Page 19 of Lycans & Lattes

I shook my head. “I know this is a lot, but we have time. I will keep the sigil. I will keep delaying and⁠—”

“No, I don’t want that,” she cut in. “I don’t want you hiding from your responsibilities because of me. I won’t be a wedge between you and your pack.”

I wasn’t expecting her to agree with my mother so soon.

“What if,” she started. “Even with the sigil gone, I wanted to stay . . .” She shrank a little at the admission, but my heart swelled in my chest.

“. . . and be with you?”

“There are a lot of strings attached to that scenario,” I answered, giving her a moment to take her request back. When she didn’t, I continued, “You would be mine in every way. Heart, soul, and body. You’d have to learn the ways of the pack and what it means to be a wolf, and you’d have to prepare yourself to be the future queen.”

Her eyes flared. “The queen of the wolves?”

“It’s traditional that the alpha be wed before they take over their position. Typically, I would have been betrothed as a child, but I rejected that long ago.”

Flashes of my teenage self telling my pack that I refused the girl they’d picked came to mind. Back then, I’d thought I couldn’t disappoint the people I loved any more.

And then I’d kept doing it over and over. Including this moment.

“Isn’t a human wife out of the question, then?” Willow asked. “Even if I am your mate?”

I blinked at her. “Would you want to be part of the pack if it were allowed?”

“I . . . I mean, I want to be with you. It’s been driving me crazy not being with you.”

“You don’t understand what it would all mean,” I said. She didn’t know what she was volunteering for, and I wouldn’t drag her into that pit of snakes. “My family is intense, to say the least. And the pack. I want them to accept you, but could you be with me if they never did?”

“Would a human queen even be allowed?” She threw her hands up and let them fall to slap against her sides. “But taking on all this responsibility . . . Can’t we just see where this goes and . . .”

I groaned, wishing I could say yes.

“I can’t believe we’re talking about this on our first fucking date!” she erupted, wiping her eyes. “This is too much.”

“I know,” I lamented. “I’ve thought about this conversation a million times, and I never figured out a way for it to go well. It’s why I’ve danced around this for so long.”

“And if we start down this path and things go bad?”

“I wouldn’t allow that to happen.”

What I should have said was that it couldn’t. The consequences of a failed mating bond were nothing compared to how treacherous the pack would be if they found out things had gone sour.

I reached for her hands and pulled her into me.

“If we were to break up, I’d have to leave town, wouldn’t I?” She cried into my shirt, and I cradled her head into me, letting her fear, hope, and grief flood us both. “But even if we don’t end up together, I’d have to leave town because if I’m here, you’ll have to⁠—”

“No.” I held her tighter. “I promise, Willow. I won’t ever let that happen. I’d move my entire pack before making you feel like you had to leave.”

That only made her cry harder.

“I need to go,” Willow muttered, pulling from my hold. “I need to process all of this.”

“Wait.” I gently took her elbow.

She stared at me with those heartbroken, red-rimmed eyes, and I couldn’t stand it. I grabbed her cheeks and kissed her. Salt and doubt stung my lips, but she let out a little noise that sounded like relief. We melted into one another, and I let my lips tell her all the ways this could work out, all the ways I could make her happy.

I would mend this betrayal one kiss at a time.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered against her mouth. “I’m sorry it took me so long to kiss you.” I leaned my forehead against hers. “All I have wanted since I met you was to be the town baker who happened to have a human mate. Just the two of us running our shops, going on dates, being a normal Maple Hollow couple. I wanted us to be together and happy, but . . .”