SURPRISED

Her heart dropped into her stomach, and her breathing, she realized, was shallow, unsteady.

Atlasr’s eyes darkened then, and his jaw tightened as he clenched his teeth.

“We need to be very careful, Elena.” The warning in his voice was clear. “We need to continue pretending that you’re my nanny and not my mate.”

“You really cannot expect me to do that.” The distress in Elena’s voice surprised her. But a dent had been put in her pride.

“Yes, you have to,” Atlas said, his voice more serious than Atlas had ever heard it before. “You cannot tell anyone about us. Not even your mother. And I’m not doing this because I want to keep you a secret … far from it. I’m doing this because I want to protect you.”

“Maybe we should move?” The idea flashed across Atlas’s mind so suddenly that she hurried to grasp it before it vanished. “Move to another state where we can live freely. Like Alaska.”

Atlas shook his head as Marigold started crying.

Elena took the baby automatically, cradling the little gir