Lord knew that if any man flexed in front of her, she'd drop her panties to the ground in a flash, unable to control herself until her heat passed. It sucked.

"Are you going to have it?"

"Huh?"

A momentary flash of annoyance crossed his face. "You're going to be in heat," he said, words crisp and succinct as he sat forward, hands moving to the desk (and no longer flexing so attractively). "Heat means one thing - you're fertile. Are you going to have the child?"

"I...don't know." She raised a hand to stop him. "Before you can give me the spiel about how having a child has the potential to impact the entire clan, I want to remind you that it's my uterus, and I'll do what I want with it - or not. If I decide to have a child, it's going to be my idea, not anyone else's."

He scowled. "I don't care what you do. I just need to know so we can plan accordingly."

"Oh." That had gone a little smoother than she'd thought. For some reason, she'd anticipated...a protest. Shifter children were rare enough that an unattached female going into heat was a big deal. A heat only happened a few times in a shifter's life, and each time was impossible to predict. A woman would have no way of knowing how many times she'd go into heat in her life. And if she used birth control and rode out the heat? It was impossible to predict if she'd ever go into heat again.

It was a gamble. Worst of all, Estrella was single. She didn't even have a romantic interest. All she had were some rather short tiger clan cousins and...Vic.

Her stomach went queasy with nerves again.

"If you decide to have this child, do you have a father in mind? Tiger, I hope?"

"It doesn't have to be tiger," she protested. "I just want someone that will love the child and care for it."

"Tiger is preferable--"

"My uterus," she warned.

He gave her a piercing look. "Anyone in the clan would be thrilled to become a father and to take you as a mate."

She rolled her eyes. "If I decide to get pregnant, I'm going to pick the man I like the most, since we'll be tied through the child. I don't want to leave things to chance and just assume that the right guy will be around when the heat hits me. If I do this, it's going to be planned in advance. Right guy, right place, right time. I want my baby to be bred off of the best possible father. Just because I'm going into heat doesn't mean I can't have control of this."

This time, his mouth quirked, as if he were amused by her declaration. "It sounds like you've already decided."

"Maybe," she said defensively. "But if I can't find the right guy, I'm not going to go through with it."

"You'll need someone," he pointed out. "Pregnancy or not, the heat's still going to happen."

Her face flushed. "Yes, I know. Someone'll do regardless." And if it wasn't someone she could desire and respect, well, a lot of alcohol in advance would probably do the trick. There was no way around the situation--it had to be dealt with.

"I’m here to help you, Estrella. Know that." The look in Vic's dark eyes was intense. "You're part of my clan and we take care of our own."

"Thank you. I appreciate that, Vic."

"How much time do you think we have? Honest answer. Think you can hold out until the next week?"

Like she was directing her ovaries. But she didn't feel desperately horny yet. Not yet. Way hornier than normal, yes...but it wasn't dire. "I think I have at least until then. Maybe a bit longer."

"Good. I'm going to put the others on alert and instruct them to be ready to leave the territory at a moment’s notice. The last thing you want is five horny tigers showing up on your doorstep when the time comes."

Well. In actuality, that didn’t sound so bad. But she knew that was just the heat talking. "Thank you, Vic. I appreciate it."

"Quit thanking me. We're clan. That's what we do." He picked up his phone, and then paused. “You don’t have anyone in mind? You sure? You can tell me.”

She spread her hands in a helpless gesture. “I’m clueless.”

He grunted. “Fine. You'll tell me who you choose?"

She nodded.

"Keep me posted, then."

So she was going to do this after all.

Estrella exhaled as she left Vic's office, her hand straying to her stomach. She'd gone in there to argue with him about how it was her body and her right, and she'd ended up going on and on about the father of her child as if things were a given. Maybe they were.

In a week or so, her entire life was going to change. Damn. She'd best get started.

"Man, you're so freaking lucky."

Estrella picked up a fry and gave her friend an inquisitive look. "What makes you say that?"

"Look at you. You're all boobs and legs and you're eating a burger and fries." Jayde Sommers stabbed at her salad with a vicious move. "If I smell one of those fries, I'm going to gain a pound. But not you. And now on top of this, you're going into heat." She shook her head. "Some people have all the luck."

"I don't feel very lucky right about now," Estrella confessed, grabbing a salt-shaker and dousing her food with it. "I don't have a guy, remember?"

Jayde waved her fork dismissively. "You're gorgeous. Someone'll turn up."

"I'm six foot two. Do you know how hard it is to find someone that's going to date a woman that's taller – and occasionally broader - than he is? Do you know how long it's been since I've had a date? Four years."

"Maybe that's why you're going into heat," Jayde said, waggling her eyebrows suggestively at her friend. "It's a desperate cry for attention from your girl parts. They figure if they don't speak up soon, they'll be forever covered in cobwebs."

"Oh please," Estrella said with disgust. "Lots of people go a long time between dates."

"Four years?"

She bit down on a fry and ignored Jayde. Okay, so her track record wasn't great and four years was a long time. A really long time. But what was she supposed to do? Fling herself at any man over six foot three that passed her way? Jayde probably thought that was a good idea.

But then again, her friend had never had trouble getting dates. Her problem was keeping them once they got an earful of her acid tongue.

Estrella sighed. "I just don't have any likely prospects to be a father."

Jayde's hand crept over the table and stole a french fry from the corner of Estrella's plate. "What about that sexyhot alpha of yours?"

"Vic?"

"Tattoos, right? Dangerous looking? Mmmm." Jayde's approval was practically a purr. "I wouldn't mind going into heat with him around. He could put a mate mark on me any time."

For some reason, Estrella squirmed in her seat. Hearing Jayde consider Vic in a sexual way made her feel...weird. Possessive. Which was stupid. And the mate mark thing? She hadn’t even considered that. Shifters marked their mates on the neck with a love bite that only other shifters could see. It would brand her as someone’s property, someone’s cherished mate, and chase off all others.

Holy shit, she wasn’t in this for just a baby. She had to consider a mate, too. Estrella swallowed hard, then shook her head. “Not Vic. He's not interested in me like that. I don't think he finds the liger thing appealing."

"Who does?" At Estrella's glare, Jayde chuckled and stole another fry. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. In all seriousness, would it be so bad to ask your alpha to sire a kid? You know he's responsible, right? He's got a business. You'd never have to hunt the guy down for child support or worry if your kid has a place in the clan."