Another knock came, but Troy already knew he wasn’t going to open. Unless it was Dominic, of course, but the big lion shifter usually called Troy on the phone and asked him to go to his office if he needed to talk to him.
“Troy, you better open the door.”
Troy’s eyes widened. What was that guy doing at Troy’s door? “What do you want?”
“I’ll tell you when you open the door.”
“I don’t want to know, then.”
Troy turned back to the window, at least until he heard a key slide in the keyhole and the lock click. “What the—”
Emery burst through the door, a bag in each hand. “Guess who won himself a roommate?”
“What? No!”
Troy rose from his seat, but he didn’t go far. He stopped next to the bed and tried to look as big and menacing as he could. He puffed his chest out and squared his shoulders, hoping it would be enough to intimidate the smaller man. “Who said you were my roommate?”
“Dominic. So, where do I sleep?”
Emery dumped his bags on the bed without seeming to care even a bit about Troy. The menacing thing clearly wasn’t working, but Troy really didn’t want to shift to his monster form. “What do you mean Dominic told you to sleep here?”
Emery swung to face Troy, and Troy thought he might lose himself in Emery’s incredible eyes. He had never seen eyes that shade of violet—heck, he’d never seen violet eyes at all.
“He told me I was assigned to you indefinitely, starting now.”
Troy tore his eyes away from Emery. “But why? I never even leave my room—why would I need someone to watch over me?”
Emery sobered. “I think that’s exactly why you need someone to watch over you. You’re too closed into yourself. It can’t be good.”
“I don’t need anyone.”
“I’m sure that’s what you like to tell yourself, but you don’t get to decide, unless you want to leave the pride.”
Troy pressed his lips together. He would leave the pride if he could. He would have months ago, not because he didn’t like living in the mansion or because he didn’t like the people living with him, but because he knew they were only tolerating him there. He was dangerous and a freak and everyone knew it. That was the reason he couldn’t leave. He couldn’t be with humans, normal humans, not now that he was a monster.
“Fine, do what you want, but there’s only one bed here.”
“That’s fine. I don’t take a lot of space anyway.”
“Are you saying you’ll sleep in the bed?”
“Where else would I sleep? You don’t expect me to sleep on the couch, right?”
The mock outrage made Troy want to smile. He stopped himself before he actually did, though. He didn’t want Emery to think he was welcome, and the man didn’t seem to understand subtle hints.
“I’ll take the couch.”
“There’s no need to do that. We can sleep together.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
How did Troy explain what he was to Emery? Could Emery even understand how much of a monster Troy had become? He knew he had to say something, though, and the best way to make Emery run for the hills would be to tell him about the monster.
“I’m not human.”
Emery shrugged. “I’m not either.” He opened his mouth and Troy’s eyes widened.
“Are those fangs?”
“Yes. I’m not a vampire, but I do drink blood. I also eat food, though, and I’m actually a bit hungry right now.” Emery rubbed his stomach and this time Troy couldn’t keep the smile off his face. He did manage to erase it as soon as he realized he was smiling, though.
“What are you?”
“A Krsnik. Half vampire and half shifter. What are you?”
“I was human but now I’m... I’m a monster.”
“Do you think I’m a monster?”
“What? No.”
“Even if I’m a vampire?”
“I don’t know you, but I don’t think Dominic would let you live in the mansion if he didn’t trust you.”
“It’s not about trust. Do you think I’m a monster because I’m different even from the other shifters?”
Troy shook his head. Of course he didn’t think that, but he wasn’t sure he understood where Emery was going with his questions. He sat on the bed and pressed his hands together, carful to keep his gaze low.
That was why he didn’t see Emery move until he crouched in front of him and cupped his face with both hands. Emery tilted Troy’s face up so that they could look at each other, and Troy didn’t resist. He didn’t want to.
He was tired of fighting. Sometimes he felt as if fighting was the only thing in his life, and he wanted nothing more than to be able to stop and rest. He wasn’t ready to give in to the monster, though—not yet, and hopefully not ever.
“I don’t know what happened to you. I don’t know what you are, what kind of creature lives inside you, but I don’t think you’re a monster.”
“How can you say that? I’m not—I’m not even—”
A sob escaped Troy’s chest. How was it that Emery could affect him like that? Why was Troy letting him close when he hadn’t allowed anyone else to do it? And most of all, why did Emery want to be close to Troy?
Emery leaned in and kissed Troy’s forehead. That was the most intimate contact Troy had had in the last year, if not more. Hell, that was the most human contact he’d had in all that time. What the scientists had done didn’t count, and as much as Troy liked Adrian and Jared, he hadn’t let them touch him more than strictly necessary.
When Emery let his hands fall and slid his arms around Troy’s waist to pull him closer, Troy let go. He grabbed Emery’s shoulders and clung to them as tears rolled down his face.
Emery held him close, apparently not caring that Troy was drenching his T-shirt with tears. One of his hands stroked up and down Troy’s back as he murmured soothing words in his ear. Troy let all the pain, the doubts and the fears out, and Emery held him through it.
When the sobs and the tears finally dried up, Troy couldn’t find it in himself to be ashamed. Crying on Emery’s shoulder was nothing next to what he was about to tell him. “Do you know harpies?”
Emery gently pushed Troy away and grabbed a tissue from the nightstand. He handed it to Troy before nodding. “Yeah. Birds with a woman’s head.”
“I... that’s what my DNA was spliced with. In the lab.”
“So you’re half harpy now?”
Troy shrugged. “Not sure it’s half, but... yeah.” He waited for Emery to understand exactly what it meant, but Emery only smiled at him and stroked one finger down Troy’s cheek. “It also means that I’m half... half woman.”
Emery’s eyes widened just a bit before he schooled his expression. He looked at Troy, his eyes moving from Troy’s face down his body to stop at Troy’s groin. Emery cocked a brow. “You look all male to me.”
Troy blushed. He couldn’t help it, not with his pale skin.
Emery smirked. “That red looks very good on you, and I love your freckles.”
Emery’s words had two results. They made Troy blush even harder, and they made him smile. “Thanks.”
“You’re not a monster, Troy, and you’re not a woman. I understand you’re having a hard time accepting everything, and it’s normal, but it won’t get better if you don’t step out of your shell.”
“I just... I don’t want to see pity in people’s eyes, or fear. I know I’m not normal anymore.”
Emery smiled widely. “And who’s normal, especially here? Almost everyone is a shifter of some kind. You have to change your idea of normal and start thinking like a shifter, because it’s what you are now.”
“I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to do that.”
“You will. That’s what I’m here for.”
“I thought you were here because Dominic told you to.”
“I have no idea. I thought you just happened to be there, or maybe it’s because of what you are. You know... different from the other shifters.”
“Nope. It’s because I’m your mate.”
* * * *
Emery waited for a reaction, but it didn’t come. Troy just sat there on the bed, his gaze on Emery, but Emery couldn’t tell if they were actually focused on him. “Troy?”
Nothing.
Emery was getting worried. He probably shouldn’t have dumped that bit of info on Troy, not right in that moment and not like that. He’d been too happy and eager to wait, though, and now he was regretting being so blunt.
“Troy?” Emery tried again. He raised a hand and touched Troy’s cheek. That seemed to put him back in motion.
Troy blinked and reached up. He cupped Emery’s hand with his but he didn’t bring them down. “I’m... your mate?”
Emery nodded. “Yes. I’m sorry I told you like that. I should have waited until you got to know me better, but—”
“No, it’s fine. I’m... happy you told me.”
Emery wanted to believe Troy, he really did, but Troy looked a bit dazed, and Emery wasn’t sure the news had really sunk in yet.
“So, does the mate thing work the same way for you?”
“Yeah, not that I’m really a half shifter. I know I told you that, but I’m actually another species entirely. We just have similarities with shifters and vampires.”
“It means you won’t be able to leave me once you claim me, right? Like a shifter?”
“I’m not sure what you mean by leaving you, but once we’re mated I won’t ever want another man, not that I do now. I know you’re my mate, and you’re the only one I want even if I haven’t claimed you yet.”
“And you won’t be able to leave me?”
Emery didn’t like the fact that Troy was fixated on that. He frowned. “Not exactly. Mates can be apart, it’s just that they usually don’t want to.”
“Do you want me?”
“More than anything.”
“Is it... is it only because I’m your mate?”
Emery extricated his hand from Troy’s and put it on his knee instead. He knew Troy was fragile, especially on the emotional level. He didn’t want to hurt him, but he didn’t want to lie to him either. “Right now that’s a big part of why I want you, yes. But I know that once I get to know you, it’ll become more. The Gods put us together for a reason, after all.”
Troy shook his head. “I don’t think I can be perfect for anyone. I’m not sure I can be anything for anyone.”
“I don’t want or need you to be perfect. I just want you to be you, nothing more, nothing less. You don’t have to change to be with me and to make me want you.”
Troy seemed to mull over Emery’s words, but he was still tense. Emery wasn’t sure what to do, because he wasn’t sure what the problem was. What did Troy think about mates? What did he think about being Emery’s mate? Was he angry, worried, happy? “I’m not... I don’t expect anything from you other than a chance for us to get to know each other. I won’t pressure you into having sex or getting mated, so don’t worry about that. We can go as slow as you need us to go.”
Troy’s gaze dropped to his knees. It was something he did often, and Emery didn’t like it.
“You don’t want me.”
“What? Of course I do. I just told you.”
“You’d claim me right away if you wanted me.”
Emery shook his head. “We don’t have to rush things just because we know we’re mates and that in theory we’re the perfect match. It doesn’t mean I don’t want you. I just want you to feel comfortable with me.”
Troy’s gaze snapped up and he reached for Emery. He pulled Emery closer to his chest and tilted his head to the side, exposing his neck, and pressed Emery’s head close.
Emery licked his lips. He could almost taste it already—the fragrant copper of Troy’s blood as it invaded Emery’s mouth. It rushed in Troy’s veins under the pale, pale skin of Troy’s throat, just waiting for Emery to drink it. The instinct to bite—to claim—was doubled with the need to drink that came from Emery’s vampire half.
“Claim me.”
Troy’s voice was low, but Emery heard it anyway. He tried to push away, but Troy resisted, his arms locked around Emery.
“Troy, please.”
Troy let go. “I knew you were lying.”
He made to get up from the bed, but Emery stopped him with a hand on his chest. “I’m not.” He wasn’t sure how to get through this. Troy clearly wanted Emery to claim him right away, but it was for all the wrong reasons.
“Why don’t you claim me, then?”
Emery raked a hand through his hair, dislodging the bind that held it in a ponytail on his nape. He pulled on it and freed the long strands, letting them fall forward. “Why are you so—so insistent? You were human until not too long ago. Humans usually don’t want to mate right away. It’s something a shifter would want, would understand, but I know you’re not even trying to think like one, even if it’s what you are now.”
Emery quickly thought about the conversation they’d just had, trying to understand Troy, but he wasn’t fast enough.
“I thought you wouldn’t be disgusted by me since you’re my mate. I thought it meant you’d be there for me, that you’d accept me even if I’m—even if I’m a monster.”
“Oh, Troy. I do accept you, and want you. I’m not disgusted because there’s nothing to be disgusted about. You’re not a monster.”
Troy stood up and moved away and Emery turned to face him. His mouth fell open when Troy grabbed his T-shirt and pulled it up and off, letting it fall on the floor next to his bare feet.
He stood there for a few seconds, his head lowered, his eyes looking at the carpet, and Emery thought he’d never seen anything more beautiful.
Troy’s skin was milky-white everywhere Emery could see it and dotted with hundreds of small freckles, especially on his shoulders and arms. A few of them were also scattered along his hairless chest and down his flat stomach, and Emery followed them with his gaze until he reached a small line of ginger hair that led down to Troy’s jeans.
Emery’s attention turned to Troy’s face when Troy grunted. He couldn’t see Troy’s expression, but his body was standing ramrod straight, and his fists were balled up at his sides. “Troy?”
Two huge bronze-colored wings exploded from Troy’s back. Emery yelped and fell on his ass, but his gaze never left Troy. He watched as the wings unfolded and as Troy’s body grew, both in height and muscularly. Troy’s lean muscles became hard and bulging. Black claws emerged from the tips of Troy’s fingers and toes, and black talons sprouted on the back of his ankles and on his wrists.
Troy’s breathing was heavy once he was done shifting. He kept his gaze down a while longer, and Emery took the opportunity to get up from the carpet. He felt ridiculously tiny now, and he really was next to Troy in his half-harpy form. Troy was already quite a bit taller than Emery in his human form, but now he probably reached seven feet.
Troy’s head moved and he slowly looked up.
Emery gasped. His mate’s eyes weren’t green anymore but pure black, with no hints of white, not even around the pupils. Those eyes locked with Emery’s gaze, and Emery felt his heart painfully constrict in his chest.
Troy’s eyes were shining with unshed tears and held so much pain, so much fear and dejection, that Emery knew he’d do anything to make Troy happy and to see those feelings disappear. Anything.
Troy opened his mouth, and fangs peeked from under his upper lip. “This is what I am now. Do you still want me? Even like this?”
Emery could tell Troy was expecting him to say no, to walk away from him. He couldn’t know that Emery knew how he felt, at least in part, and even if he hadn’t, there was no way he was leaving his mate.
Emery n
odded. “Yes. I still want you. I think you’re sexy in your human form, but like this... you’re incredible.” It was true. Troy was gorgeous as a human, but in this form he exuded a dark sensuality that nearly had Emery drooling.
“Claim me, then. Show me you want me. That you’re not going to change your mind. You know what I am. Show me I’m not a monster.”
Emery knew Troy was still expecting him to run away. He smiled a wicked smile he knew exposed his own fangs. “You have no idea what you’re in for.”
Chapter Two
Emery moved like a predator.
Troy had thought he would intimidate the man in front of him, that Emery would back out when he saw what Troy had become, but he hadn’t, and Troy couldn’t understand why not. Emery didn’t even look scared, but maybe that was normal for a shifter or a vampire—or whatever Emery was. No one in the pride had ever looked scared of Troy, not even the children, but not all members had actually seen him in his half-harpy form.
“Why don’t you get on the bed?”
Troy’s gaze snapped to Emery’s face. Emery’s violet eyes were glinting and his fangs were showing under his lip, but while Troy knew he should have been afraid of that display, he wasn’t. He probably would have been before, when he used to be normal, but he’d seen too many things over the past year, things that were a lot scarier than Emery.
“Troy, I’m not about to claim you while standing up. It wouldn’t be... easy, what with our different height.”
A smile threatened to flourish on Troy’s lips. Emery couldn’t be taller than five foot eight. He was lithe and thin, and Troy dwarfed him, especially in his harpy form. Not that Emery seemed to care.
He’d stopped in front of Troy, his face tilted up and one hand raised as if to touch Troy. Troy wasn’t sure why Emery was waiting, so he slowly raised his own hand to meet Emery’s, careful of Emery’s expression. He didn’t want to scare him away, not when it looked like he really was about to claim Troy.
Troy stopped his hand an inch under Emery’s and waited for him to close the distance. Emery gave him a grin and looked down. He grabbed Troy’s hand with his and skimmed his thumb over one of Troy’s claws, then up his hand until he reached the talon that had sprouted on the inside of Troy’s wrist.
Troy [Whitedell Pride: 12] Page 2
