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Bonded Pair

Page 13

by Lauren Dane


  “Four. Mom called five. You called twice, Tracy once, Tegan once and Grace twice. Grandma just stopped by.”

  “We worry.”

  “I know. It’s very sweet. Until the third call. But you know, that’s the breaks. We called Tee this many times and Tracy too. Nina doesn’t answer the phone now with the baby and Gabby running riot but she got the calls and visits. It’s weird to not be up there all the time now.”

  “It was time. The Enforcer’s job doesn’t have to be a full-time guard to the Alpha. Anyway, Hiro is so good at it and he can take Nina without even blushing. You need to keep yourself on the special diet and try not to be stressed.”

  “I love you.” She reached out and squeezed Layla’s hand.

  “I’m so glad we have each other. I was worried but he came through thank goodness.”

  “He comes through every day. It’s like that first month didn’t even exist. Every once in a while, I look at him and try to imagine what it would be like if he’d never come to me.” She shrugged. “But I can’t. Because he’s been so solidly here ever since.”

  “Sometimes you try to fight what’s fated but hell, you can’t fight fate, cookie.”

  “Who wants to when fate drops tall, dark and handsome into your lap?”

  “Yes, those Rosario genes are pretty impressive.”

  “Hey you two!”

  They turned to see Nina come up the walk, wearing the sling.

  She kissed each of them and sat, patting the bundle slowly. “He’s been sort of cranky. I thought a walk would help. And you might as well come up here and go play with Sid and Shane, I know you’re there.”

  Lex came out of the tree line with a sigh. “Well, next time don’t try to duck out when I’m putting Gabby down.” He stopped to send Megan a narrow-eyed look. “You all right? Shane said your blood pressure was up. I heard you weeded!”

  “She sat while Gabby and I weeded. She held Mr. Man here and he never cried once. Hmpf. You think I’d make your sister weed when she’s been sick?”

  Lex’s manner softened as he brushed a hand down Nina’s jawline. “All these years and it still gets me hot when you snap at me.”

  Nina actually blushed. “Go on then. We got girl talking to do.”

  “Fate is pretty awesome.” Megan looked around at them, her sisters, her friends, at her deck in her yard. Awesome indeed. Hard fought, but worth every moment of struggle.

  * * * * *

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you so much to the entire Carina Press team! Art, editorial and marketing/promotion—you’re all fantastic. I appreciate how much you do for me and my books.

  Angela James—Thank you for everything.

  Also available from Lauren Dane

  and Carina Press

  Second Chances

  Believe

  Goddess with a Blade series

  Goddess with a Blade

  Blade to the Keep

  Blade on the Hunt

  At Blade’s Edge

  Diablo Lake series

  Diablo Lake: Moonstruck

  Diablo Lake: Protected

  Cascadia Wolves series

  Reluctant Mate

  Pack Enforcer

  Wolves’ Triad

  Wolf Unbound

  Alpha’s Challenge

  Bonded Pair

  Cherchez Wolf Pack series

  Wolf’s Ascension

  Sworn to the Wolf

  From Lauren Dane

  and HQN Books

  The Best Kind of Trouble

  Broken Open

  Back to You

  From Lauren Dane

  and Cosmopolitan Red-Hot Reads from Harlequin

  Cake

  Coming soon from Lauren Dane and HQN Books

  Whiskey Sharp: Unraveled

  Whiskey Sharp: Jagged

  Whiskey Sharp: Torn

  Also watch for the next book in the Goddess with a Blade series, coming soon from Carina Press!

  About the Author

  The story goes like this: While on pregnancy bed rest, Lauren Dane had plenty of downtime, so her husband took her comments about “giving that writing thing a serious go” to heart and brought home a secondhand laptop. She wrote her first book on it before it gave up the ghost. Even better, she sold that book and never looked back.

  Today Lauren is an award-winning New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of over sixty novels and novellas across several genres.

  Find out more about Lauren’s books at www.laurendane.com.

  Twitter.com/LaurenDane

  Facebook.com/AuthorLaurenDane

  Introducing the Carina Press Romance Promise!

  The Carina Press team all have one thing in common: we are romance readers with a longtime love of the genre. And we know what readers are looking for in a romance: a guarantee of a happily-ever-after (HEA) or happy-for-now (HFN). With that in mind, we’re initiating the Carina Press Romance Promise. When you see a book tagged with these words in our cover copy/book description, we’re making you, the reader, a very important promise:

  This book contains a romance central to the plot and ends in an HEA or HFN.

  Simple, right? But so important, we know!

  Look for the Carina Press Romance Promise and one-click with confidence that we understand what’s at the heart of the romance genre!

  Look for this line in Carina Press book descriptions:

  One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!

  Find out more at CarinaPress.com/RomancePromise.

  Find out more at CarinaPress.com.

  Craving more sexy stories from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Dane? Don’t miss these paranormal romances!

  The Diablo Lake series

  In Diablo Lake, Tennessee, a town populated by werewolves, witches and more, magic woven deep into the earth protects the town’s secrets from outsiders.

  DIABLO LAKE: MOONSTRUCK (Diablo Lake, book one)

  DIABLO LAKE: PROTECTED (Diablo Lake, book two)

  The Cherchez Wolf Pack series

  Follow the Cherchez werewolf pack in Washington’s North Cascades National Park as everything in their world changes.

  WOLF’S ASCENSION (Cherchez Wolf Pack, book one)

  SWORN TO THE WOLF (Cherchez Wolf Pack, book two)

  “WOLF’S ASCENSION is paranormal perfection—with a sexy alpha werewolf who worships his queen, and a fast-paced story full of mystery and suspense.”

  —Fresh Fiction

  The Cascadia Wolves series

  Join the Warden siblings as they find their mates.

  PACK ENFORCER (Cascadia Wolves, book one)

  RELUCTANT MATE (Cascadia Wolves, book two)

  WOLVES’ TRIAD (Cascadia Wolves, book three)

  WOLF UNBOUND (Cascadia Wolves, book four)

  ALPHA’S CHALLENGE (Cascadia Wolves, book five)

  BONDED PAIR (Cascadia Wolves, book six)

  “Dane’s intricate world of werewolf culture and pack politics only gets better with each book.”

  —RT Book Reviews on WOLVES’ TRIAD

  Order your copies now!

  Connect with us for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers and much more!

  Visit CarinaPress.com.

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  We think you have a good book in you!

  Do you write in the below genres? Harlequin’s Carina Press wants to see your manuscript.

  • Contemporary Romance

  •
Romantic Suspense

  • Historical Romance

  • Paranormal Romance

  • Mystery

  • Erotic Romance

  • LGBT

  • Science Fiction & Fantasy Romance

  Submit today!

  All manuscripts receive a thorough evaluation by a Carina Press editor and a decision within 12–16 weeks. What do you have to lose?

  To learn more about our submission guidelines, visit us at CarinaPress.com/WriteForUs.

  ISBN-13: 9781488028502

  Bonded Pair

  Copyright © 2017 by Lauren Dane

  This is the revised text of the work Fated first published by Samhain Publishing in 2008

  This edition published by Carina Press, 2017

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

  ® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.

  www.CarinaPress.com

 

 

 


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