When we get to my car, | lean against it pulling her against me. I’m sure she can feel my arousal from our time in my bedroom.


    My dick is pressed against her stomach. No hiding that.


    | pull her hands up, wrapping them around my neck before moving my hands to her hips, holding her against me.


    “| want you to be my girlfriend.” | tell her.


    “What?”


    “You and me. | want us to be together. | want everyone to know that you’re mine.”


    “| don''t...”


    | cut her off. “I know you''re waiting for your mate. And | won’t push you past any limits that you have. But, for the next seven


    weeks, | want us to be exclusive. You don’t see anyone else, and | won''t see anyone else. It’s just you and me. We''re together. |


    get to take you on dates. We hold hands in school. | can kiss you in public. The whole nine yards.”


    | know her stance on waiting for her mate, she just doesn’t know she’s waiting for me. That''s okay. We can both wait, but | need


    be able to spend time with her. Kai needs to be close to her. I''ll find little ways to make sure that we have time together every


    day.


    “Can | think about it?” She asks me.


    “Of course. But I''ll say it now. | want you. You, Cara Nelson, the woman; not Cara Nelson, the Guardian. | want the mind, body


    and soul, not just the fierce protector that you are.”


    “Okay.” She says quietly.


    “Okay. I''ll pick you up for school tomorrow?” | ask, hoping to start my day with my girl.


    When she nods yes, | give her a tender kiss. | make a mental note to adjust any conflicts to being able to pick her up and drop


    her off daily, because I''ll be driving her the rest of the school year.


    “Goodnight love. Sleep well.”


    | watch her wave to me as | pull away. | head back to the pack house. I’m in


    desperate need of a release and a cold shower.


    Anders


    When Cara walks back inside, and says goodnight, | watch as she climbs the stairs headed to her room.


    “What''s on your mind Anders? Are you concerned about the two of them together?” My oldest and dearest friend asks me.


    Tonight had been a wonderful walk down memoryne. Seeing our pups going through the same life experiences we have been


    through just brought it all back. | haven’t seen Clintugh as much as he did tonight since, well, not since Lily''s death. It felt really


    good to have my friend back.


    “Not concerned in the way that you are thinking Clint.”


    “Concerned in what way?”


    I turn to my friend. “I can’t imagine what it will feel like for Rik to have a Guardian that is also his mate. My bond to you is so


    strong, and I’ve hated every battle we were ever in, knowing that you would give your life for me. But, at least, | didn’t have the


    same bond to you that | have with Cali. I’m not sure | would have been able to handle it if Cali had been a Guardian. My need to


    protect her is overwhelming sometimes.” a


    Clint looks up to where his daughter is moving around in her room. “It’s not something we can choose Anders. It’s in our gic


    code, our being, our soul. The pull to protect our Alpha is impossible to ovee.”Copyright N?v/el/Dra/ma.Org.


    “| understand that. It’s the same with being an Alpha. It’s in my genes to protect my pack members. All my pack members.” | turn


    to look at Clint. “That always included you as well.”


    | look back up to where Cara’s light has switched off and the sounds of her moving around her room have quieted. “I just wonder


    how the two of them will find themon ground they need as mates. If they don’t, they may just kill each other trying to save


    each other.”