Mine for Eternity [Council Enforcers] (Siren Publishing Classic)

chasing her, and he had no doubt she would grab her son and be out of his house in a heartbeat. Instead, he went with as much truth as possible. “I’m sort of a policeman.”
    “Sort of?” Tessa gave him a wary look.
    “Yeah, let me finish. I can’t really tell you about my job right now. Like I said, I’m sort of a policeman. My job is to protect people like you. The way I see it, you couldn’t have picked a better house to break into.” He winked, causing Tessa to laugh like he had wanted. “Let me do my job and protect you guys.”
    Tessa laid her head back against his chest, and Mitch sat quietly waiting for her to answer. There was no way he was letting her leave, but he would rather her stay by choice than by force. His lion was pushing for him to claim Tessa, knowing that once the mating bond was in full effect, she wouldn’t want to leave. It would be almost physically impossible for her to leave him then. If she tried, she would feel like she was being torn in two before she made it to the end of the drive. Tessa could still go shopping or do regular everyday things, but she wouldn’t be able to leave him permanently. Mitch didn’t know the science behind the mating bond, but once it was in place, it couldn’t be broken. It was just some mystical thing that no shifter could explain but all believed in and prayed that they would one day get to experience it. Still, Mitch didn’t want to force the bond on Tessa without her permission. He already had a feeling that convincing her he was harmless after what she had seen was going to be an uphill battle.
    Finally Tessa looked back up at him. “You had no reason to trust me, but you did anyway. I’m willing to trust you.”
    “So you’ll stay?” He was afraid to hope.
    “Yes. I hope I’m not making a big mistake, but I’m tired of running, so yes, we’ll stay.”
    Mitch couldn’t keep the smile off his face. He had his mate in his arms, and she had just told him she was willing to stay with him. He couldn’t have been any happier if he tried. Staring down at his little mate in his arms, Mitch knew that he was one lucky guy. Some shifters went their whole lifetimes without finding their other half. His had broken into his home to take a shower. That was a story he couldn’t wait to tell his cubs and grandcubs.
    Tessa reached up and ran her fingers through his hair and Mitch wanted to purr from the sensation of her tiny fingers stoking him.
    “There, all clean.” She showed him a clump of pancake batter that she had removed. “You have really beautiful hair. It’s so golden and shiny.”
    “Thank you.” Mitch felt his lion shift like he was preening for their mate. Tessa had no idea how much she was stoking his lion’s ego. His mane was his lion’s pride and joy, and to have her compliment it made his lion want to lick her from head to toe and purr. Mitch and his lion were on the same page with the licking part.
    Tessa seemed in no hurry to get up and laid her head back on Mitch’s chest. The sun was shining perfectly through the window, warming them, and he yawned. It seemed that Nico wasn’t the only one that could use a nap. He wrapped his arms tighter around Tessa and slid down so that he was comfortable and closed his eyes. He decided that he would take a short nap and then he would let Tessa know exactly how he planned on protecting her and Nico. That was going to be the easy part. The hard part was going to be figuring out how to tell her he wasn’t completely human and that she belonged to him. At that moment though, just having her in his arms with her sweet scent was enough.

Chapter 4
     
    Mitch woke from his nap to the sound of giggling and decided that he would like to wake up to the sound every day. He looked out the window and saw Nico running across the front lawn with Tessa chasing after him. She caught the cub and spun him around in the air before sitting him back down only to do it all over again. Mitch walked out on the porch and watched them for a few minutes. He wanted to join in the chase, but for completely different reasons. He imagined his mate naked running through the woods and him chasing her down. Once he caught her, he would claim her right then and there. His lion roared in approval at the thought, but Mitch held back. It’s too soon, and we have Nico to think about. We can’t do that in front of the cub. Soon though. Mitch was going to have Tessa under him as soon as he could convince her.
    In