Chapter 8 DISCONTINUED

Natalie grumbled inwardly as she thought over Dominic's proposal. Could she do this? Could she pull this off? It wasn't in her nature to cower from anything challenging, no matter how much danger or risk it involved. Maybe it was a lot to do with her being Kage; continually proving herself had always been a way of gaining some measure of respect. But this wasn't just some kind of dare. This was her life and all about what direction she wanted it to take.

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "My dad's not stupid, unfortunately. He knows I don't want to be mated to Ray. If I walk up to him and say 'Hey dad, guess what, it turns out my true mate's not dead and I found him he's going to accuse me of trying to play him."

"And that's why we'll need to be publically seen to 'discover' each other. Maybe at one of the shifter clubs. No one other than my wolves will know we've met before that claim"

Okay, that was a good idea. But would it work?

Natalie stifled the urge to groan as indecision wracked her mind and body. Her wolf wasn't undecided. Oh no. With her elemental nature, her wolf wasn't interested in details or problems, she was only interested in whether Dominic was a potential mate. She liked his confidence, his determination, his heavy air of dominance, and she loved his scent. Her wolf was totally fine with letting Dominic mark her. She was craving it. Not good.

"Have you thought about what it'll mean to claim me even temporarily?" she asked. "Your wolf will know I'm not your true mate, and he may even understand that you don't consider this a permanent mating, but those will be itty bitty details to him. If you bite and mark me your wolf is going to see me as all his in every way. That means he'll be -"

"Crazily possessive, crazily jealous and crazily protective" finished Dominic. "That will help us with faking a mating bond. Though I'm sure that his understanding that you're not my true mate will be enough to keep him under control." His wolf was currently quiet inside his head, completely focused on Natalie as he waited for her response. His wolf approved of Dominic's choice. He had identified her wolf as dominant and assertive, and he very much liked Natalie the woman too. Liked her innate sensuality, liked her loyal streak and he especially liked her spunk. Just as Dominic did. And her scent...God, her scent.

He could sense that she was close, so close, to accepting his proposition. He didn't blame her for being wary or hesitant, but she had to know he was the lesser of two evils. "Natalie, I'm offering you a way out. If I were you, I'd take it. Unless you want to end up bound to Ray for the rest of your life."

"That would never happen, no matter what."

"Maybe not. It seems to me, though, that there aren't any other avenues open to you right now."

"I was planning to go to my uncle's pack."

Oh, he hadn't doubted that she had some plan up her sleeve. "You trust his Alpha to take you in, to protect you against Ray when he comes for you? And he will come for you."

She swallowed hard. "I don't know if I can trust his Alpha because I've never met him, but I don't know if I can trust you to protect me either. I know Ray won't just bow down and accept it; he has too much pride for that. He'll most likely turn up and challenge you. Are you saying you would honestly accept that challenge, that you would fight to keep me in your pack?" She didn't hide the scepticism from her voice.

"Yes, I would," he stated firmly. "I need this mating as much as you. You can still contact your uncle after joining me and then see about switching packs afterwards. Three months at the most is the length of time I'll need you to stay. Mediators don't usually ask packs to take longer than that to civilly sort out the matter. You could then say you've realized you were wrong about me being your true mate, whatever."

A few months in mating with psycho boy versus a lifetime with Ray...It should be easy for Natalie to take Dominic up on his offer in theory, but not when she considered that she would be handing herself over to someone who was the big bad wolf. Her instincts told her he wouldn't harm her, and although they had never let her down before that wasn't to say that they weren't letting her down now.

He raised his brows questioningly. "Well, Natalie, do we have a deal?" He shook the pill packet. "Or would you like another long nap?"

"There's one thing I don't get. Why me? From what I've heard, you've never had any problems reeling in females. Surely it would have been a lot easier for you to approach an unmated female and ask her playmates. I'm sure plenty of those females have alphas that have the same kind of alliances my dad has."

"As much as it's going to be a pain in the ass having to convince everyone that your mate was never your mate, it would be even more complicated to convince an unmated female to pretend I'm her mate. To let another male mark her, even if it was temporary, would be like betraying her true mate, even if she hadn't found him yet. Sure I know females who are power hungry enough that they would find the prospect of becoming Alpha female of my pack more important than waiting for their true mate. But then I'd be stuck with them. When I heard of your situation, I figured we could help each other."

Natalie made a noise that was something between a sigh and a groan. There were so many issues, so many unanswered questions. However, she supposed that when it came down to it, the question of most importance was: Was she truly prepared to do what it took to remove herself from Ray's reach? Returning her gaze to Dominic, she sighed again and then nodded.

He gave her a crooked smile. "Right decision."