However, there is something I need to confirm for her.
I pull away so I can look her in the eye. “You have to understand, Sophia. I am not rejecting you because I want to. I don’t care if your wolf is latent. That is of the least consequence to me. I would choose you in a heartbeat if it were up to me.”
Her sharp intake of breath doesn’t escape me.
“But if I am selfish and choose you, I will be unable to protect the pups of my pack. My people have suffered for years. We have faced so much loss that I don’t think they can take any more. They wouldn’t begrudge me for choosing my happiness, but I can’t do that to them.”
Sophia angles away from me, not meeting my gaze. “I understand.”
“It doesn’t seem like you do,” I say slowly.
I can still smell the faint arousal coming from her, but I
