Samantha

There. I said it all. For the first time ever, I found the courage to speak of what Bruce had done to me. And I opened up to another dominant, controlling male, of all people. In a restaurant, of all places.

I hoped that it would be worth it. That Sebastian would let me leave this town now that he knew I couldn't trust a male – let alone three – to not break my heart or spirit or both. The happiness I had felt in Eric's and Dean's company, the fact that I secretly enjoyed butting heads with Sebastian – it didn't matter because it wouldn't last. It couldn't.

With Collin, I had learned not to believe in fairy tales. With Bruce, I had seen how wrong my inner animal's instincts could be. And I didn't need past experiences to know three shifters could not peacefully share one female; this was not some reverse harem romance with a HEA that humans were so fond of these days, this was real life.

"What your story has shown me, darlin'," Sebastian said, "is that you went from adapting to a shitty situation and forcing yourself to endure it, to constantly being on the run. Staying on the move by yourself was the best option, now it's time to stop running. Because–"

"Because you're my fated mates." I threw my hands up. I should have known he wouldn't understand.

"That. And also because Dean and I are not Bruce."

"Eric can't be since he's and Omega, but how the hell should I know you and Dean–"

"You know, Samantha. You feel it with your very soul."

"Didn't you hear how my tigress misled me?"

"She misled you once. You ignored her in Collin's case and she turned out to be right, didn't she?" My glare didn't stop him from continuing. "In our case, it's both parts of your soul that are telling you to trust us, am I wrong?"

He wasn't. Darn it.

"I understand now why you are so weary," he said more softly. "You have every right to be. After what you have survived, giving another male a chance must look like a big risk. But, darlin', doesn't running from your fated mates - Mother Nature's greatest gift to you - carry an even bigger risk?"

I shook my head. "If I leave now, no hearts will be broken, can't you see? At the moment it's just the mating instinct driving us closer, there is no love involved. Parting ways immediately is the best for everyone involved."

"More like the best for a scared little rabbit." He moved his untouched plates with food aside and leaned on the table, thus reducing the space between us. "Not for a female who needs and deserves to be loved and protected unconditionally. And what of us? Left behind, never to be loved ourselves? Never to have cubs?"

"Stop it," I hissed.

"Why? Because you know I'm right?"

"You can start a family with any female, not just your fated mate!"

"Not after I've met my fated mate I can't. You know how the process works, Samantha, we've all studied the lore and you mentioned it yourself earlier. Once you meet the one, there can be no one else for you. Any preexisting relationship is over, any future relationship with another is unthinkable. You leaving would doom all of us to misery."

I wanted to shout that if anyone was to blame, it was him. If only he hadn't come after me, Dean following his lead, after I had left that diner's parking lot... We had spent what – three seconds? – in each other's company at the diner's entrance, for crying out loud. There would have been no misery afterwards.

But saying that wouldn't change Sebastian's mind about us. There was only one thing left to say that could prove to him happiness wasn't in the cards for him and Dean if I stuck around.

"I can't give you cubs, Sebastian. I'm barren."

He huffed. He huffed! "Just because the piece of wolf shit couldn't get you pregnant doesn't mean anything. You know that matings between different shifter kinds are less likely to produce offspring."

Agh, would he stop having a counter-argument for everything I told him? Saying these things out loud was difficult for me as it was. "I've seen a doctor, Sebastian. He confirmed it."

"A human doctor?" When I hesitated, he huffed once more. "They know shit about shifter procreation. Otherwise we wouldn't be dying out now. What we do know from shifter history is that fated mates are blessed with many cubs."

"Darn it, Sebastian, why can't you just accept that I can't give you the family you clearly want?"

"Because I didn't know I craved one until I met you!"

I... didn't know what to say to that.

"But that doesn't mean I want you for your womb, Samantha. I am not Bruce." His hands balled into fists at the mention of that name, the cuts in his palm forgotten. "Neither is Dean. If we are not blessed with cubs of our own one day, we can rely on our pride members' cubs to keep our hands full. There's just three-year-old Milly for now but it won't stay that way for long, and finding volunteers for cubsitting duty is hard as it is."

"The pride–"

"You can meet them as early as tomorrow, to see for yourself we're not your birth pride or a hierarchy-based pack. They have been pestering me with texts all day asking about you."

Meaning he had told the pride about me already. Great. Just great.

"Any more weak excuses why you can't be ours, darlin'?"

My tigress shook her tail in my mind for a pleased no. She had had enough of our useless talking and thought it was time to get straight to the mating.

I clenched my teeth. It was clear there would be no running for me anymore. Not while Sebastian was calling the shots. A smart move or not, I had to take the risk of staying with a pride and giving a four-way relationship a try.

But that didn't mean I was going to go easy on Mr. Insufferable.

"Why bother with more arguments?" I snapped at him. "The General will dismiss them all. And when talking isn't enough to convince me, the sasquatch will just drag me back to his cave."

He relaxed back in his chair, the corners of his lips curving upwards.

The fact that Sebastian with a smile on made my girlie bits tingle, would not soften me up. Nope.

"Why do I have the feeling you like that idea, Samantha?"

The waitress came to our table just as I was giving him the stink eye.

"Everything all right?... Bas, what happened?"

"I'm sorry about the cup and the tablecloth, Jin-soo. Add it to my tab along with the food. Could you, please, put all of our sushi in a box? We'll be having takeout, after all."

"No problem, Bas. I'll be right back with everything packed."

I raised a brow at him once Jin-soo left with the plates. He had guessed right that I had lost my appetite, but he had to be starving. He would wait until we got home because of me?

Wait. "Wasn't the plan not to have dinner at home?"

Sebastian's slight smile returned. "Who said anything about eating the food at home? Though if you wish to return to my cave, it can be arranged."

I leveled my gaze on him. "Try to drag me to your bedroom and I will claw your eyes out. I'll also scream bloody murder so that the clients would call the cops on you. See if you like being treated like a criminal."

His smile grew. "All the clients are shifters who know me, and so do Kim's family. They know I stand up for females, not violate their rights. Besides, anyone with a sensitive nose would be able to tell how excited my fated mate is by my plans for her."

"Ha! You wish."

"But you should know that contrary to what you believe, dragging females to my cave is not how I operate."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "No?"

"No". At this point, his smile morphed into his special grin. "I don't drag... I carry."

Then he was next to my chair and picking me up. And throwing me over his shoulder.

I sputtered. "How dare you! Put me down right this instant!"

"Easy now." He headed for the stairs, an arm around my waist to prevent me from bouncing on his shoulder. "Enjoy the free ride."

"Enjoy this!" I reached down and slapped his butt.

My hand hurt as if I had hit a wall, that's how muscular his buns were, but I prepared for another slap anyway.

He slapped me right back, much more gently than I had him.

"You... You did not just...!"

"Gender equality, Samantha, a human idea. You spank me, you get spanked back."

I paused my flattened palm mid-air. I should rake my claws down his back instead, that would teach him a lesson!...

I did nothing as he carried me down the stairs. Let's face it: I couldn't bear to see him hurt, not even by a broken tea cup. And it was just as he had said: on some soul-deep level I knew I was safe with him. Wherever he was taking me, albeit like a caveman, I trusted him.

Downstairs, the clients not only didn't call the police but hooted at us and wished us a memorable night.

"That's the plan," Sebastian called back, took the bag with the food Jin-soo was handing him with an amused smile on her face, and exited the restaurant.

"You good up there, darlin'?" he asked on the way to the car.

"You should be thankful I haven't eaten a thing."

He patted my hip. "You, too. Because what we're going to do next... There will be lots of bumping involved."