by Dana Archer
A low, rumbly growl trickled past his lips. He pulled his arm away and strode toward Josh, his intent clear.
“Aron, stop!”
He kept walking. Josh turned and lowered his chin. He spread his arms out to the side, hands flexing. Inviting the fight. Excitement flashed across his face, but Aron wouldn’t fight fair. There’d been murder in his eyes when he had focused on Josh.
She ran forward and grabbed Aron. He shoved her away and continued his steady approach. She turned worried eyes to Kade. He gave a small shake of his head.
Why wasn’t he getting involved? Ridiculous, stubborn males.
In a desperate move to avert the fight, she jumped in Aron’s path and pressed her palms to his chest. He stopped and focused his enraged gaze to her. She sensed Josh’s approach. Josh dropped his hand on her shoulder, inches from her scar. A whip of electricity skipped through the seared entry points. The response startled her. She dropped her hands from Aron’s chest and glanced over her shoulder.
Josh slid his gaze from Aron to her, a fierce stamp of possessiveness in his eyes. The sight left her breathless.
“Release her,” Aron ordered.
Josh looped an arm around her waist and pulled her against his chest. He settled his palm over her lower belly. “No, I don’t think I will.”
“I wasn’t around the last time, but I’m here now. Mira is mine to protect, always has been. You’ve signed your death with your deplorable act. Nobody will ever force her again,” Aron declared in a low voice.
What was he talking about? Force her?
She went over the words. Finally, they clicked. She settled against Josh, her anxiety easing, and shook her head.
“Josh didn’t force me to do anything.” She cleared her throat. “I meant I hadn’t planned on…talking to Josh tonight.”
Aron snorted, the relief in his expression evident. “I’d say you did a lot more than talk.” He held his hand out to her. “No matter, say good night to the human, Mira. We’re leaving.”
She placed her hand in his. Josh took her other so she was stretched between them. How fitting. It was the same battle taking place in her heart between what she wanted and what she should embrace.
Josh stepped closer so their chests touched. He stroked his thumb over the corner of her mouth, a light touch that made her tremble.
“Thank you for the kiss. It was wonderful.” He brushed his lips over her cheek. “Dream of me tonight.”
Aron tugged her away, mumbling under his breath about foolish romantic humans. “Let’s go, female. The night’s young, and I’m not done with you.”
She allowed Aron to lead her away, but her gaze remained locked on to Josh’s blue eyes. He grinned, and butterflies took flight inside her belly. Oh yes, he would star in her dreams. Tonight and for an eternity.
Chapter 17
Mira sat across the table from the irritated shifter. Aron had one arm stretched over the back of the booth, his fingers tapping out a rhythm on the ripped vinyl while the other lay fisted on the stained tabletop. He stared out the window at the parking lot. She followed his gaze. Only Aron’s SUV and a rusted pickup took up parking spots.
The local diner usually had a decent crowd. However, at close to midnight on a weeknight, most people were home in bed. That was where she wanted to be. She couldn’t wait for her dream lover to sweep her away.
“I’m sorry, Mira.”
She glanced at Aron. His gaze remained glued to the parked truck, but those were the first words he’d spoken since they’d left the bar. She studied his profile. The tic in his jaw and the fine lines etching his eyes spoke of his rage. He might be talking, but he hadn’t forgiven her. She couldn’t blame him. Fooling around with one male while on a date with a different one screamed—tacky.
It hadn’t felt wrong at the time. That was the problem. Josh could do anything to her, anywhere, and she’d walk away with a smile on her face. Fighting her instincts to be with him was proving near impossible. Tonight proved it.
She needed to do some serious soul searching and come up with a way to end her fascination with Josh. Otherwise…
“For what? I’m the one who should apologize. It was wrong of me to let things go as far as they had with Josh.” She swallowed past the guilt. “I didn’t plan on it.”
Aron sighed. “I know. That human is obsessed with you, and you can’t resist him. Putting the two of you in close proximity is asking for trouble. I don’t blame you for what happened tonight. The fault lies on the human’s shoulders.”
She straightened in her seat, her elbows on the table. “That human is Josh. Please use his name.” She waited until Aron inclined his head marginally. “And you can’t hold him responsible for my actions. Josh cannot force me into any situation I don’t want to be in. I’m stronger than he is, don’t forget.”
A smile replaced the tight press of his lips. “I’m not so sure about that. The human—” Aron raised his hand to stop her correction. “Josh is unusually strong and quite…primal. There is something different about him, but I can’t put my finger on it. My cats are confused by the male too. They actually view him as a rival.” He shook his head. “Crazy, I know, but true, nonetheless.”
Aron’s words pleased her. She fought the smile threatening to break free. Her happiness must’ve shown anyway. Aron’s booming laughter filled the diner.
They sat in the farthest booth from the counter so the humans wouldn’t hear them unless they shouted. Or laughed with uncontained amusement.
The only other customer was a young redheaded male in ripped jeans that hung low enough on his hips his butt crack showed. The human glanced over his shoulder. She narrowed her eyes and tried to place his face. He looked familiar. A local, had to be. The small community she called home was a close-knit group.
Many of the shifters had made a point of befriending the locals by volunteering at community events or generally being a good neighbor. Rafe even took it upon himself to make sure the elderly living nearby had fresh meals and someone to talk to.
Their interest in the humans’ lives served two purposes. One, the inborn need to protect the weaker members of their pride or in this case, the citizens of their hometown. The other, they hoped to make allies in the human world beyond the ones associated with Shifter Affairs in preparation for the day when their existence became common knowledge.
The fear among the shifter community and the human government was a real one. The secret of the nonhuman species who’d lived among humans for millennia wasn’t one that could be hidden forever. The expression she’d heard Jazz use fit them the best—shifters were the big pink elephant in the room everyone ignored.
Once the humans realized exactly what they’d been associating with? She pushed away the worry. Thinking about the future left her anxious, not a state she could allow to grip her while in Aron’s presence. She had an image to uphold.
She studied the human a moment more. He vaguely resembled the one who’d stopped the confrontation between her and the redheaded female at the bar. “Do you recognize him?”
Aron turned in his seat. The human quickly looked away. She’d witnessed the reaction countless times over her life. Humans might not know of the predators living among them—yet. Some part of their psyche, however, recognized shifters as the predators they were and reacted accordingly.
“He was in the bar the night I fought Josh.” He lowered his voice to a soft whisper. “My cats don’t trust him. He reeks of hatred and drugs, some of which I’ve never scented before.”
“He’s been staring at me since we walked in.”
“I know.” Aron dismissed the human by facing Mira. “Many males do. You’re quite captivating.”
“It’s annoying.”
He chuckled. “I imagine it’ll become a point of contention for your mate too. He’ll want to keep you sequestered away for his pleasure.”
She ground her teeth. “He’ll have to deal with it. I’m not offering a relationship outside the be
droom, and if he thinks to invoke mating law, he’ll only ever touch me on the rare occurrences when I’m fertile.”
“You won’t be able to resist your instincts and will eventually give him everything he demands. It’s our way.” A cocky grin spread over his face. “Not to worry, sweet Mira, if you choose me as your mate, I’ll make sure you’re so satisfied you won’t ever want another man, or care to resist my orders.”
The smug look he wore irritated her. She clenched her fists and fought the release of her claws. Wrong time, wrong place.
“My breeding partner will get sex.” Mira leveled a hard look at him, letting Aron see the truth in her words. “Sex, not love.”
“Love isn’t necessary. You know that as well as I do.” His grin faded. “And few males allow their women to sleep around on them or live elsewhere whether they love them or not. Our possessive and protective nature won’t stand for it. What if you got hurt or killed?”
“For protection, I have a twin who has done quite well in that area for three hundred years. He’d be happy and honored to do so again. As for your possessive nature? You can shove it. Love is the only thing that ensures shifter mates remain faithful. If you want fidelity, go find your true mate. You and I both know I’m not yours.”
“Are you sure about that? Sometimes it takes years before true mates recognize each other as such.” He tilted his head, a look of contemplation on his face. “Not once in my long life have I ever met a female who’s tempted me. I’ve often wondered why. Most males are at least intrigued when they find a woman who stirs their lust. They’ll wonder if she’s the one promised to them. Not me. I don’t even do a double take.”
She grinned. “So are you telling me you don’t enjoy having a woman’s legs wrapped around your waist?”
His rumbly laughter filled the diner, drawing the attention of the redheaded human. Aron whipped his head around and stared at the male. Whatever look he gave him put the fear of God into the human’s eyes. He threw money on the counter and hurried out the door.
She slid her attention from the swinging door to the parking lot. The human jogged to his truck, jumped in, and peeled out.
With the distraction gone, Aron mirrored her pose—elbows on the table, hands splayed. He inched his arms closer until his fingertips touched hers. She forced herself to remain still and ignored her growling cats. They didn’t want another male’s touch. They wanted Josh.
Mira stared at where her fingers met Aron’s. She’d made a horrible mistake earlier with Josh. How was she going to be able to choose another male when her cats had their sight set on one she couldn’t have? Allowing Josh to pleasure her only intensified the possessiveness they already felt for him.
“You want to pull away. Don’t you?”
To avoid lying, she asked, “Well? You didn’t answer me. Don’t you enjoy sleeping with females?” Better to put him on the spot rather than her.
“Yes, I enjoy having a woman’s legs around my waist. I simply don’t care who they belong to.” He held her gaze, challenging her. “Enough stalling. Take my hands.”
She gave each of her cats a stern growl, reminding them she was in charge. Once sure they’d behave, she covered Aron’s long fingers. Aron waited a heartbeat before twining them together. Her breaths quickened as she fought to contain the annoyed animal spirits who paced inside her soul.
Aron rubbed her knuckles. “I am sorry.”
“I already told you, I’m the one who is sorry.”
“For abandoning you. I should never have given up on you.”
Well, she hadn’t been expecting that. The change in topic caught her cats’ attention too. Each animal swung its head to stare at Aron through her eyes.
She cleared her throat. “The window for apologies is over. You delivered your refusal to my father nearly two and a half centuries ago.”
Aron frowned. Deep creases marred his forehead. “I did no such thing.”
Mira tugged her hands free and wiped them on her thighs. “Don’t lie about it. I remember quite clearly the day my father came to me. Father said you’d sent word that you changed your mind about mating me.”
Eyes closed, she recalled the letter her father had read to her. The cursed words had changed her life. “You said that after much soul searching you could not find it in your heart to accept a ruined female as your mate. That if the goddesses had meant for me to be yours, they would’ve intervened and warned my father of Edmund’s plans. You suggested I go to the Shifter Council and beg their forgiveness because the years Devin spent there had nothing to do with my sin. Once I served my sentence, then and only then, would you reconsider your stance, but regretfully, you couldn’t guarantee it.”
A low growl rumbled from Aron’s throat. Feline fangs filled his mouth, and the tips of claws broke through the skin of his fingers.
She gasped, covered his hands with hers, and glanced around. The waitress who sat behind the cash register paid them no attention. She wrapped silverware in a repetitive pattern, her eyes sleepy and unfocused. Good. She hadn’t noticed Aron’s slip.
Mira returned her gaze to Aron. With his lips squeezed in a tight line, he took deep breaths through his nose. The hands under hers trembled. “What’s wrong with you?”
“I sent no letter to your father. I’d planned to come to you that year, but our pride leader was killed. I was forced to remain at home until Kade’s sire could return and take control of the pride. He was the rightful one to head it, the next in line. I refused to take it, but someone had to step up. We had children, females, and several humans. They could not remain unguarded.”
The words filtered into her mind. The implication of them left her confused and uncertain. Aron hadn’t refused her as she’d been led to believe.
She dropped her gaze to the table. Brown circles stained the laminate and dozens of little nicks marred the white surface. She focused on two overlapping circlets, one larger than the other. Scents from the diner—grease, human perspiration, and the trace of a shifter—drifted to her.
Each piece of sensory information grounded her. She was here, in West Virginia, not in her familial estate in Ireland getting her heart ripped out. Two of the three most important males in her life—her father and Aron—had abandoned her that day. Only Devin had stood by her side, exactly as he’d done over the centuries.
After the letter had been read, her father had denounced her as his daughter. She could of course remain as a member of the pride, but he wouldn’t acknowledge her. She was worthless to him. Her mating to the Alexander pride had been meant to align the two strongest bloodlines and bring the goddesses’ prophecy to life.
With them having nowhere else to go, Kade’s father—Aron’s new pride leader—brought her and Devin into his family, hoping Aron would change his mind.
“You were already gone by the time Devin and I arrived in your pride’s territory.”
“I didn’t even know you were coming. I’d been led to believe you refused me, and I couldn’t get away fast enough.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The Council delivered a letter from you asking to be freed from our agreement.” He dropped his gaze to the table. “Gods, I was a fool. I should’ve traveled to your estate and spoken with you in person. Or I should’ve mentioned your letter to my family. Instead, I burned the wretched thing and ran to the other end of the world. Like a coward, I hid from you, my family, and the shame your denouncement brought.”
He had cut all ties without so much as a word of goodbye to his family. Everyone had assumed he’d run because he wanted no part of the prophecy or her.
“I waited for you.”
“I know. I returned a few years later, but I couldn’t bring myself to approach you.” He glanced at her. Regret burned in his eyes, the contacts doing little to hide his pain. “It was too late.”
“If you didn’t speak to me, how would you have known that?”
“I found you in the arms of my cousins.” His breath
s quickened. “It killed me, Mira. Killed me.”
Devin had tried to reason with her. He’d told her the same thing—it had been a miscommunication. Letter or not, he hadn’t believed Aron would act so cruelly.
“We were deceived.”
“It appears that way.” Aron cursed under his breath. “Did you see this letter? Was it in my handwriting with my seal?”
“Yes. It even carried your scent.”
“So did yours.” Aron slid out of the booth, dropped to his knees beside her, and pulled her to the edge of the booth. He wrapped his arms around her waist and laid his head on her lap. “I am sorry, Mira. So very sorry. I never denounced you.”
Three hundred years wasted. All the pain and indignation they’d endured were founded on lies. Aron had suffered too. She’d seen that in his expression. “But why did they do it?”
“I’d bet money it had to do with the prophecy. The single shifters have always assumed the goddesses had meant for you to mate one of them, thereby extending immortality to all shifters. Their misguided quest for everlasting life has made them bitter and desperate.”
She hated the prophecy. At the moment, she despised the gods and goddesses too.
“Just as your fake letter suggested, the goddesses would’ve told my father which male they wanted me to mate if it were set in stone.” Unless they had, and her obstinate sire had ignored the goddesses’ dictate. No, Mira refused to believe that. Her father was a lot of things, but he feared and respected the goddesses.
“I was an opportunity to Edmund. Nothing more.”
“The goddesses didn’t intervene because the events of our lives were supposed to happen the way they did.”
Mira huffed. “So I was meant to be raped, shamed, and ridiculed? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”
Aron nodded. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
The seriousness in his voice stopped her cocky answer. “Why?”
