Ka'Cit's Haven (Riv’s Sanctuary #3)

Riv shifted uncomfortably on his feet.

“It is not my place to say but if you ask any other Merssi, they will tell you. The smooth-faced are never to form a mate bond.”

“Why?”

Riv’s gaze fell on Lauren and then to her baby bump. He reached forward, resting his palm on his mate’s growing belly.

“Because they cannot create this. It is impossible for him to bear young.”

Nia blinked at him. “Ka’Cit…he can’t have children?”

Riv’s face was solemn as he shook his head. “His seed lacks a chemical females need. The frilli,” he touched the series of bumps along his brow, “indicate how potent that chemical is. Ka’Cit…he has no frilli. He would be thought of as unworthy by any female.”

Nia blinked again. “But I don’t think he was a virgin…”

In the past, she’d have blushed at talking so openly about her sex life but at the moment, she didn’t care.

Her curiosity was too strong.

Riv shrugged. “Females may use him for fun, but none would form a mate bond with him. He is…broken. Unfit.” He paused. “Unsuitable.”

“Like hell he is.” Her response seemed to startle Riv but her heart was beating so hard in her chest now that adrenaline was coursing through her veins.

The way he said those words gave her the impression those were not his thoughts but the way his people saw his friend.

Ka’Cit couldn’t produce children…

If that was the reason.

Nia closed her eyes. “Why didn’t he tell me…”

Her eyes were still closed when she heard Riv respond. “Telling the one you want the most that you can never give them the life they deserve…it isn’t easy.”

She opened her eyes to see Lauren look up at him with the utmost adoration in her gaze.

Riv stared down at Lauren as he continued. “He wouldn’t want you to be burdened by him. He wants you to be happy.”

Nia’s heart thumped.

She was happy with Ka’Cit.

When she was around him, she felt alive.

“Is that why he hasn’t visited since he found out about the baby?” Lauren whispered and Riv nodded.

“Fuck,” Nia whispered.

It didn’t seem like a big deal to her, but in his culture…

He’d have felt like an unworthy male, one undeserving of a family if he could not provide his mate with a family.

But she wasn’t Merssi.

Yes, she’d wanted kids in the future, but that wish wasn’t set in stone.

It wasn’t a life goal, merely something to share with the man she loved and if that man couldn’t bear young, she was sure they could find other things to share.

A breath shuddered through her.