knew this wasn’t really a hypothetical they were discussing. Rafe was telling her the king was so upset about how long they’d been engaged, he would pull rank in order to end it if he had the right opportunity.
“I wouldn’t let him get away with it,” Rafe assured her, reading her mind as best friends did. “If he tries to pull that shit, I’ll run away with you before I let him tear us apart. But I don’t want it to come to that.”
She clamped her lips together. “I don’t want it to come to that either. And you know, even if your dad said we couldn’t get married, that doesn’t mean I’m going to marry some weird, blood-thirsty Viking who came through the portal. It’s either you or nobody for me.”
“Look at you, getting all angry and defending our love.” Rafe smiled down at her. “I like this side of you. There might be a little wolf in you yet.”
He pulled her into his arms and Chloe nuzzled her face into his chest, her she-wolf loving the way it felt to be packed in close to another body.
It was a very sweet moment until Rafe said, “But think about moving in with me, okay? I mean, we’re going to do it after your heat night anyway, so why wait?”
Her face fell. “Actually, I was hoping you’d move in with me.”
“My place is bigger, “ he pointed out. “Four bedrooms. You’ve only got two. Plus, I didn’t buy the house for you to stay there. The plan was to move you out and move somebody else in, so we can start receiving rent on it.”
“Yeah, but…” She tried to figure out a nice way to tell him she’d rather live in the small, cozy cabin which was set up just the way she liked it for her Black Mountain Woman videos, than his man cave of a house with flat screens in every room, including the bathroom and kitchen.
But she already knew what he’d say. This was Rafe. He’d offer to remodel the kitchen and get rid of its small flat screen if it really bothered her that much. But he’d resent her for it. He’d never understood why she preferred to live like a homesteader as opposed to a modern woman in the modern ages, and it was hard to explain the draw of the lifestyle to someone who liked his electronic toys as much as Rafe did.
But ever since Myrna had first taught her to sew on her ancient Singer, she had felt drawn to the idea of doing everything herself. Making her own clothes, her own food, her own just-about-everything and never having to depend on others to provide for her again. Still as passionate as she was about how she chose to live, she didn’t like the idea of getting into a lifestyle battle with Rafe any sooner than she had to.
“Can I think about it?” she asked, when what she really meant was. “Can you give me some time to figure out how to save our engagement, keep you from falling out with your father, and get rid of the Viking who thinks I’m his fated mate without having to move in with you before my heat night?”
“Sure,” he said. An apologetic smile settled on his face. “Listen, I’m sorry we’re having to deal with this bullshit. I wish we hadn’t been the ones to go up there. Sometimes, I wish I weren’t the alpha prince of Colorado. It would be nice to be a normal wolf with normal problems that my dad would judge on a fair basis, not because I’m his son. If this were happening to any other couple, it wouldn’t even be a question of who he’d side with.”
When they reached his house they parted with another hug. As she watched Rafe walk away, she remembered his proposal in the high school gymnasium, just two weeks after Myrna died as if he couldn’t bear the thought of her being alone in this world again like she was when they first met. He really was her best friend, and she couldn’t lose him, which meant she had to get rid of the maybe-Viking, whatever it took. The consequences of not doing so were just too scary to even think about. She didn’t know if she could mentally survive being a lone wolf again.
CHAPTER FIVE
“YOU’VE got to kidding me,” Chloe all but yelled into her cell phone the next day.
“Listen, kid, my nurse is off on full moon days and the guy smells like animal blood. He’s stinking up the entire clinic, and he needs a sponge bath.”
“Then why can’t you do it?” Chloe asked.
“Because I’m on the road to Denver to pick up my professor friend, who doesn’t drive. And also, because he’s your fated mate.”
Chloe gritted her teeth. “He’s not my anything. I am one hundred percent with Rafe.”
“Okay, well then because he’s the werewolf who came over one thousand years into the future just to find you. Is that any better?”
“No,” she grumbled.
“Well, here’s the deal, kid. You and Rafe asked me to keep this situation under wraps, so unless you want me to ask your fiancé to do it, I suggest you get down here and clean this guy up. And get him some new clothes while you’re at it.”
And that was how Chloe ended up abandoning her preparations for her chicken and fennel episode of Black Mountain Woman, and running to the local general store to pick up a pair of extra-large basketball shorts, men’s underwear, and a Wolf Springs T-shirt for the man who had turned her life upside down in less than twelve hours.
Doc Fischer was right about being able to smell him as soon as you walked in the door, but it was Chloe’s opinion he had exaggerated how bad it was. He did smell of some animal whose scent she didn’t recognize off the top of her head, but it didn’t overwhelm his real smell, which she actually found quite pleasant. It was a mixture of smoke, evergreens, ocean, wind, and mountain that made her think of outdoor barbecues and ski vacations.