She eyed him. “Such secrecy.”
“Mundo probably blabbed about it a long time ago, but I’d prefer Mars to know what I’m telling you.”
“That’s because he doesn’t like me.”
Her assessment wasn’t wrong. Jarvis shifted in his seat. “You’re an acquired taste.”
She laughed at that. “Well, it’s as you say. I went out of my way to avoid most of you. And I probably did present the worst side of myself. It was easier that way.”
“Would have been easier to accept the Claiming,” he said on a low growl.
“For you, maybe. But I had things I wanted to do. And,” she said on a deep exhalation, “I’ll admit I had no idea you’d be so fluid when it came time to talk of cubs. I’ve never been all that maternal. That isn’t to say I don’t want them eventually, but I don’t know when. When I realized what you were
