Aztec Treasure Ch. 41-50

"I'm not sure," he said honestly. "I know we are friends, and I know she trusts me." He thought for a moment. "I guess it's like being around a drunk girl. I don't know how much of this weekend was real and how much was the heat talking."

"She's not your mate, Lance."

"I know that, and so does my wolf, but that doesn't mean we haven't developed some level of a bond. I don't think I could have knotted her without my wolf having that."

My eyes got a little wide; the wolf controlled the knot, and it wasn't normal for that to come out unless the other person was your mate. It was a gift of the Goddess to increase the chance of pupping our mate, not to sex up humans. "You tied to her?"

"Every time," he said. "Most of our sex was in our animal forms. Maria thinks the knot might have functioned like the barbed penis on a male cat. She liked it a lot more than that ribbed dildo; I'll tell you that."

I sent only to Rori. "Is it possible they are mates, but it's different between them?"

"I have no idea. We should watch closely, especially if Maria picks Lance for later heats."

"I could send him away as we did with Greg."

"No, he's not pursued her, he's done nothing wrong, and I don't want her to think we see anything wrong with them being friends. You should talk to your brother about how his wolf recognized Heather as his mate. Maybe this is similar?"

"What I don't know could fill a book." I let out a sigh. "We don't mess with mates. I guess we let it ride and see what happens?" Rori nodded, and I looked back to Lance. "We're going to talk to Maria about the weekend as well. You haven't done anything wrong; it's just that we're in uncharted territory here. We need to learn all we can so Maria and eventually Maritza can have a family."

"I understand, Alphas. I'll stay away from Maria, so it doesn't feel weird."

"No," I said. "Maria's heat is a natural part of her life, and you helped her through that. Don't be weird about it, but don't expect her to have sex with you outside the heat. It's all right to be her friend."

He thought about it and nodded. "Am I still Maria's bodyguard?"

"She doesn't need one full-time now that she's settled in and the Pack knows her. I don't want her outside without at least one guard, four when she leaves our territory. I'll let the Pack know. If you happen to be the one, that's fine." He smiled and looked back towards the door. "We're done here. Get something to eat, take your ice bath, and get to bed."

"Yes, Alphas."

I handed him loose-fitting shorts and a T-shirt for his walk back to the Pack House. When he was gone, I reached down and scratched Rori's ears. "I hope we're doing the right thing here. I don't want another situation like with Greg Barks."

Rori growled as I opened the door for her. "At least we don't have to worry about Maria's mate showing up out of nowhere to find her pregnant with another man's child."

"Let's go see how Maria is doing."