to mature, sexually speaking.”
“Your body is mature now, though.” He was very certain of that.
“Yep, thanks to the wonders of modern medicine. I had to take a lot of shots and pills.” She grimaced. “One day, I was a normal girl who was just something of a late bloomer. And the next, all anyone could talk about was my diagnosis and treatments and possible symptoms and side effects. Even my parents.”
“You lost part of yourself,” he said softly, seeing it now. “All at once, without your consent.”
“I’m explaining this wrong,” Darcy muttered. “The doctors didn’t take away my missing chromosome, Fenrir. I never had—”
“Not what I meant,” he interrupted. “You were always a whole person. But other people stopped seeing that. Stopped seeing you. Only something that needed to be fixed.”
Darcy’s eyebrows rose. “I never thought of it like that. But yeah, that is what happened. Before my parents knew about my condition, if I failed a math test or missed a catch at baseball, well, that was just me. But afterward, suddenly everything had to be analyzed. Any sign of something not-quite-normal, and I was dragged off for yet more tests. NVLD, ADD, ADHD, a whole alphabet soup. My parents meant well, but they were so guilty that they’d missed my symptoms for so long, they couldn’t bear the thought that they might miss a chance to ‘help’ me. Combined with going through an artificially supercharged puberty at the same time, my late teens weren’t exactly best years of my life.”
He let out his breath. “Understand better, now, why you’re reluctant to mate. Why you don’t want to become a hellhound.”
“It’s certainly another big change.” She sighed too. “And one where I really could lose part of myself. The whole pack thing…I’m sorry, Fenrir. I’m worried about changing my brain, changing who I am. I can’t rush into a decision like that.”
“Which is wise,” he said, a bit wryly. “Only an idiot would try to rush something so important.”
She kicked him, lightly, smiling. “Hey, don’t beat yourself up. You had your reasons. Even if they turned out not to be valid. That’s one big difference between us, by the way. You only needed a little chemical helping hand at the start, but I still have to take my hormones. My condition isn’t something I can overcome through sheer willpower. Not like you.”
Tell her, whispered some tiny, distant voice in his soul. Tell her.
He hadn’t wanted to tell her that he was still using the serum. Not when there was only a limited supply; when he didn’t know how much time they had. He didn’t want to put that pressure on her.
Our mate is strong. His animal’s voice was faint, weak. And pack does not lie to pack. Tell her.
“Darcy—” he started.
“Wait.” She put a hand over his, and the electric contact silenced him. “I’m not done yet. There’s a reason why I’m telling you this now. My pills help me lead a healthy, normal life, but…they can’t fix everything. Almost all women who have Turner syndrome are infertile. I can’t have kids. Ever.”
It was like being braced to receive a blow, only to have his opponent hand him a cheese. He stared at her, totally nonplussed.
She looked down again, withdrawing her hand. “I…thought you should know. In case it changed anything.”
He shook his head, confused. “Like what?”
“You know. Your feelings. About this whole mating thing.”
“We are true mates. Nothing can change that.”
Darcy’s chin set, as though she was the one who was bracing herself now. “I know you believe that. But how can it be true, if we’re not compatible in such a fundamental way?”
Every time he thought he had a grip on this conversation, it bounded away in a completely unexpected direction.
“You think that we can’t be true mates because you can’t have children?” Even saying the words out loud himself, they made no sense. “Why?”
“Oh, come on. You were so excited to shop for baby stuff, and I’ve seen you with Beth. You love children.”
“Yes. Of course. What does that have to do with anything?”
“Well…don’t you want kids?”
“Yes,” he said, totally bewildered now. “Which is just as well, since I have them.”
Darcy’s mouth dropped open. “What?”
“You said yourself, just now,” he said, wondering why she was looking so shocked. “Beth. And the others, when they’re born. Expect there will be more cubs in the pack too, in time. Many more.”
“Oh thank God,” Darcy muttered. “You nearly gave me a heart attack there. I meant kids of your