“No reason,” he said with a casual shrug. “I guess I just wanted to let you know that if we end up helping Collette through her mating season, when it’s over, Collette and I will return to normal, and we will continue to be good friends, but still, just friends.”

“And you think things will somehow be different between the two of us instead?” He didn’t wait for him to answer, because truthfully he wasn’t prepared to hear what Roarke had to say. “We’ve shared women before, and neither one of us has had any problem. I don’t expect this to be any different.”

“Yes, well, I just wanted you to know where I stood on this. Just so there isn’t any confusion,” he said. Before Gabe could probe him for the deeper meaning of his words, Roarke slipped out of his office, leaving him to wonder exactly what his friend had really been trying to say.

“Damn it, Victoria. What the hell do you mean the spell isn’t fool proof?” she hissed into her cell as she huddled outside, pressed against the side wall of the building that housed her unit. The walls served as a telepathic barrier, protecting all confidential and sensitive information inside her unit. As long as she was outside, no one could listen in on her thoughts or her conversation, which was why she’d ventured outdoors to call her older sister, because one could never be too careful with the place crawling with telepathic supra.

“Well, the infertility spell is foolproof. I can’t believe you’ve never had to use it before. I don’t know how human men could even compare-”

“Tory!” She snapped impatiently. Like many supras, her sister held a slight disdain for humans, the weaker species. So Tory had been shocked to learn that she’d never spent her mating season with another supra, which meant she’d never had to use it. For some reason human males were unable to impregnate lycan women, although the reverse wasn’t the case. Still, it was impossible for a lycan female to get pregnant outside of her mating season, and with her affinity for human men, she’d never had to think of such things. That’s why she preferred human lovers in the first place. No birth control hassles-like now.

“Oh yes, like I was saying. The infertility spell only works on vampires and as long as the vamp isn’t your heart mate, otherwise it’s useless. But as far as your bonding urges- well there’s really nothing you can do about that.”

“What bonding urges? I thought if I mated with two vamps, or any other supra, that I wouldn’t have these stupid urges since they’re not lycan.”

“And normally you would be right…”

“Okay, so what’s the problem this time,” she asked when her sister’s voice trailed off. Uh oh. She didn’t like this at all. She could feel her sister’s troubled energy even through the phone, and it was times like these when her sister’s talent as a seer really scared her, because she knew before Victoria even opened her mouth that she was going to hate what she had to say.

“Well, Collette. I don’t know how to say this-”

She clenched her eyes shut as she sighed. Tory always had a flare for the dramatic and Collette knew she derived a perverse pleasure from leaving her in suspense. “Oh, Victoria, just spit it out.”

“Well, I’ve been having these visions of you for several months now. It’s nothing substantive, or anything that I can pinpoint, but I just keep getting the feeling that this mating season you will finally find your heart mate.”

She groaned aloud. Not this again. “That’s ridiculous, Tory. I’m too old.”

“Now that’s ridiculous. You’re immortal. There’s no such thing as too old.”

Collette closed her eyes again, this time touching her fingers to her temples as she worked to keep the migraine she felt coming on at bay.

Tory was such a hopeless romantic. She’d found her heart mate when she was just thirty, and could not imagine her life without Lucien or her two pups. Collette loved her sister and knew she was well intentioned, but Tory just didn’t seem to understand that a heart mate really wasn’t in her future.

“You’re a cynic, do you know that-”

“Tory-”

“But, I don’t have time to reprimand you about that right now, because I really need to get back to the pups. Before I go though, I just want to ask you something. These vamps that are going to help you through your tenth cycle-are you attracted to one of them?”

Tory’s question was innocent enough, but not the image that came to mind as soon as she said it. The vision of a sinfully handsome vamp with eyes as blue as the sea, and hair as dark as night instantly flashed through her head. She stifled a groan as tiny butterflies fluttered in her belly and her nipples tightened. She quickly put up her mental shield to keep her sister from reading her thoughts. Tory would never let this go if she discovered Collette had a slight crush on her partner.

She laughed nervously, trying to dispel the vivid image of Gabriel in her head. “Attracted to one of them? Tory if you could see these guys, they are hot! One is-”

“Oh, you don’t fool me. Your shields are up, and you’re babbling. Besides, you know what I meant. I didn’t ask you if you found them attractive. I asked if you were attracted to one of them, and I know you know the difference.”

Damn. How was she going to get herself out of this one? Tory was relentless when she sensed someone was hiding the truth. She would dig and dig until she got what she wanted. Collette nibbled on her bottom lip, as she searched her brain for a plausible lie that would give her just enough time to get off the phone.

Static crackled in her ear, as her sister sighed loudly into the receiver.

“Keep your secrets all you want, Collette, but be warned. If you go into this mating cycle with a supra that you have strong feelings for, you could wind up losing your heart. So just be mindful, those spells won’t be worth a damn if one of those vamps is your heart mate.”

Collette stifled a long groan, as she fought to keep her eyes from rolling in the back of her head. When would Tory give up this crusade of hers? She wasn’t cut out for a heart mate and it was as simple as that.

“I would think I’d know my heart mate when I met him,” Collette said, the sarcasm heavy in her voice.

The line was silent for several moments, and she almost thought her sister’s phone had dropped the call, when Tory’s voice came across the line, as little more than a hushed whisper, sending eerie shills racing down her spine.

“Not if he isn’t lycan,” she said slowly.

Every muscle inside Collette’s body tensed, forcing her to acknowledge that it was especially difficult for female lycans to recognize their heart mates if they weren’t lycans themselves. But then that was just so rare.

“Just remember, Collette, some heart mates are harder to spot, especially when you’re doing your best not to see.”