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“They all are, at some point.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because lies are what monsters are made of. Real men face the truth. They own it, overcome it, and certainly do not fear it.”
Dane wanted to be stronger than he felt, but life had a way of cutting him down five feet every time he grew an inch. “I’m working on acceptance.”
“You have time. It’s my understanding that, once the bonding is done, she’ll go through a pack orientation with the others.Ifyou hear from her, it won’t be for some time.”
He stilled. “Pack orientation? What does that mean?” When he purposely didn’t answer, Dane scowled. “Lazarus, tell me.”
“They are dogs, Dane. Their loyalty is to the gods and their pack, nothing else. They’ll do whatever is necessary to keep their bloodlines alive. Unlike immortals, they only have a small window to mate.”
“But Gracieisimmortal. She’s not a wolf.”
“But they are, and she now belongs to their pack. They are one. What belongs to one brother belongs to all of them. They’ll expect a litter. It’show they diversify their species and outlive extinction.”
“What?” He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t see past the blinding rage clouding his mind. “Why are you sayingthey? Mates don’t share.”
“Immortal mates don’t.”
There was no escaping the volcanic rage building inside of him. He was going to explode. “I have to save her.”
“You can’t.”
“She’s not like them! You don’t understand! She’s innocent! Litters? Packs? None of this is right!”
“Except it is. She accepted her fate, Dane. There was no compulsion in that cave when she left with him.”
“She doesn’t know what she’s consenting to!”
“He protected her the way a mate should. They will work out their differences in time, like all mates. Do not think to interfere, Dane. They will kill to protect their own, and Gracie is now one of theirs.”
But she wasn’t. She was his. His Gracie. “I need to…” He shook his head, certain there was no place he could go to outrun the sick feeling inside of him.
Lazarus clamped a heavy hand on his shoulder. “Self-control, Dane. Steer your energy where it’s most useful. Do not waste it on that which you cannot change.”
His fist closed around a small shell set on the windowsill. He squeezed it until it shattered intodust. He thought about Abilene, Gracie’s mother.
“What if she can’t get pregnant?”
“She’s immortal. Of course she can. Our females are in impeccable health.”
He shook his head. “Her mother had miscarriages. A lot of them.”
Lazarus frowned. “With her mate?”
His gaze dropped. “No. Her father was called to another.”
“There’s your answer. That’s not the case for Gracie.”
Was it that simple? It couldn’t be. “They have five other kids together.”
“Five children in how many years? Our females are eternally fertile, Dane. My wife is far from finished bearing young. When her grief passes, we will try again. And our next will be our twelfth.”
How sad it was that they had twelve kids and only one survived. “How do you do it? How do you manage not to lose your mind after what he took from you?”
“Like I said, we’re all capable of becoming monsters. Humanity comes down to self-control.”
