You’re my woman, my mate and you’ll be my wife.”

Tegan smiled and kissed him. “I love you. Now go in and talk this out. You’re going to have to tell them about me now, you know that.”

He handed her the keys. “I know. That’s going to be really fun.” He laughed without mirth. “Take the car. I’ll get a ride from Jillian when I’m done here. Go home and I’ll be there in a bit.”

After he’d watched her drive away and had cooled off some, Ben went back inside the house.

He held a hand up and sat at the table. “Don’t. I’m serious about this. That woman means everything to me and I won’t have her here if you all can’t respect that. She’s done nothing to you and I’m so angry right now, so ashamed I don’t know how to put it other than that.”

“Who is this girl, Benjamin? She’s hiding something and you can’t expect us to just accept that,” his mother said.

“In the first place, what matters is that I know everything there is to know about Tegan. Your knowing and accepting whatever there is about her is not relevant, Mom.

Now, I love you and she knows that. She came here tonight understanding you’d be wary because this is all sudden. But the way you acted means unless this gets resolved, I won’t be spending much time around here. I’m marrying her in a week.”

Chaos broke out as his mother shot up and began to pace, reeling off curses, half Spanish, half Italian. Wait until he told them the next part, she might even break out the Magyar.

“Wow.” Jillian sat back in her chair. “Okay. What can I do? Do you need help planning? Do you have a caterer?”

He laughed. His sister always was fabulous. “Tegan’s sisters are doing some of it.

I’ll have them get in contact with you. You’ll like them. Especially Nina. Thank you, Jillian, it means a lot to me.”

She blew him a kiss. “Congratulations, I mean that. I’m happy for you. You’ve been alone a long time. She’s gorgeous and clearly she can handle herself which means she won’t let you push her around. Now, you want to tell us the backstory? What does she do? How did you meet?”

“She’s a bodyguard. I met her at a nightclub but when we were having coffee we realized we had people in common. Her brothers. Her family is very well connected in her world.” He looked at his mother to drive that home. Tegan after his money indeed!

Holy cow, she had millions?

“A bodyguard? She doesn’t look like a bodyguard at all. For what? Why?” his father asked.

“For her brothers. And,” he took a deep breath and plunged ahead, “she’s a werewolf. Her family is the ruling family of the Cascadia Pack. That’s how I know her brothers. I’m the liaison between the human authorities and the Packs you know.

Anyway, the Wardens are very influential and trust me when I tell you Dad, she may not look it, but she’s a tough cookie. She can handle herself very well.”

Utter silence.

“Wow. Always tossing out the big ones, eh, Ben? Jeez, I guess I can do just about anything at this point. Join a biker gang, get a tat on my neck, get two boyfriends, can’t hold a candle to a werewolf.” Jillian laughed but his parents did not join her. His mother’s lips moved in what he knew all too well was a prayer for his salvation and his father’s mouth formed words but no sound came out.

“Ben, you…you can’t mean to do this! You brought that thing into my home without asking? Without telling us what it was? An animal!” The light in his mother’s eyes scared him nearly as much as hearing her say those things about Tegan hurt him.

“Let me make something very clear right now and please listen carefully because it’s very important. Tegan Warden is my woman. She’s the person I love and will spend my life with. She is not an animal or a thing. No one who wants me in their life will ever refer to her in such terms in my presence ever again. Moreover, she’s not just someone I love but she’s my mate. There exists between us, a metaphysical bond. Even if I could change that, I would not. She has made me a better person and filled my life with something I needed so badly I can’t quite talk about it right now without wanting to cry. I was alone. For a very, very long time. My life was empty. I sought out meaningless encounters with women who meant nothing to me because I was afraid if they did mean something to me, they’d do me like Sarah did. Tegan Warden knows me in a way no one else does. I love her and, thank God above, she loves me.” His hands shook with emotion and Jillian moved to sit next to him, putting her head on his shoulder.

“I’m glad for you, Ben. I support you. I promise. Are you going to convert?”

“He will do no such thing!” His father’s fist hit the table, knocking over several glasses of wine. “If this woman loves you, she would not ask it.”

“She hasn’t and I have no plans to do it. Not because I loathe what she is, but because I’m fine with what I am.”

His father nodded. “I’m glad to hear it. I don’t know what to say, son. I’ve just never imagined this situation. I like it very much that this Tegan makes you happy but I’ve never met a werewolf before much less had one in my family. I’d be shocked if you married a Protestant girl, this is way out of my league.”

“Did you drink after her? Eat after her? Oh my God, do we need to get treated?” His mother stopped her prayers and looked to him expectantly.