do desperate things.”
I sit back in the wooden chair and sigh. “Do you think Steppe would let us hide in the sanctuary?”
All the red wolf shifters Manny saves need somewhere to go. Just like us, they aren’t welcomed back home, so Steppe created a place for them: Lost Wolves Sanctuary.
It isn’t anything like this cabin. It’s more like a hospital. Most of the children have been through so much trauma they require extensive counseling to be functional. The adults are all in recovery too. In addition to the trauma, some of them have heart conditions from the virility or heat-induction medications.
Regardless of their age, all the patients in the sanctuary are mourning family that has either been taken from them or family who doesn’t want them to come home. It isn’t exactly a joyful place to live. But Steppe, H (Hokkaido), and Ken (Kenai) all work around the clock to keep it running. They believe we can make a difference.
It’s my job to keep it funded. Not through my salary. That’s not nearly enough. Scalene Studios helps me put together fundraisers, and there are other groups who pitch in to give the sanctuary food and staff. When we run low, I do another interview to tell people about my experiences in the pits. That always brings in more money.
If I went into hiding with Andrew, I wouldn’t be able to do that anymore. Already, I’m not sure how much the studio will be willing to help after I quit.
“You can’t hide with any of us,” Manny says. “It’s too obvious. And we can’t risk the sanctuary.”
He’s right, of course.
“If it were you, what would you do? How can I keep Andrew safe?”
Manny grabs the first can of soup and attacks it with a can opener. “Any chance you could woo the dad?”
“Manny, I’m a stud from the pits, and I’ve been doing porn for a decade. There’s no way a Blue Blood is going to think I’m worthy of his son.”
And there’s no way Andrew’s father would allow us to be together, even if he thought I was good for him. I think Mitch stopped seeing Andrew as anything but a paycheck a long time ago.
Manny pours the can of soup into a pot. “Are you really willing to go into hiding for the rest of your life? Give up everyone and everything you love a second time?”
It’s a fair question. It was so hard to do the first time around.
“Yes. He’s worth it.”
Manny tosses the can into the garbage. “Alright. You better find some damn good makeup to hide all those tattoos then.”
I chuckle.
“Oh, you laugh now. But those hand tattoos are going to be a pain in the ass to cover up all the time. You’d better be damn sure about this, Timber.”
I look him straight in the eye and ask a question I know isn’t fair to him, but it needs to be asked. “If you found a man who would take you as you are, no bond included, and he was everything you ever wanted in an omega, what would you be willing to do to stay with him?”
Manny looks away from me, a bitter smile on his face. “That isn’t ever going to happen for me.”
“But if it did, Manny. What would you be willing to do to be with him?”
He shakes his head. “Anything. I’d do absolutely anything.”
“Then help me. Please. I don’t have any family to turn to. You’re my best chance at keeping him safe.”
Manny meets my gaze. “Okay. I’ll do what I can.”
16
Andrew
I fly through the sky for hours before I’m ready to descend to the roof again. All the while, I ponder a possible solution that’s haunted me since I got on that plane this morning.
Surgeons can’t remove my bond ache, but the magical tie I have to Edward Monroe was created by a warlock. That means a warlock might be able to destroy it. I asked my father about it when Edward died, and he said a spell like that would be horribly complex—that no sane warlock would ever attempt it.
But there are plenty of warlocks out there who aren’t sane.
If a warlock removed my bond ache, I wouldn’t need an adult legal guardian anymore. It wouldn’t matter what the Monroes or my father wanted. I’d be legally capable of making my own decisions. At that point, hurting Timber wouldn’t do my father any good. I would be free of him.
The more I think about it, the more I