"You mean right after I stomp Slade's toes for being such an a.s.s?"

"Yes. Right after that."

Jane sighed. "I have no idea."

"I could play devil's advocate," Allie offered.

"I kind of thought you already were."

"But now we can make it official and I won't have to waste a lot of time delicately broaching the subject."

It was hard to imagine the always-serious Caleb with the irreverent Allie. "You must give Caleb fits."

"I have to. It's in my job description."

"Really?"

"You know, he didn't believe it, either. I had to point it out. It was right there under the clause specifying all the mind-blowing lovemaking he could stand."

Jane couldn't help but laugh. She didn't imagine many people stayed tense around Allie. "No wonder he didn't see it."

She swung her feet. "I was counting on his attention stopping right about there."

"I like you, Allie Johnson."

"I like you, too, Jane Frederickson. And not only because you saved my son's life."

"Thank you."

"And I for one think you're perfect for Slade."

Jane grimaced. "That makes you a fan club of one."

Allie rolled her eyes. "The brothers didn't like me either when I first arrived."

That was hard to believe. "You have got to be kidding."

"Nope, as a matter of fact, they almost killed me on our first meeting."

"Why?"

"They needed to give Caleb a reason to live. See, he was going to be all self sacrificing and let me live my life unmated."

"What happened?"

"He was almost killed by rogue wolves. I saved him. They slit my wrists."

"Oh my G.o.d! How did you ever forgive them?"

"They gave me Caleb, and as I said, things change. But, for the Johnsons, change comes hard, and there isn't a woman that's come into the family that the others haven't put through some sort of test."

"Wonderful."

"On the upside, once you're in, you're in for life. And these are men who know how to love in a way that many have forgotten."

"You're happy, aren't you?"

"I miss my family, but I am."

"You can't see them?"

"I'm working on it. Do you have family?"

"No, there's just me."

"Then that part will be easier."

"You talk like the decision is already made."

Allie gave another one of those shrugs. "Slade's not going to age."

"I will."

"Are you counting on that to diminish his interest?"

"The man's not going to get hot and bothered over a wrinkled prune with b.r.e.a.s.t.s down to her knees."

Allie shook her head again. "You so don't understand mates, but for the sake of argument what were you going to do if that happened? Fade off into the distance, a martyr to negative thinking?"

"Honestly?"

"Of course."

"I can't bear to think about it."

"That's because he's your mate. Your other half. The ying to your yang."

"Mate, husband, what's the difference?"

"A husband is a convenience. A mate is forever."

"So everyone keeps telling me." It wasn't helping.

"And everyone would be right. There's a chemical bonding that occurs between a mated couple."

"So you're, like, drugged?"

"No. Of the two bonds I'd say the emotional bond is stronger, but the physical is pretty fabulous."

That was good to hear. "How do you know when you've met your mate?"

"One of the first things you notice is the attraction, of course. But that's the same for most humans. And that overwhelming feeling of everything being right. But then there are more subtle things, like being able to sense where your mate is, catching stray thoughts here and there, feeling their emotions as yours." She shrugged. "I know there would never be another for me if Caleb died."

"Why? Wouldn't you miss the closeness?"

"Yes, but why would I settle for half a loaf when I know what it's like to have the whole thing?" Allie plucked a stick of gum off the desk. "I'm an all-or-nothing woman. Always have been. Caleb fits me to a 't.' "

Jane envied her that confidence.

Allie sighed and turned the gum over in her hand. "I used to love gum. There's something so focusing in that rhythmic chewing."

"You can't chew it?"

Allie held it up to her nose and breathed deep. "It makes me sicker than a dog."

"b.u.mmer."

She dropped it back on the desk. "Yup."

Jane slid her finger alone the base of the rack holding the vials before her. Mate. Was it truly possible?

"I made Slade promise not to convert me."

"Sounds perfectly sensible to me. Taken in abstract, going vampire is a pretty freaky concept."

Going vampire. What a way to phrase it. "I could feel how much he wanted to. I was afraid he'd just do it and I'd have no choice."

"A woman should always have a choice."

"Yes." She licked her lips. "He almost died protecting me."

Allie settled more firmly on her chair. "I've been busy with Joseph, so I missed all the juicy gossip. What happened?"

"Caleb gossips?"

Allie rolled her eyes again. "They all do, though they like to call it"-she made quotation marks in the air-"exchanging information."

"We stopped at a safe house on the way back. He mentally drugged me and when I woke up, we were under attack. Broderick told me Slade was outside as part of his plan, but when I checked, I couldn't feel his energy. I knew he was out in the middle of a battle fighting on a hope and a prayer his latest invention would keep him from frying." She threw up her hands. "Who does that?"

"Don't let the lab coat fool you. That man is the biggest risk taker of all the brothers."

"At last someone that agrees with me."

"Wait until you get a chance to really meet Raisa and Miri. That am-I-crazy feeling will just disappear."

"Can I say woot?"

"Yes, but not too loudly. I don't want Caleb to find me just yet."

"You're hiding?"

Allie held up the energy damper. "I thought we should talk."

Jane shook her head. "He's going to be mad. I get the feeling I'm off limits until Slade comes to a decision."

Allie didn't look concerned, which told Jane that aura of happiness the woman wore wasn't fake. "If he didn't want me to find ways around his edicts, he wouldn't issue them."

"You don't really believe that."

Allie shrugged. "Nope, but I do believe as a grown woman I get to run my own life. Granted, sometimes I have to get more creative to make that happen when Caleb's protective side rears its head, but marriage is all about compromise."

"You're really married? As in human married?"

"Had the whole white-dress affair. It was lovely."

"Why?"

In the blink of an eye, Allie went from amused to serious. "Because changing my species didn't change who I am."

No, Jane didn't think it had. Allie was a woman very comfortable with herself. "I bet giving you that ring was the easiest thing Caleb ever did."

"In the end, I believe it was."

"In the end?"

"No relationship is smooth sailing." Allie hopped off the desk. "So tell me what happened when you found Slade?"

"I thought Slade was too sick or to hurt to feed. I tried to give him my blood, but he blocked me out. He would have lain there and died rather than risk converting me by taking too much blood after I had that reaction."

"A man of honor."

"Yes. But what kind of person am I? He almost died and all I could think of was how grateful I was that he'd been strong enough to keep his word."

"Not everybody can be vampire."

Jane's gaze went immediately to the vials of blood. "Will you keep a secret?"

"I like that you don't ask if I can, and yes, I will."

"I think I'm already halfway there."

"What?!"

She motioned to the vials of blood samples in the rack. "That's mine."

"I thought you said Slade didn't convert you."

"From the procedure everyone's described, he hasn't. But"-she tapped the paper in front of her-"there's no denying my blood chemistry has changed."