Chapter 106: Chapter 105

Mason | took a deep breath to calm myself before wrapping Stella into my arms.

Seeing her with Xander. | almost lost it.

But then it was like a switch flipped on inside him and he realized he’d taken her from me He thought | was actually her father, and | wasn’t about to correct him.

“As her father, | don’t like strangers picking her up,” | said, more bitterly than | meant to. “And my mater doesn’t either.”

| nodded toward Katie The words had left my mouth before | could really think.

Xander and Zane exchanged questioning glances I'd surprised them.

| waited for Katie to jump in and correct me, but she stayed quiet, her face unreadable.

I'd probably hear about that later “Then why aren’t you formally mated?” Zane asked.

Good question.

Probably because we weren't mates at all But if they thought we were, then maybe they’d back off.

Xander and Zane had ogled her shamelessly as soon as she'd arrived, and they were so f ucking arrogant, they were probably already planning some way to double-team me and get her into their bed.

“This is rogue territory,” | said casually. “The rules aren’t the same here.”

“Sure” Xander rolled his eyes.

“You've been so sheltered, living under the Council’s thumb your whole life.” | continued. “We can do what we want here. Katie and | certainly have Katie After the tense moment between Xander and Mason had passed, we climbed into our cars and headed into Constantine territory Xander and Zane were riding in their ridiculous all black SUV, while Mason and | rode in his truck.

He must've gone out and bought it just for this occasion.

The thought had me grinning like an idiot.

Truthfully, | hadn’t even thought about needing one.

Maybe subconsciously | knew Mason would handle anything | forgot.

And once again, he’d come through.

“| know you want to ask, so go ahead,” Mason said after a few minutes of silence.

He flashed me the same kind of mischievous grin he had the night we met.

His cheekiness was one of the many things I’d instantly fallen for “Okay “I said, “Why did you tell Xander that Stella is your pup?”

Mason sighed.

“In case you didn’t notice, | kind of overreacted when he picked her up.”

The growling thing had been a little much.

Mason might've been flirty, but he didn’t strike me as the peacocking type.

But that possessive growl had also spoken to something deep inside of me. I'd loved that he’d been so protective of me and my baby.

“Did it bother you?” he asked.

“Not really” | answered truthfully He smiled “| didn’t know how else to explain my behavior. It just seemed simpler to claim she was mine.”

“That’s n?” | asked, eyeing him intensely.

He glanced over at me again and winced.

“Okay, fine Maybe | was a little jealous of Xander, too.”

| scoffed. “A little?”

“Okay, a LOT,” he said. “I didn’t want him to think you're available. He took my entire childhood from me. I’m sure he’d have no problem taking my He trailed off, and | waited anxiously for him to finish.

My what?

Would he call me his mate again?

“Anything else you want to ask about?” he said instead So that was a no, then | bit my lip.

Of course | wanted to ask about him calling me his mate in front of Xander, too, but it almost felt too... serious.

Like it would open up a whole can of worms | wasn’t ready to tackle just yet.

Not when so much else was about to change...