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

thirties. It’s different for each shifter, but you won’t see a shifter that looks older than thirty-five. Now that you and I have mated, you will no longer age past today.”
    It was a lot to take in. Mitch had made her crazy the night before with all his kisses and touches, and she wondered if she hadn’t fully thought things through. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to regret mating with Mitch. To know that she would look forever young at the age of twenty-three and never have to grow old was a check mark in the plus column.
    All of Tessa’s enthusiasm deflated when she thought of her son. She felt tears in her eyes when she realized she hadn’t given him a single thought when she agreed to mate with Mitch. How could I have been so cruel and thoughtless? Her tears quickly turned into sobs when Mitch pulled her into his arms.
    “Hey, baby, what’s wrong? Tell me why you’re crying.”
    “You have to take it back.” She hiccupped.
    “Take what back? You’re scaring me, baby.” He rubbed her back, trying to soother her. “You have to calm down, Tessa, and tell me what’s wrong.”
    “You have to take the mating back!” Tessa shouted and tried to wiggle out of his arms. “How could I have been so stupid? I didn’t even think of what this would do to him. I can’t watch him die, Mitch, even if it’s a hundred years from now. There is no way I can sit and watch my baby grow old and die while I stay young.”
    Tessa gave up her struggle to stand when Mitch’s arms tightened around her, refusing to let her go. Instead she gave in to her sobs again when she heard her son’s giggles coming from downstairs with her heightened hearing. What have I done? How can I ever live without that sound?
    “Tessa.” Mitch gave her a shake to get her attention. “Listen to me. I was going to explain later. You don’t have to watch Nico grow old. I would never do that to you.”
    His words broke through her hysterical panic faster than anything else. “I don’t?” she asked, peering up at him. “Can you make him like you? Can you turn him into a shifter?”
    “No, baby.” Mitch laughed. “Shifters are born, not made, but there is something I can do for him. Since you’re my mate, that makes Nico mine as well. I can claim him just like I did for you. It’s not anything sexual, but I will bite him and mark him just like I did for you. He will gain the same abilities that you gain as my mate.”
    “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you.” Tessa climbed to her knees and punctuated each thank-you with kisses all over his face.
    “Like I said, I would never do that to you. You never have to live without your son.” Mitch grimaced and rubbed the back of his head. “I’m not going to lie though. When I bite Nico, it will hurt.”
    “You didn’t hurt me.”
    “It was different with you. You were distracted with sex, and I was able to turn the bite into pleasure. I can’t do that with the cub. Normally this is something that we would do when he was older, but I don’t want to wait. With the danger following you, I would rather know he had a few extra abilities making him safer.”
    “I understand, and we will figure something out. I feel the same way. I want him safe and protected, but knowing I don’t have to lose him is enough for now. I’m sorry I freaked out.”
    Mitch lifted Tessa in his arms and headed toward the bathroom. “Come on. There will be plenty of time to think later. Right now, I plan on cleaning every inch of my dirty little mate.”
    Tessa shivered and felt herself preparing to take Mitch again. She had a feeling damp panties were going to be an everyday occurrence whenever he was around. Somehow, she couldn’t bring herself to care.

Chapter 8
     
    “I meant to ask you, are your other friends lions like you or are they different kinds of shifters as well?”
    Mitch looked up from where he had been running a soapy finger around one of Tessa’s nipples. “If you are asking questions, then that means I must not be doing something right.”
    He pinched the nipple he had been fondling, eliciting a moan from her. “To answer your question, Ben’s animal is a wolf, which you already know. Ryan is a lion like me, and Ken is a bear.”
    “Bear? Aww, a big, ole teddy bear, how cute. Is it wrong now that I know about him I want to give him a big hug and squeeze him?”
    “I’ll give you something to squeeze.” Mitch growled and nipped Tessa’s mating mark. “How about letting