I couldn't keep a sigh in when Samantha looked at her phone again, not registering my question.

She didn't register my exasperated exhale either.

It was clearly time for me to stop cutting her some slack. I had kept my mouth shut while she had been getting ready for our brunch. I had remained sitting on that Eric-smelling couch of hers while she'd been unpacking her travel bag with lots of hitting and banging of drawers involved.

I had given her peace and quiet on our drive to On the Waterfront, the best place in town for brunch on a lazy Saturday. Not to mention the killer view since it was located on a river bank next to a small forest.

I had also kept the conversation to a minimum while she had been eating quickly and methodically, eyes on the food and not me sitting opposite her. Letting me know I would have to do damage control after Bas.

Never mind that according to him on his way out of the apartment, he had left our mate "hot and bothered".

Samantha was clearly more guarded than she'd been yesterday upon her waking up in our home. And since me cutting her some slack thus far had not led to the visible tension in her stance dropping and her giving me more than one empty look, I decided I should change tactics.

Meaning I was going to follow Bas' advice and give Samantha a push rather than the time and space she claimed she needed.

"Sweetie."

Still looking at her phone.

"Samantha!"

"What?" she snapped.

Since she was looking directly at me now, fire in her gaze, I would call that progress.

"I asked if you like the food. Since you said you haven't been to this restaurant before..."

She sighed. "Yes, the food was good," she told me more calmly. "The place is great. Thanks for bringing me here."

Then she returned her full attention to the phone in her lap.

If I were in animal form now, my tail would be snapping angrily at the detached politeness in her tone. This wasn't some business meeting she had to tick off the list of tasks for the day; we were having our first date!

But I had to be patient, like a predator on a hunt. Taking your time always paid off.

"Tell me what bothers you," I said, pushing my half-eaten omelette aside.

She raised a brow at me as if to ask whether I was being serious.

Deadly serious here, sweetie. She was about to find out I wasn't backing down until I got her smiling.

"I mean, of all the reasons Bas and I gave you to be angry today, what has you constantly looking at the phone with concern on your charming face? You can start from there, and resort to yelling if it will help you get the burden off your tense shoulders." I waved my hand at the wooden tables scattered around us on the trimmed grass of the river bank. "This place has seen it all from shifters, and won't bat an eye if you introduce my face to a plate. Empty or full, it makes no difference. Though the latter would be a waste of good food..."

Something in Samantha's gaze softened. I might be imagining it, but I thought I also saw the corners of her lips curving upward for a moment there.

She reached for her glass of apple juice and muttered over the brim, "Hell, you have a way with words."

I smiled, watching her take a long sip.

With her wearing a plain T-shirt matching the dark green of the forest on the other side of the river, and with her curly hair a tad unruly due to the humidity, she looked like a forest nymph. Magical and cute.

"Don't think that playboy smile will work on me, though." At my confused look, she added, "Don't pretend you don't know about the dimple effect, Dean."

I chuckled. The dimple, yes. Many women had told me it got their panties in a twist when I smiled. However, what I got out of untwisting those panties was occasional booty calls, not the lasting relationship that I craved. Not that I had met a woman before Samantha that I had seen myself in a proper relationship with.

Dimple or no dimple, I hadn't smiled at my fated mate to manipulate her.

"I smile because you make me smile," I let her know. "But if you wish to see more of that dimple, just answer my question and see it become a permanent fixture on my face."

Another sigh left her lips. She placed her phone on the table and gave me an assessing look. "Whether I'll answer your question depends on how you'll reply to mine... about Eric."

"Hmm..." That was all I could say.

Bas had told me that Eric had run away before Rory could arrest him, and Samantha had made that happen by stalling our pride member. Samantha had also made Eric's dreams happen by letting him in her pants.

I still wasn't sure how I felt about that fact. I should be jealous but it was rather envy that I was experiencing. Perhaps I was slightly offended, too, since only Bas and I had been given the 'I need space and time' treatment. Shouldn't all three of us get an equal chance to win her heart?

"Do you want Eric to end up in prison?"

Ah, that was what Samantha wanted to know, not my opinion on her and Eric doing the horizontal tango. That question I knew the answer to.

"No, sweetie, I don't want him imprisoned."

"Really?" She gave me a suspicious look. "You're not saying this just so you could meet my expectations?"

I shook my head with a smile. "While I do wish to meet your expectations, I'm been truthful here. Eric, from what I've seen thus far, is a good shifter. One who does the right thing in a hard situation regardless of the consequences for himself. If he truly hasn't gotten anyone hurt while working with the hyena pack, he doesn't deserve to be locked up. Too few of us are left in this world for the decent shifters to be put away with the rotten ones."

She leaned forward, reducing the distance between us to half a table. "But he's my fated mate: you must want the competition out of the way? What easier and more permanent way to achieve that than get Eric arrested? With yours and Sebastian's testimony, he'll get a prison sentence for sure."

I had the strong urge to place my hand on top of hers on the table, but stopped myself. She wasn't ready for such contact yet, and she had just started to relax. Instead of give her assurance, my touch was going to ruin everything. My words would have to do.

"Why would I want to rob you of a fated mate? I want a place in your heart, and that would be impossible if I have broken it beforehand... Fated mates should not be separated from each other, that's a well-known fact." Which she had ignored by planning to run away from us, but I wasn't going to raise the matter.

"So what? You'd be okay with me accepting all three of you in my life?"

I chuckled at how incredulous she sounded. She must have not thought about this scenario, having intended to bail on us, but I had. While tossing and turning restlessly in my bed last night, too excited to go to sleep, I had reached a conclusion.

I wanted Samantha. Not just because of her attractive looks but also because of the fire-y, spirited and brave woman that she had shown herself to be. I had a lot left to learn about her but to do that, I had to be willing to share.

I had no problem with Bas in that regard, since we were used to sharing living space, work and, on one or two occasions, females. Eric was an unknown, but if I had to choose between sharing my fated mate with a panther and losing her, I knew what my choice would be. And, like I'd told her, Eric seemed like a good male.

"Anything for you, sweetie."

She rolled her eyes and relaxed back in her wooden chair, wrapping her arms around herself. "You might mean this cheesy line now, Dean, but when we end up in one room with Sebastian and Eric... You'll be like dogs fighting over a bone."

I laughed. The image her words conjured in my head... "We'd be more like cats fighting over a juicy fish."

"See? It won't work!"

"Oh, it will work. Fated mates are fated mates: Mother Nature makes no mistakes."

"Dean."

With that tone, she might as well have said I was bullshiting her. "I'm speaking from experience, Samantha. I've met many mated pairs over the years. My parents included. It was a beautiful fairy tale."

Something akin to hope sparked in her eyes for a moment before she shook her head and said firmly, "You're talking about pairs, Dean. Our case is different."

I smirked. "You're right. We're a love rectangle. Or a square, if you'd prefer that term. It's going to be so much more epic, sweetie."

The ghost of a smile passed across her lips before she grew serious once more. "It's not like I have a say in the matter. Sebastian is making sure I'm on a leash 24/7, by the looks of it. I may tug at that leash but all I can achieve is make him lose patience more quickly. And then he'll mark me."

She passed a hand over her throat as she said it, right where a male shifter would bite down to mark his fated mate for all to see she was taken. As proof of Mother Nature's will to bind the pair together, that bite mark did not heal despite our bodies' regenerative abilities.

Samantha not bearing Eric's mark yet spoke of his iron control. To have been inside his fated mate for the first time and to resist the shifter instinct to bite down... It was yet another reason for me to respect the guy.

Just looking at Samantha touch that pristine spot made my canines elongate. If time passed and she insisted to keep her distance still, I might have to worry about more than blue balls on a daily basis. Like about going insane, for instance.

Bas was going to have it even worse than me, given my friend had a short fuse. Would he mark Samantha by force? Would he give in to his tiger's instinct?

I would say no, but only time would tell.

First, however, I had to convince Samantha to give me and my pal a chance. Not because Bas left her no other choice but because she wanted to.

Operation Enchant Our Sweetie was on.