Free The Lion's Pride (BBW Paranormal Lion Shifter Romance) (The True Date Agency) by Terra Wolf, Olivia Arran Page A

attack. But she had just laughed sleepily, her face relaxing into a contented smile.
    She was so beautiful it made my heart hurt. The curve of her cheek when she found something amusing, the small frown lines that gathered at the bridge of her nose when she disagreed with me, the faraway look she got in her eyes when she was lost in thought. The way she had brought our son into the world, full of determination and love and courage. My heart hurt just looking at her, so why hold back?
    I was going to tell her the truth, and hope and pray that she loved me back. Like ripping off a band-aid—just say it. Put it out there. Lara, you are my true mate and I love you.
    “What are you thinking about, all serious and brooding? Have I ever told you that? You brood a lot, but it looks good on you, all sexy and mysterious.” She squinted at me, then her eyes flickered shut again.
    Maybe I should wait for the drugs to wear off. She hadn’t had much, but apparently she had a low threshold when it came to narcotics. Yeah, that was probably a good idea.
    Gently scooping Xander out of her arms, I walked over to the window, cradling him against my chest. I kept my voice to a low murmur, so I didn’t wake his mother. “Your momma needs her sleep, little one, so you and me are going to get to know each other. I’m your dad, and I’m always going to be around, you can count on it. I’ll never leave you like my folks did to me. Do you know why? Because I love you, just like I love your momma—”
    A quiet gasp sounded from behind me. “You love me? But you can’t!”
    I turned slowly, meeting her wide brown eyes with my own. Just say it! “You’re my true mate, Lara. I will always love you, whether you want me to or not. I do. I will.” It wasn’t the best proclamation of love, I was sure, but I was trying.
    Xander chose that moment to let out a high pitched wail, his little face turning red with frustration as he wriggled in my arms.
----
Lara
    I accepted my son from Zane and settled him to feed, my mind churning and swirling in shock. He loved me! I hadn’t seen it coming, had closed myself off to the possibility on purpose. Because I wasn’t his true mate. Which turned out not to be true. “Why didn’t you say anything? You let me think—”
    He grabbed my hand, settling himself cautiously on the edge of the bed. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t think, and I should have. I thought you knew. It took Gretchen telling me I was an idiot for me to realize.”
    “That you were an idiot?”
    “Yeah, a complete idiot. Forgive me?”
    I considered him carefully. He didn’t seem to be playing with me or stringing me along but— “So, I’m your true mate?”
    He nodded, his thumb stroking over the palm of my hand in a lazy swirl.
    “And you didn’t tell me because?”
    He glanced away, seeming to steel himself. “I grew up in a foster home. My parents abandoned me when I was two or three years old. I’m not sure, I was too young to remember. Kathy, my foster mom, found me after I had been on my own for a few years, living out of trash cans or hunting in the wild. She took me in, gave me a home with some other kids that were like me. I’ve always had a problem…connecting with others. Of letting people get too close. I find it hard—” His head dropped as his eyes squeezed shut. Tension hummed through him, and I could see he was skating the edge of pulling back.
    Pain tore through me at the thought of him abandoned and alone, barely old enough to talk yet forced to fend for himself. My eyes burned, tears threatening to spill. I forced the words out—if he was willing to share his horror, then I could share mine. “My ex-husband used me. He married me for the money I had, used it to make his fortune, then threw me out when I couldn’t get pregnant. He spent every day making my life miserable. He wasn’t abusive in the violent sense, it was more little digs and put downs, telling me I was fat, commenting about how I looked,