No Quarter Read Online Free

just me, here. This involves you too.”
    She noticed his eyes shift, looking behind her. The waitress was coming and the discussion took a brief halt while their lunch was delivered. Even though the food was in front of them, neither took a bite.
    His gazed fixed on hers as she waited for him to speak.
    “Dinner tonight with my sister would be a nice start. And when we retire for the evening, we can do things a little differently. We can start turning in a little earlier, so we can talk privately in our room. We can stop avoiding each other quite so much. But there is one sure fire way for us to feel what we both so desperately want to feel.”
    She gulped, knowing exactly to what he referred. “I’m not sure bonding is a great idea.”
    His shoulders slumped. “Why not?”
    Scooting her plate to the side, she placed her elbows on the table and folded her hands, leaning forward, nearly whispering. “Has it occurred to you it is only a matter of time before someone challenges me for my position?”
    The realization of her situation had to have hit him, because his mouth fell open. “It’ll be no quarter.”
    She gave one short but firm bob of her chin. “And you’ll suffer that loss all over again. You’ll lose your second bonded mate. I can’t do that to you, Colin. We may not yet be in love, but I respect you too much to hurt you that way.”
    The silence between them lingered as he stared at her. He broke his gaze and picked up his sandwich. “Don’t you think that’s my risk to take?”
    It hadn’t occurred to her decision would take away his choice. “I hadn’t considered it. But in all fairness we haven’t really had any discussions about us at all. As a matter of fact, we’ve hardly had any discussions about anything.” She folded her hands and let them rest in her lap. If there wasn’t already anxiety over simply having the discussion, her impending heat and the strange nature of their union, she now was filled with anxiety, concerned she’d insulted him. Worse yet, she’d been famished when they reached the restaurant and now her stomach was in such knots her sandwich was less than appealing.
    “I have to admit, it is a concern.” He finally spoke. “I’m not sure I could survive it a second time. It is just one thing to consider. We were thrown together with so much baggage it might take a life time to sift through it all. It’s one way we can be certain to break through these barriers, to be sure we’re not pushing the other too quickly.” He took a deep breath and let it out. “Either way, let’s table it for now. You need to eat.”
    She looked down at the slice of wheat bread resting on the top of her sandwich. It looked less appealing than it had when it arrived. Still, she forced herself to take a bite. The rest of lunch was rather quiet and uncomfortable. She managed to choke down half her meal before she gave up.
    As he drove them back to the Belfast pack’s territory, she gazed out the window. Every single decision she made now had a consequence. As Alpha of a pack, they were all subject to the consequences of her decisions. On a personal level, if she did bond with Colin to break through the barriers they’d both built, and was then killed in a fight to the death for her Alpha position, he’d suffer a horrible injustice of nature once again. If she didn’t bond with him, they may never connect the way a Lycan couple should. This left her with nothing more than a feeling of dread.
    When they parked the car, she quickly thanked him for the lunch and hurried up to her room to put her things away. In order to make dinner with Wendy, Colin’s sister, on time, she’d have to quickly change, check her messages and be ready to leave.
    She was fond of Wendy but had requested she leave and join the new school. Dinner would at least sate her curiosity regarding Wendy’s transition. Standing in her closet, she decided on one of the few pant suits she had and stripped down to her