The DJ said Mila’s name over the loudspeaker, and the crowd immediately started hooting. Dominic’s body tightened as, mic in hand, she breezed onto the stage in that catlike way she had. His wolf perked up, no longer brooding that she wasn’t close by. She flicked a brief look at Dominic and gave him an enigmatic smile just before she launched into a song.
“Seriously, she’s got an amazing voice,” said Jesse. “It’s just effortless for her. She’s also got a strong stage presence.”
“And she’s all mine.” The satisfaction of that went bone deep.
Jesse chuckled. “Never thought I’d see the day when you said those words.”
Silence fell as they watched her perform. As usual, Dominic found himself absolutely blown away by her innate talent and those smoky, scratchy vocals that drove him crazy. He wanted nothing more than to drag her off that stage and shove his cock inside her, to drown himself in all that passion, and reassert his claim on her. His wolf was all for that idea.
“Is it true that Mila has already met her predestined mate?”
His eyes snapping back to Jesse, Dominic stilled. “Where did you hear that?”
“Taryn told Shaya, who then told Harley, who then told me. They don’t know the details, though. Taryn said you just hinted at it.”
He should have remembered that Taryn, being best friends with Shaya, told the woman everything. “Yes, she has. I’ve met him.”
Jesse blinked. “You met him?”
“He joined her pride after he imprinted on one of her cousins.” Dominic slid his gaze back to Mila as he continued. “He has a subconscious draw to be close to Mila and protect her, so he hangs around her a little too much.”
“Fuck, that’s got to be hard on her.”
“It is. Her cat loathes the fucker.”
“Imprinting bonds can fade, though,” Jesse pointed out. “That’s why they’re a double-edged sword. Yeah, it means you have a way out if you need one. But it also means she has a way out. If Mila’s true mate ever splits from her cousin, he might then sense that Mila’s his—the imprinting bond won’t be there to block the frequency of the true-mate bond anymore. He could try claiming her.”
Like Dominic would let that happen. “Wouldn’t make any difference to Mila or her cat. They don’t want him. Mila doesn’t hate him, but she doesn’t pine for him either. He broke something in her cat, and she’ll never forgive him for that. Plus, I think she’d feel he’d regard her as second best, since he initially chose Adele—Mila wouldn’t do second best.”
“So his presence doesn’t make you or your wolf feel threatened?”
“No. You’d think it would, wouldn’t you? But it doesn’t. Maybe it’s because Mila’s not someone who’d tolerate possessiveness from just anyone. And she admitted she’s never marked anyone before.” He drained the last of his bottle. “I hate that Joel has rights to her—it doesn’t matter that he can’t claim them, they’re still there—but maybe I don’t feel threatened by him because she chose me. She didn’t leave this mark on me because she felt compelled to do it by the mating urge. She did it because I’m her choice.”
“I get what you mean,” said Jesse. “It gives you a sense of security. And it’s good that you’re not letting jealousy be a factor or that you feel like you’re somehow competing with him because of what he could have been to her. Harley sometimes got hung up on the fact that she’s not my other half. And she’s not. But she’s my center. Mila can be that for you, if you let her.”
The Mercury enforcer held up a hand and added, “I’m not saying you should, nor am I trying to push you. If you want to take it one day at a time, fine. But that might change, so I’m going to share with you the advice that Nick gave me. He said that if I wanted to imprint on Harley, I’d have to drop all my protective walls and give her all of me, said I’d have to be sure I could do that before I demanded anything from her or gave her any promises.”
Which couldn’t possibly be as simple as it sounded. “Was it hard?”
“Damn right, it was. I didn’t think I’d struggle so much to open up to her. I didn’t even realize I was still holding a part of myself back until she almost died right in front of me. In the long run, emotionally protecting myself made her physically vulnerable.”
Pausing, Jesse gave him a searching look. “You’re open in a lot of ways, but you’re closed off in others. If you ever find yourself wanting to imprint on Mila, you can’t give her only the parts you choose to give her. You can’t hide behind walls or masks. You have to expose your vulnerabilities, fears, secrets, and personal pain. She’ll be someone who knows you inside out, and that’s something you have to be comfortable with or an imprinting bond won’t form.
“A partial imprint won’t be enough for your animal or hers, which means both will eventually withdraw from the relationship. Then you’d be forced to end it whether you wanted to or not. In other words, there’s a lot riding on whether you have what it takes to imprint on her.”
At that moment, the song came to an end. But, encouraged by the crowd, Mila quickly launched into another. Pride flooded Dominic at how much raw talent she possessed, watching the dancers react so crazily to her. An instrumental break started, and, like last time, Harley stepped forward with her electric violin.
Charlene appeared and placed two fresh bottles of beer on the table. “Here you go, boys.” She looked down at Dominic, her brow creased. “I haven’t heard from you since you hung up on me the other day. Everything all right?”
“Fine,” he replied, his voice a little curt. He’d originally planned to immediately confront Charlene about her attempts to warn Mila away from him when he got to the club, but she hadn’t been there when he arrived. Looking at her now, he decided to play dumb instead, interested in what she’d say and do.
She glanced at the stage, and her lips thinned. “I don’t need to ask what’s brought you back here. I saw that you were photographed with her recently, so I’m guessing you haven’t given up trying to seduce her yet. She’s wearing someone’s mark, sweetie.”
“I know.” It clearly hadn’t occurred to Charlene that Dominic had been the one to put the mark there. He let his gaze drift back to Mila. It was impossible for him to look away from her for long. He loved watching her, loved knowing he owned that talented creature up there.
“And I see that you’re not going to let the mark bother you.” Charlene huffed. “Well, she’s a fool for turning you down over and over. You don’t think she’s playing some kind of game, do you? Trying to push you into chasing her, which would give her the upper hand?” There was the slightest note of distaste in her voice as she spoke of Mila, and it made his wolf snarl.
“Mila doesn’t play games.”
“I agree she doesn’t seem like someone who would. I just can’t see why she’d reject that pretty face of yours.”
“When she has people warning her that I won’t give her a happily-ever-after, it’s no wonder she didn’t tumble straight into my arms, is it?”