His father had every idea about why Shaw had kept Robin a secret, save one. “Um, she and I aren’t officially mated yet.”
“Why is that, son?” his father sounded completely perplexed.
“Well, because she has yet to accept my proposal.” Shaw put his hand on his forehead, rubbing his head and wishing he could rub the worry away. His father would be livid when he found out.
“Accept your proposal?” he asked. “But that’s not necessary. When an alpha male as yourself scents a female wolf-shifter, then there’s no need for something as traditional as a proposal. Nature takes its course. That’s always how things have worked in our world, son.”
Shaw had no idea how to say what he knew he had to say. “Dad, Robin, is the one I want to mate, and she’s a human.”
Silence is all that met his ear as he waited for the explosion to occur. When none did, he grew even more worried than he had been.
Only calm words came from his father as he said, “Shaw, I understand you think you’ve found a mate in this human. But you have yet to meet Enya. She’s a shifter with a wealth of knowledge. She’s a doctor and has a mind like a steel trap.”
“Then why hasn’t some male picked her up if she’s so great, Dad?” Shaw asked, because if this female was so utterly awesome, why was she still alone?
“Perhaps the right male hasn’t scented her. As a doctor, she’s spent most of her time with humans. She hasn’t been around many wolf-shifters in her lifetime. You should really give her a chance, Shaw. You two could be a very powerful couple. And your kids would all be made up of only the best DNA and genes our kind have available. Keeping your bloodline pure is important. One can never be certain when adding human DNA to our DNA. You know that, Shaw,” his father implored him. “You’ve seen the offspring of humans and shifters, some are good, some are okay, and some are off the charts messed up.”
Shaw knew what his father said was nothing but the truth. He’d seen it with his own two eyes. A couple he knew well had a host of offspring with major problems. The oldest had such an unstable system that the poor thing had no control over its wolf. He had to be kept at home, never able to go out into the world.
Sure the male wolf-shifter wasn’t an alpha, and that may have been why they had so many problems, but Shaw and his family still had doubts. He had to admit it to himself, it may be a huge mistake taking Robin as a mate. But he and his wolf wanted no one else.
“If our firstborn comes out with major problems, then we won’t have anymore,” Shaw told his father. “This female has my heart, as well as my wolf’s. You don’t understand, Dad. I love her. I adore her.”
“Love can fade, son. And if you have a life full of problems, love can fade far faster. And you would be stuck in that relationship, Shaw. Think long and hard about this before you try to change that girl. Who knows, she might not even survive the process.”
Knowing what his father said was true, Shaw had no choice but to, at the very least, meet this she-wolf. And when his doorbell rang, he was fairly certain the wolf was at his door. “I’ll take all you’ve said into consideration, Dad. I promise you that. She’s here. I can smell her.”
“And do you like what you smell, son?”
“I don’t hate it,” Shaw admitted. “I’ll talk to you later, Dad.”
Shaw made his way to the door, all the while wondering what would happen if he opened that door and found the female to his liking.
When he pulled the door open, his eyes landed on a tall, slender redhead. “My father, Jake Stone, sent me to meet you.” She extended her hand and Shaw took it in his. “Enya Stone, Shaw Lykan.”
His eyes leveled on hers as he said, “Come in, we should get this started.”
Chapter 24
Instead of going back to Shaw’s the way she’d planned to, Robin went to her apartment. She had busied herself with doing laundry and cleaning house to get her mind off what Shaw was doing.
Knowing that a stunning she-wolf had gone to offer herself to Shaw had Robin’s guts in knots. She knew things made more sense for two wolf-shifters to mate.
Robin fell on the sofa before spraying the coffee table with furniture polish. She covered her eyes with her arm and tried not to cry.
Having never been in love before, Robin had no idea how long it would take for her to get over Shaw if he took the sexy female as his mate. The way her heart and entire body ached told her it might take a very long time. Maybe even her entire life to get over the man.
She chastised herself for being afraid and waiting what may have been too long to become his mate. And as she lay there, trying her best not to lose faith in the man who claimed to love her with everything he had in him, she thought about what her biggest fear was.
It’s losing Shaw.
She sat up and realized that one fear overrode all the others. And now that it was set in her brain that she now knew what her biggest fear was, she knew she had to let Shaw know she wanted to become his mate and she’d do it right away.
Pulling her cell out of her pocket, she looked at the phone. Was it fair of her to do that to Shaw?
He had a gorgeous shifter right there in front of him, and she knew it. He had a female that was just like him who was ready to give herself to him. And he knew she didn’t risk death to become his mate, the way Robin did.
Would Shaw think the risk of Robin dying might not be worth it? Especially since he had another, even better female, who wanted to become his?
Robin didn’t know what to do.
She called her oldest sister, instead of Shaw. “Merry Christmas, Robin,” Wren answered her call.
“Yeah, Merry Christmas, sis,” Robin sounded lackluster at best.
“Wow,” her sister commented on her lack of Christmas spirit. “So what has you so down, baby sis? You should be on cloud nine since you and the mysterious wealthy man got back together. What gives?”
At that moment, when she realized she couldn’t possibly tell her sister much of the truth, she regretted making the call. “I don’t know how to explain it.”
“Just begin wherever you want to.” Her oldest sister always had been the easiest person to talk to. “The trick is to get started. Is this about your guy?”
“Yeah,” Robin uttered the one syllable.
“Is everything less than perfect?” she asked.
Robin could only muster the one word again, “Yeah.”
Wren sighed. “Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. What is making things less than perfect?”
“I should’ve married him when he asked me to,” Robin blurted out.
“He’s already asked you to marry him?” her sister asked in surprise. “You two haven’t known one another for even a month. Now I’m beginning to see why you broke up in the first place. He’s trying to move you way too fast.”
Robin pondered what to say next since she couldn’t tell her sister that the rush had everything to do with the full moon that was only days away. “No, he’s not. I want to get married too. But I’ve been afraid to. You know, the traditional fear of commitment.” She couldn’t admit the fear of death or the pain of transforming into a wolf were her real fears. “But I’ve found an even bigger fear that I have and that’s losing Shaw.”
“So we have a name for this mysterious man.” Wren was pretty proud of herself for getting more information out of her baby sister than anyone else had. “Wanna toss me his last name too?”
Robin felt like she was keeping so much from her family, they should at least know the man’s name. “Shaw Lykan is his name. He owns Luna Enterprises. Don’t bother searching him. I mean, you can, you’ll find out about his business ventures, but you won’t see one single photo of him.”
Wren doubted that and searched him anyway as she went on, “Now, why would you be afraid of losing this man? If this super-rich man has asked you to marry him, why would you lose him?”
“Well, you see there’s this woman who was sent to introduce herself to him by one of his fat
her’s friends.” Robin nibbled on her pinky nail as her stomach bubbled. Picturing the beautiful woman made her feel sick.
“Well, what’s wrong with that? If he loves you the way he says he does, then you have nothing to worry about, right?” her sister asked, sincerely. “Is the reason she was sent because you guys have left his family out of your relationship even more so than you’ve left us out of it?”
“I didn’t think about that until today, but yeah, I guess Shaw hasn’t told any of them about us,” Robin said as she leaned back against the soft couch cushions. Her stomach was really rolling, and she wondered how long she’d make it until she was forced to go throw up.
“Okay, so no one knew, and his dad sent a woman that he thought would be compatible with him. Still, why are you worried at all if you know he loves you?”
“Because she’s in his league and I’m not,” it was the simplest way Robin could think of to explain their unique situation.
“So what’s so great about this chick?” her sister asked.
“Well, for starters she’s absolutely drop-dead gorgeous,” Robin began.
“Hold it right there, baby sis,” Wren interrupted. “You are gorgeous too. Out of all of us sisters, you’re by far the prettiest. So don’t go throwing yourself out of the running just because you have some silly insecurities.”
“Okay,” Robin conceded, though she knew the she-wolf was so above her it wasn’t even funny. “Then we have the fact that she’s a doctor. Now you’ve got to admit that’s impressive. Especially when I’m just a lowly dog trainer.”
Incensed that her baby sister was so down on herself, Wren got a little loud as she said, “Now, look here, sis. You aren’t a lowly dog trainer. This is your passion, and you’ve worked hard to make things happen for you. Just so you know, we’re all very proud of you. And you did say that this guy wanted to go into business with you, making a guard dog training thingy, right?”
“Yes,” Robin agreed. “But the difference between a dog trainer, any kind of one, even the Chief Operating Officer of a dog training business, can’t come close to comparing to being a doctor. A person who saves lives!”
Her sister had heard enough. “Bottom line, if this man loves you, the way he’s told you he does, then he will let this woman know he’s in love already and will send her on her way. By the way, how do you know about all of this? Did he tell you about it?”
“No, I actually met the woman in the park when I was training some German shepherds earlier this afternoon,” Robin told her. “She liked the dogs and came over to pet them. She’s very nice, and the dogs liked her. She told me how her dad had sent her because she’d been melancholy and had closed down her practice. It sounds like she’s burned out to me. Her father thinks she needs a good man in her life.”
“Well, your man isn’t free, right?” her sister asked.
“No, but then again, he is since I won’t marry him.” Robin felt the sharp stab of pain in her heart as she knew she’d messed around too long and lost Shaw.
“He’s not free, Robin. Not if he really loves you, he’s not. You see, love has a hold over a person. Once you fall, you’re not free anymore. Not even one part of you is free. The person who holds your heart is the only one who can set that person free. As long as you let your man know, you’re holding his heart, and you plan to keep his love for yourself, then he’ll never be free.”
“You don’t think that’s a little selfish to do to a person?’” Robin asked her sister.
“Not one bit. Sometimes a person has to be selfish.” Wren came up with an idea to help her sister understand her better. “Let’s say you have this puppy and you love this puppy, like he goes everywhere with you, and you two sleep together, and you can’t imagine your life without him.”
“Okay,” Robin said as she listened. “I got ya.”
“Okay, so you have this pup, and someone comes along. Let’s say this someone is an astronaut. A person who’s going places, you know what I mean? And that astronaut sees you and your pup, and he tells you he’d love to have that pup. He’d take that dog to outer space. Your puppy would see things he’d never see if you kept him with you.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to lose my dog just so he can go to outer space. I can make a great life for him right here. Who cares about going to outer space anyway?” Robin asked.
“Yeah, who does care about it?” her sister asked. “Especially when you have a great person right here who loves you and takes great care of you!”
“Oh, I get it.” Robin found a tear had fallen, and she wiped it away. “If Shaw is truly happy with me, he’ll send the good doctor on her way.”
“That’s right.”
Robin sighed then ended the call. “I’ve got to go. Thanks, big sis. You really are the very best.”
“You’re welcome. Bye. I love you.”
Robin told Wren she loved her too before hanging up and feeling a little hopeful.
Shaw would come to her if he loved her. She wouldn’t push him. She wouldn’t do anything. She’d wait and see if his love was true. And if it wasn’t then she really never lost anything at all.
Chapter 25
When Robin didn’t show up, Shaw knew better than just to call her. Enya had told him about meeting her in the park. She told him how she’d smelled an alpha wolf-shifter on the girl and couldn’t help being curious about the human female.
She’d also told Shaw how she’d let Robin know it was him she came for. He knew why Robin had stayed away. She didn’t have faith in his love for her. And that made Shaw very sad.
He’d tried so damn hard to show her in every way he could how he felt about her. And yet, she stayed away, allowing the other female to make her move.
Robin hadn’t done a thing the way any other female of his kind would have done. Robin didn’t fight for him in any way. She let Enya go, without saying so much as one word about her love for him.
To say Shaw was disappointed was a vast understatement.
It was dark when he got to her apartment. He’d given Robin ample time to come to him. He wasn’t going to leave things the way they were. He had something to tell her.
When he knocked on her door, he heard her sniffling before she came to it. He could smell her tears through the door and hated that she had cried over him.
“Who is it?” she asked.
“Shaw,” he said in a quiet voice. “We need to talk.”
On the other side of that door, Robin leaned her forehead against it. ‘We need to talk’ didn’t sound like good words to her. But she unlocked the door and let him in, steadying herself to face what he had to say.
She kept reminding herself that if he picked Enya over her, then he was never hers anyway. But it did nothing to help ease her pain.
Robin couldn’t bring herself to look at the man she loved so desperately as she opened the door, then walked away. Shaw followed her in, not saying a word.
He watched her take a seat, not looking at him and wondered how in the world she could do this. “Robin, why won’t you look at me?”
She mumbled something that was incoherent, and he frowned. After all he’d done, this is what she thought of him?
He went to her, towering over her. “I have to tell you, you’re disappointing me on so many levels, Robin.”
“Don’t, Shaw. Please don’t tell me that I’m not up to your standards and that’s why you’re doing what you’re doing.” Robin felt the sobs welling up in her chest and put her hands over her face.
Shaw got on his knees in front of her, his heart aching more than his disappointment resonated inside of him. He took her wrists, pulling her hands from her face. “Baby, look at me. Why in the world are you crying?”
Robin was breaking down. She couldn’t lose him. She just couldn’t. She jerked her head up and looked him right in the eyes. “I want you. I love you. I know you two make more sense, but dammit, Shaw! You are mine, and I am yours. I know she could so easily kill me, but I’d gladly
die rather than lose you to her.”
Shaw smiled. “There’s my girl.” He pulled her up to him and held her tight as he whispered in her ear. “I am yours. You should’ve had more faith in my love for you than that. I explained everything to Enya, and she left, giving us her congratulations. If you ever let me change you, that is.”
Robin’s tears dried up, her crying halted. “You did?” she asked in shock.
“Of course I did. Baby, you hold my heart in the palm of your hands. You have since I first took in your sweet scent. Only you can give my heart away. Well, at least up until you let me bite you and make you into what I am, so we can be mated. After that, we’re stuck with one another. It’s a commitment that surpasses any marriage.” He put his hand in his pocket, pulling out the ring he’d bought for her. “But since we live in a human world, I’d like you to wear this wedding ring. It’ll signify to others that you’re married.”
Robin gulped at the size of the diamond and how beautiful it was. “Shaw!”
“So, will you accept my proposal and let me change you at the stroke of midnight?” He held the ring between his thumb and forefinger, wiggling it like bait. “I’ll give this to you if you say yes, baby.”
Robin ran her hands over his bearded cheeks. “I’d say yes even if you had no ring to give me, Shaw Lykan.”
His eyes lit up. “So, you’re saying yes then?” he had to ask, just to be sure.
Robin nodded. “Yes. I want you to turn me into what you are, and I want to be your mate forever.”
Shaw took her hand and slid the ring on her finger then kissed it. “You’ve made me the happiest creature there ever was or ever will be, Robin Winters.”
Daddy Plus One: A Single Dad Secret Baby Billionaire Romance Page 68