This Weakness For You (Entangled Select Otherworld) (Taming the Pack) by Wendy Sparrow

of the bed. When she went to catch his sleeve, he’d already stood up. It wasn’t a retreat. He’d tasted what she had to offer, and now he was done. That was it. And that couldn’t happen again. Ever. “That shouldn’t have happened. It won’t. Again.”
    Her eyes searched his for a moment before she looked down. “I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone not want to want me as much as you do.” Her eyes looked suspiciously bright, and she blinked rapidly.
    Being gutted alive by a poacher couldn’t be this painful. It was for the best. One of them had to be logical. She had no idea what she’d be getting into. “Christa, you don’t understand.”
    She shook her head and then dropped it on the pillow while closing her eyes. “Just…never mind. I’ll leave in the morning. I’ll take my cat. I’ll figure something out.”
    “It’s complicated.”
    She scowled without opening her eyes. “It’s really not complicated at all. Not everyone looks forward to adding a potential burden to their lives.”
    “It’s not you…”
    She moved fast. Opening her eyes, she jerked up onto her elbows and snarled, “Don’t you dare, Jordan. Don’t you dare say ‘it’s not you, it’s me.’” Her eyes sparked fire, and he understood the appeal Dane and Vanessa found in arguing. She looked beautiful, passionate, and alive—and he’d already been mesmerized by her looks. “I can take that from a lot of guys, but from you, it’s just an insult to my intelligence because we don’t even know each other well enough for you to think that—or for you to think you’re hiding something nearly as disabling to a relationship as I am. So saying that is a damn lie.”
    Vanessa had mentioned that Dane hadn’t told his family yet. It was a lot to spring on a human family. They’d find out eventually, slowly, and always shockingly—but he couldn’t let Christa think her MS was making him back off.
    “First of all,” he said, “I’ve tried to kill your brother, twice. That’s why he doesn’t want us having anything to do with each other.”
    She narrowed her eyes. “You’re lying—he wouldn’t let you around Vanessa if that were true.”
    Jordan shrugged. “Extenuating circumstances. Secondly, I’ve had some spectacular failures in relationships that your brother has seen, and they’ve led me to decide I should just not…try them.”
    She swallowed. “But you’re not in a relationship now, are you?”
    “No.” It suddenly hit him. Those questions about the clothes. Hell, he was so dense…and not getting enough sleep. Of course she wouldn’t want to wear cast-offs from other women. Also, it was a relief she didn’t think he was a cross-dresser. “No, I haven’t been in a relationship for almost two years.”
    She wrinkled up her nose. “But…still…that’s not anything that even compares to…”
    The Hansens were stubborn. He should have known it’d come down to his trump card. Well, hell, she’d find out eventually anyway. At least this way, she’d know it wasn’t her MS.
    “And then there’s this…” He took a step back and shifted. One minute, he was a man—the next, a large black wolf beside a pile of clothes.
    Christa’s eyes widened and she stared. “Oh, well…” Then, she wrinkled up her nose and tilted her head. “You know, I’d actually considered that, but there’s no way to ask that without sounding insane.”
    The black wolf stared. Jordan’s primal intelligence had been expecting panic and shock. This amused acceptance was…confusing.
    His mate scooted farther back in the bed with a yawn. “So, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, can you stay?”
    He didn’t move.
    His female leaned forward and whistled while patting the bed.
    There was a brief fight between his stubborn human intelligence and the instinctual desire to be with his female. Also…she’d just whistled . His pride couldn’t fight the altered primal mind-set. Mine. Mate. Mine. The black wolf