Arriving at the security shack, he nodded at Gabe and asked, “Has she given you any trouble?”

“No, she politely asked for you,” said Gabe. “When I said you’d be down shortly, she didn’t complain that I wouldn’t let her through, but she didn’t look happy about it.”

Crossing to the wrought iron gates, Dominic opened one just enough to slip through and then stalked to the driver’s side of the Volvo. His wolf snapped his teeth as Rosemary lowered her window, her smile both shy and uncertain.

With her sleek blonde hair, hourglass figure, and gorgeous long legs, she’d easily caught Dominic’s eye. He’d made it clear when they met that he wasn’t looking for anything other than a one-night stand, and she’d been fine with it. Or, at least, she’d seemed fine with it. Dominic was learning that Rosemary was very good at acting.

“Hi.” She glanced at the gate. “Can we talk? Please?”

She was high if she thought he’d ever permit her on his territory. He planted his feet and folded his arms. “You have two minutes, so make them count.”

She winced. “I can see that you’re upset. I’m sorry if my father—”

“This isn’t about your father. This is about you. You lied to him. You spun him a tale about us being in a relationship.”

“I didn’t tell him it was a one-night stand for two reasons. One, he would have been disappointed in me. Two, he might have tried to twist it into you using me. He can be vindictive at times, and I didn’t want him causing problems for your pack.”

“Why was I even a topic of conversation between you two?”

“I mentioned to him that I thought mating a shifter could be what my wolf and I need. He agreed with me, and he asked if I knew any shifters. I told him about you, but I didn’t think he’d go to you and make that offer. I swear, I didn’t.”

She could “swear” all she wanted—Dominic wasn’t buying it. He cocked his head. “You really think you have an animal inside you?”

“I know I do, Dominic.” Rosemary put a fist to her chest. “I feel her. She’s sleeping, but she’s there. If I mated another shifter, if she had a mate of her own, I think she’d wake for him and his animal.”

Dominic shook his head, sure to the bone that she was wrong. Maybe it was a fantasy she’d concocted as a child because it comforted her, just as a kid might invent an imaginary friend. But it was pretty fucking warped that Rosemary hadn’t let that fantasy go. “Like I told your father, if you had an animal inside you, I’d sense her. My wolf would sense her. There’s nothing there, Rosemary. I’m sorry, but it’s the truth.”

Her eyes hardened. “Like I said, she’s sleeping.”

“I’d still sense her.”

“You’re wrong.” Rosemary’s hands clenched so tightly around the steering wheel that her knuckles went white. “All I need is to mate with a shifter. She’ll surface to be with his animal. She will.” The feverish glint in her eyes told him there’d be no convincing her to even consider that she could be mistaken.

He backed up a few steps. “If you want to believe that, fine, but keep me out of it.”

“Dominic, wait. Look, I know you don’t want to be mated—”

Bristling, he stilled. “You don’t know anything about what I want.”

She scoffed. “Come on, Dominic, you go through women like they’re a dying breed. People are often judged for wanting to be single, but if that makes them happy, it should be fine.”

It was an argument that he himself had made many times to others who’d criticized his lifestyle. And yet, when he heard it from Rosemary, it sounded weak.

“If you want to be forever single, that’s your choice. But surely you want kids, Dominic. Surely you want a child you can love and teach and share your wolf with. Surely he wants it.”

It really wasn’t until Rosemary put the idea in his head that Dominic realized how much he did want kids. He’d never thought about it before, mostly because he was all about the “now” and wasn’t someone who thought too much about what the future held.

“I can give you exactly what you want—you can have a child without being in a relationship. If you mate with me, we can end it as soon as I’m pregnant. You can resume living a single life, if that’s what you want. This would work for both of us, Dominic.”

His wolf jerked back at the thought of having anything more to do with this female, let alone having a pup with her. “I don’t know what you think you know about mating bonds, but I’m guessing you’re as ignorant as your father. The bonds don’t form just because you want them to.”

“But I—”

“There have to be emotions like respect and trust between the pair. There can’t be secrets, fears, or barriers. You have to be completely bare to the other person. And you sure as shit can’t just walk away from a bond if it does form.” Not without grave consequences that could ruin several lives. “So no, this won’t work for either of us.”

Her lips thinned. “We might not love each other now, but that doesn’t mean we can’t feel that way. We just need to take the time to get to know—”

“What we need is to go our separate ways.” Done wasting his time on this shit, Dominic turned his back on her and headed for the gate. “There are other shifters, Rosemary. Talk to them, make your offer to them.” They’d tell her the same thing, and then maybe she’d realize she was pissing in the wind.

“You don’t want to walk away from me, Dominic.”

Slipping through the gate, he glanced back at her. “Oh?”

She licked her lips. “I didn’t want to tell you this because I was worried you’d freak out. When I’m around you, I swear I feel my wolf starting to stir. Not awaken, exactly. But . . . it’s like you disturb her sleep. As if you make that sleep lighter. It could be that we’re true mates.”

His gaze flicked upward, and he almost laughed at the sheer ridiculousness of that statement. “Go home, Rosemary.”

“You know it, too, Dominic. I know you do—you gave off all the signals of a male who’s found his mate,” she said, her words coming sharp and fast. “You may not want a mating bond, but what about your wolf? Wouldn’t he like the gift of finding his mate? Don’t you see, Dominic? We could all get what we want out of this. It’s the perfect solution!”

Locking the gate, Dominic firmly stated, “We’re not true mates, Rosemary.”

“But my wolf—”

“Doesn’t exist. Even if she did, it doesn’t change that this situation will not work for me. Like I said to you earlier, you don’t know a damn thing about what I want. You just think you do.” With that, he stalked off.

“It doesn’t surprise me that you’d walk away from this!” she yelled. “It just proves I was right, that you don’t want attachments!”

Ignoring her, Dominic spoke to Gabe. “If she comes back, send her away.”

Gabe nodded. “Got it.”

Hoping to walk off his anger in the woods, Dominic didn’t hurry back to the caves. “Signals,” she’d said. He hadn’t given her any fucking signals. He hadn’t led her on by word or deed. Hadn’t done anything that would give her the false impression that he was looking for something serious.