by Dana Archer
Mya’s infectious grin spreads over her face. “And they were even more unhinged once their souls were bonded to animals. The gods couldn’t control them, but they didn’t want to lose them either. The fights amused them. After a night of orgies between the goddesses and these primal warriors, however, the first shifters were cast from the heavens and forced to raise the children they created with the goddesses.”
I walk closer to Mya, drawn by her smile and the excitement in her tone. She’s obviously loved hearing these stories. Our history has always fascinated me too. Shifters are living proof of the supernatural. The lust and jealousy that spurred our beginnings is as believable as knowing we carry the souls of animals inside us.
“Did you know the first shifters demanded the gods fix them?” Mya smirks at my question, suggesting she knows this part of our history too. Yet, she doesn’t comment. I can’t assume anything. This conversation, no matter how trivial, is important. “These powerful shamans who once walked among the gods no longer wanted to be bonded to animals. They were too violent and too unpredictable. They feared hurting those mortals around them. The gods ignored the shamans’ pleas.”
“But the goddesses had pity on their lovers and the children they’d made together. They promised each shifter, whether Royal or single, peace in the form of a true mate, a partner so perfect their very presence could calm even the wildest beast.”
My heart beats harder. Anticipation spreads, tensing my body. “Do you believe in true mates, Mya Ammon?”
Mya stares at me for a long moment before her breathing quickens. She takes several steps backward until her back meets the wall. “Are you done talking? Because if you are, I’m asking you to leave. You said you would.”
“No.” I close the distance between us and plant my hands on the wall on either side of Mya’s body. “I’m not done talking. I asked you a question. You didn’t answer. That’s becoming a habit of yours.”
“How do you know my birth name?”
I laugh. “See? You’re an expert at evasion.”
Her mouth quivers as if she’s fighting a smile. “And I notice you’re ignoring my questions. You’re just as bad.”
“I’ll answer yours if you answer mine. That’s fair, isn’t it?”
“In your opinion maybe, not mine.”
“Dominants treat each other with mutual respect.” I spread my legs wider and bend closer to Mya so we’re face-to-face. “That’s what you are too. You’re a powerful dominant, a female I view as my equal.”
Mya maps my face with her gaze. A mixture of disbelief and hope shows in her eyes. “Prove it. How do you know my birth name?”
“Your birth name came up in conversation.” I smirk. “Actually, that’s a lie. It was more of a fight over me being distracted by a female.”
“Me.”
Mya’s breathless answer should make me happy, but the sadness clouding her eyes hits me square in the chest.
“Yes.” I trace Mya’s delicate jaw. “I found out everything I could about you.”
“Including the fact that I’m Todd’s breeding partner.”
“And that you’re a mother.”
Mya draws in a shaky breath. “If you know, then why did you come here?”
“Answer my question.”
She shakes her head. “I’m asking you to leave.”
I slide my hand to the back of her neck. Her silky hair teases my fingers. I ignore the energy rushing through me and focus on Mya’s face. “And I’m asking you to prove you’re my equal.”
Mya stares into my eyes while my chest tightens. I want to tell her, saving Mya from the emotional turmoil I see reflected in her expression. I can’t. If I want Mya’s respect, I have to earn it, starting now.
“Yes, I believe in true mates. It’s hard to deny it when I see shifters falling in love left and right around me.”
“You’ve seen how powerful the bond is, then?”
“Yes, but—”
I press my mouth to hers. Not a kiss exactly. It’s more intimate. My air mixes with hers. My soul reaches for hers. I can feel her goodness surrounding me, easing a lifetime of scars I’ve inflicted upon myself. Even without a soul-bond, Mya can heal me. I know this as truly as I know my name. Her love will complete me. I just have to earn it. I will. Nothing will stop me.
“True mates are a gift from the goddesses. Any male who finds his and refuses to claim her is a fool who doesn’t deserve another chance at heaven.” I settle my other hand on Mya’s hip. “And I’m not a fool. I won’t walk away from you.” Unless she kicks me out. It’s best not to give Mya the option. She might take it. My honor would obligate me to abide by her wishes. At least until I could figure out where I went wrong and fix my mistake.
“You met me too late.”
Her words are barely audible. They tear me open. She knows, and she’s already mourning what could’ve been.
“You’re my true mate, Mya Ammon.” I slide my hand from her hip to her lower back. “And I won’t let you go.”
“You can’t keep me. My life belongs to Todd. He claimed me before you could.” A sheen of moisture makes her green eyes shiny, and a lump tightens her voice.
Her pain resonates within me. I accept it, knowing I’m to blame for it. If I hadn’t been running from my guilt, I might’ve been in this area years ago, when Mya needed me most. I wasn’t. She had to face her living hell on her own. I can’t change the past. Our future on the other hand?
I skim my parted lips along her jaw to her ear, teasing and heating her skin. “But your heart belongs to me. So does your soul.”
“You can’t. I’m—”
I nip her ear, biting hard enough, she sucks in a sharp breath. “I’m your true mate. The bond your breeding partner forced upon you won’t change our connection.”
“But Todd can turn it into our hell on earth. He has mating law on his side.”
She’s not denying me or our bond. Every inch of my body vibrates with anticipation. I’m so close to claiming everything I never thought I’d have, including an instant family to treasure.
“We have the law of the heavens on ours.” Not to mention the force of Shifter Affairs. If we can prove Todd claimed her early, that is. After so many years, I’m not sure how we’ll accomplish that. Even if we do, Shifter Affairs’ help doesn’t guarantee anything, but it’s a start. So does knowing Anton Alexander is Ella’s contact. He’ll fight for us.
“The goddesses no longer touch our lives. It’s been centuries since they’ve been heard from. Their law means nothing to the Shifter Council anymore, and they’re the ones who’d side with Todd.”
“What about you, Mya? Will you deny the gift the goddesses have given you? Take the easy path.” I let Mya see the challenge in my eyes. This might backfire completely, but I can’t let Mya slip away after she admitted to feeling our connection. That’s what a male does for his true mate. He fights for her. “Will you turn your back on heaven for Todd?”
Eleven
Mya
The stories Ilan told fascinated me. I’d absorbed every detail, hungry for knowledge about my heritage. My human parents never shared these sagas with me. It wasn’t their fault. They didn’t know them. They knew what I was and what I’d eventually be able to shift into, but beyond that basic knowledge, they were unaware of my culture.
Loathing rises within me. Todd played on my naivety, turning my ignorance against me. He knew I was clueless. I told him that. He promised to guide me into life as a mature shifter female. Instead of nurturing me, he abandoned me, just as clueless but pregnant and tied to a man I barely knew.
I was a fool.
“What about you, Mya? Will you deny the gift the goddesses have given you? Take the easy path?” A challenge flares in Rick’s eyes. A demand I fight for myself, for us. “Will you turn your back on heaven for Todd?”
I focus on Rick’s deep blue eyes. The same utter rightness I felt when I delivered his bottle of bourbon settles over me. It’s not mindl
ess lust as I’d assumed then. It’s the connection Ilan made me yearn for with his tales of a love so strong, it transcends time.
Rick’s my true mate.
I feel the truth. So does my wolf. She wants to get closer to Rick, curling up against his side and basking in his purity and his strength. I do too. Never wanted anything more.
“No.” I whisper the single word, but the force behind it spreads through me. Strength follows in its wake. With Rick’s gaze on me and his scent in my lungs, I feel powerful, unstoppable. “Todd stole my innocence. I won’t let him take my future too.”
Rick exhales on a slow and satisfied grin that does crazy things to my heart. I bite my lip, trying to stop my answering grin from spreading. My smile makes me look like a child, at least according to Todd.
“That’s the right answer.” Rick brushes his lips over mine as he slides his hand from the base of my spine to my bottom. The heat of his palm seeps into me, branding me as his. “Now I want you to listen very closely to me. I’m going to make you a promise.”
I close my eyes as Rick’s voice wraps around me, comforting me and arousing me. “I’m listening.”
“You’re mine. Our goddesses have deemed it so.” Rick steps so close to me, my breasts press into his hard chest with every breath I take. “That means everything that belongs to you is mine. Your heart. Your soul. Your body. Your children.”
Rick turns my face toward his. The rawness in his gaze makes him look wild, like a primitive male ruled by his instincts. “And I am yours. No female will come before you. Not in this lifetime. Not in the next. Not in the one after that. I’ll chase your soul through the centuries. Follow you anywhere. Nothing will keep me from you, and I’ll never stop fighting for you. For us. This is my vow, Mya Ammon.”
“You don’t know me.” I sound ungrateful. Rick just offered me everything I’ve ever dreamed about. He’s also my true mate. I don’t doubt our connection or the mystical beauty behind it. I’ve seen with my own eyes how powerful it can be. It’s just that…
“How can you love me?” I search Rick’s face, looking for an answer but finding none. All I see is determination. He’s made up his mind. I’m his, and nothing will stop him from claiming me. I can understand the primitiveness of his response, but primal instincts can’t erase the truth. I belong to another man. “How can you love me knowing I hold a piece of another man’s soul?”
“I don’t.” Rick lowers his voice. “Not yet.”
Pain lashes my chest. I don’t understand the reaction. Rick answered my question truthfully. I should be happy he’s not feeding me some line about love at first sight, but I’m not. I’m hurt. “But isn’t that what being true mates is all about? Love?”
“Yes.”
He’s talking in riddles, or maybe I’m missing something. “Then—”
Rick captures my lower lip between his teeth and tugs on my tender flesh, tearing a shaky breath from me, then eases back to look into my eyes. “The goddesses promised each shifter peace in the form of a true mate, a partner so perfect, their very presence could calm even the wildest beast. They never promised us love, at least not in the way humans romanticize it in their movies and songs. That’s for us to secure, and that’s what we’re going to do. Starting now.”
His explanation calms me. It’s both honest and realistic. Love is more than lust, and it’s not something that magically happens in a bar over a bottle of bourbon. Meeting people is genuine. It’s up to them to act. It just so happens I met the one person who’s meant to be mine over a bottle of Death’s Fire.
“I don’t know how this is going to work.” I lick my lips. Uncertainty makes me hesitate. Accepting my girls is one thing. Watching my stomach expand with another man’s babies is another. So is knowing it probably won’t be the last time I carry Todd’s children. “I’m Todd’s breeding partner.”
“I know that.”
“Do you?” I study Rick’s face, but there’s no wavering in his expression. “Todd has the right to breed with me once a month, and I can guarantee you he won’t suddenly decide not to exercise his right to my body just because you and I are true mates.”
Rick’s jaw tightens. “Do you want to breed with him?”
I straighten. If the wall wasn’t already at my back, I’d slink away from Rick. “No! I don’t want him to touch me, and I certainly don’t want to be his breeding partner, but I am, and I must. That’s my reality. That’ll be yours too if we get involved.”
“I made a promise to you.” Rick plants his palms against the wall on either side of my face, putting space between our bodies. “Now I want you to make one to me.”
“What kind of promise?”
“Trust me.”
Huffing, I shake my head. “That’s too vague. Trust you how? You need to be more specific.”
“I promised to fight for you and for us. I want you to trust in me to do that.”
Fight. The word sends a wave of terror through me.
I grab fistfuls of Rick’s shirt. “Promise me you won’t kill Todd. Without provocation, that’s murder. You’ll get thrown in prison. It won’t matter if you’re a Shifter Affairs agent or not. They’ll lock you up.” I stand on my tiptoes and twist the fabric I’m holding, pulling Rick closer. “They’ll torture you. I wouldn’t be able to live knowing you’re suffering.”
Rick kisses me. Not tenderly. Not aggressively. He kisses me so deeply, I feel him in my soul. Sooner than I’d like, he pulls back, leaving me breathless and wanting more. “I won’t take the easy way either, my fiery mate. Trust me. There’s hope for us.”
Warmth spreads through me, from my chest outward. It’s not lust. Nor is it love. I can’t put a name to the emotion, but I feel as if my wants matter. It’s a heady sensation.
“Yes.” I drag the tip of my tongue along my lips, savoring Rick’s taste. “I promise to trust you.”
“In all things. I want you to trust me in all things.”
Silence stretches as I hold Rick’s gaze. He doesn’t say anything else. He watches me with a look of complete assurance that I’ll give him what he demands. He wants me to trust that there’s hope for us. He’s right, but I’m the one who holds the key to our future. Actually, the female shifter I met in college who inadvertently introduced me to Todd holds the key.
Jenna Tanner-Reynolds, who’s now mated into Nic Kagan’s pack, tended the wound on my shoulder after Todd rubbed salt into the bite mark and left me writhing in agony. She’s the one who explained what happened and what it meant for my future. Todd didn’t. He screamed at me for being too weak to handle a little pain. Then he left me with several shifters in their wolf forms on guard in the yard to make sure I didn’t escape until he could return to me the next night.
To impregnate me.
Todd’s threats to both of us kept us quiet then. He would’ve killed us. I know it. No longer will I hold my tongue, but the past isn’t something I want to talk about tonight. My future is.
“Yes, I trust you.” I swallow hard as the implications of my vow settle over me. The uncertainty of what it entails quickens my pulse. It’s not fear that has my heart pounding a mile a minute. It’s anticipation. “In all things.”
Rick cups my face between his large hands and stares into my eyes for an endless moment. I can’t look away or speak. This man captivates me on a level I have no desire to resist. Our future won’t be easy. It’s also not guaranteed. Despite the promise of Shifter Affairs to help me get away from Todd, my plan might backfire. I don’t want to think about that either. I see hope in Rick’s eyes. I don’t want to lose it.
“Mya.” Rick rubs his thumbs over my cheeks, a gentle caress that leaves me shaky inside. “You honor me. I won’t fail you.”
Before I can respond, Rick leans close to me. His lips touch mine. With a gentle insistence, he urges me to open to him. His persuasion isn’t necessary. I want Rick’s kiss. Closing my eyes, I give myself to him.
The rolling strokes of his tongue along mine s
pread warmth through me exactly as they did the last time Rick kissed me, but with each breath, the pressure of his lips firms. Energy builds within me. Instead of relaxing into Rick, letting him lead me, I squirm in his embrace. I feel unsettled, edgy.
Rick’s chest vibrates on a low groan of hunger that sounds as primal and raw as his expression was moments ago. He kisses me harder, deeper. His hands leave my face. He strokes them down my back, pulling me impossibly closer as if he wants to crawl inside me.
Looping my arms around Rick’s neck, I arch into him as he slides his hands lower. The hard press of his erection against my stomach tears a guttural moan from me. Lust hits me so quickly, my legs weaken and my body goes limp, forcing Rick to support me or let me drop. He firms his grip on my bottom. I know what my response to Rick means. I’m submitting to him, giving him complete control over my body.
The primitive reaction isn’t one I can stop. Rick affects me more completely than any man ever has, including my breeding partner, who can arouse me against my will with a single touch. Rick doesn’t need to coerce me like Todd. I want Rick’s hands on me. I want his kiss. I want…
“More. Give me more,” I beg Rick between the wild melding of our tongues.
Rick makes another rough sound, something between a growl and a moan. My feet leave the floor as he lifts me with a hand under my bottom. He squeezes my flesh, then tugs up my robe. His palm slides over my butt cheek.
My bare butt cheek.
I’m naked under the flimsy robe I threw on to answer the door. Rick isn’t. A sense of vulnerability settles over me. Excitement follows. I can’t help the rush of need. As a shifter female, I’m ruled by primitive instincts few humans would understand. The need to be dominated is just one of them. It’s also an urge I can finally give in to. Rick will control me with respect, taking me to heights I’ve never known.
I use my hold on Rick to climb his body. Hooking my legs around his waist, I lock my ankles behind him, clinging to him as tightly as he’s holding me. I groan as carnal sensations overcome me. Rick pulls my bottom closer.
