Wolf Tracks - Bianca D'Arc Page 0,73

her tone and expression turning serious.

“That’s still a lot more than most non-magical folk, even in this day of modern medicine,” he offered.

She noticed he’d avoided any talk of a possible future shared between them. She’d heard from her sister that mating with a shifter often had the effect of extending the human mate’s lifespan to match the shifter’s. Either Jim was being obtuse or evasive. She’d bet on the latter because, if there was one thing Jim was not, it was stupid.

Their conversation was interrupted by a knock on the outer door of the suite. Jim got up and went out into the main room, talking quietly with a woman. Probably Felicia, Helen thought, but she was too tired to get up and be polite at the moment. She’d given a lot of her own energy to Calum, but she wasn’t too concerned about it. She knew Jim would keep her safe.

Even if he wouldn’t keep her forever.

Chapter Seventeen

Jim chatted with Felicia when she delivered the bags of food Joe had ordered to be sent over from the diner. Two big shopping bags full of various things in containers that smelled really good. Jim thanked Felicia and assured her that Helen was fine, just a bit tired. Felicia left, asking him to pass on her good wishes to Helen, and he closed the door behind her.

He knew he’d been evasive with Helen just a few minutes ago, but he honestly didn’t think she was ready to hear what he wanted to say. Increasingly, he was starting to feel incredibly possessive of her. So much so that he was seriously considering whether or not they could make a go of a more permanent relationship. Permanent, as in…forever.

There were no half-measures with shifters when it came to mating. Either she was his forever mate or she wasn’t, but he had been having a hard time reconciling his inner wolf’s thoughts about Helen, and how awesome she was, with his human half’s confused expectations. He’d always imagined that, when he met his mate, he’d be hit by a lightning bolt of recognition and just know, right away, that she was the one.

That hadn’t happened with Helen, though he did recall feeling an immediate attraction toward her. They’d had chemistry from the first moment they’d met, though he hadn’t really recognized it at the time. He’d been so focused on his mission and so…in denial, really…that a human could be his fated mate. How pompous he’d been in his own thoughts. What a fool he’d been. What an unmitigated ass he’d been.

Jim could kick himself now, for wasting all that time. He should have been wooing her, and instead, he’d packed her off home with a half-assed goodbye. It had been Helen who’d listened to her instincts and come to his rescue. Helen—who didn’t have the benefit of an animal side—who had been more in touch with her intuition than he had. What a joke he was for a shifter. He hadn’t listened to the wolf who had wanted to keep her near at all times. He hadn’t understood the wolf’s desire to be with her and keep her safe. He’d been an idiot.

And now, it was probably too late. She was clearly confused by his behavior. Hell, he was confused by his own actions toward her.

He still didn’t understand how it could work between them. Their most recent conversation about the vast differences in their ages and life expectancies was something he didn’t know the answer to, and something that needed to be figured out if he really was going to entertain the idea of anything permanent between them.

All he knew for now, was that he wanted to be with her. He wanted to take care of her and make sure she was safe and healthy. He wanted to protect her while she was so drained from putting herself out for others.

She had such a generous heart. A brave heart, as well. That stunt on the beach where she’d scared off the hyena pack with a few fireworks impressed the hell out of him. He couldn’t imagine the courage it took for her to do all that. For him.

She’d been so good to him from the moment they’d met. He’d known she was attracted to him. He was older than her. He’d been around the block more than a few times, and he wasn’t unaware when a woman found him attractive. He’d chosen to ignore it, for the most part. A foolish