Guardian's Mate

by Jennifer Ashley

  Zander simply barreled around or through all the obstacles and gained on her. He was right on her heels as she came out of the stream, and in the next two strides, he took her down with one swipe of his paw.

  Rae landed on her belly in dirt and pine needles, her legs every which way, but he hadn’t hurt her. He’d tackled her gently. She rolled and struggled up, spinning to face him. Zander tipped the Sword of the Guardian onto the ground and growled.

  He was a beautiful bear. Rae admired Zander while she pretended not to—his soulful black eyes, fur that was so white it shone faintly in the darkness, his expressive face, his giant black paws tipped with huge claws. Rae darted around him and caught the tip of his flat tail in her wolf teeth.

  Zander snarled and spun in place faster than a giant bear should be able to. But Rae was faster, a wolf in her element, leaping out of the way before Zander could catch her.

  Zander made a bear hmph, picked up the sword, and started to stroll away. Rae trotted after him, staying just far enough behind him so he couldn’t grab her.

  Zander hmphed again . . . and then took off. Rae’s wolf bit back a howl—Hey! What the hell?—before she charged after him.

  She dashed around a stand of trees, right into Zander. The laughter in his eyes pissed her off only a moment before she found herself taken down by a couple thousand pounds of polar bear.

  Rae fought in panic before she realized he wasn’t hurting her. Zander pinned her, yes, but he didn’t crush, wasn’t trying to vanquish her. He’d dropped the sword a few feet away from them, and it began to hum.

  Zander closed his mouth briefly over Rae’s neck then licked the top of her head and grumbled low in his belly. Peace, Little Wolf. Lie here and enjoy the night with me.

  Rae wasn’t certain how she understood him—maybe it had to do with the sword happily ringing next to them. She slowly dragged herself out from under him, but once she was free she very gently nipped his ear then lay down close to him.

  Zander moved his large front paws until they encircled Rae, bringing her snugly against his chest. Rae curled up, feeling incredibly safe and warm. Nothing could hurt her while Zander was near.

  Would he always be near? Her wolf, as contented as she was at the moment, realized that Zander could leave anytime he wanted. He could disappear into the world and never return. He wasn’t Collared or restricted to a Shiftertown—he could go anywhere he wanted, take any mate he wanted.

  Rae’s dart of jealousy eased off at once, because her wolf knew exactly how to prevent every female Shifter in the world from chasing after him. She might not be able to keep Zander from leaving Montana, but she could stake her claim.

  Her wolf licked the underside of Zander’s jaw then breathed her scent onto him. Marked.

  Zander blinked dark eyes in surprise. Then he gave a growl that was almost a purr and breathed his scent onto her.

  His next growl was one of great triumph. Marked. Mine!

  * * *

  Zander walked in through the front door of Eoin’s house the next morning more refreshed than he’d been in a long time.

  He’d slept great after he and Rae had found their clothes, dressed, and walked home, even if he’d spent the rest of the night alone in the room over the garage instead of with Rae. His choice—if he’d taken the bedroom in the house Eoin had offered, he’d have found a way to cross the hall and get into Rae’s bed.

  She’d scent-marked him. Zander rubbed his hair, still damp from his shower, as he made for the kitchen and the smell of breakfast. His heart was light and he rejoiced.

  He’d been trying to keep his scent from her to protect her, but she didn’t seem to have any worries about it. Once she’d broached the issue, he’d figured to hell with it.

  A scent mark meant that Rae wanted more from Zander than simply sating her mating frenzy. Female Shifters didn’t usually scent mark—there were many more Shifter males than females, so the ladies didn’t worry as much about competition—but that didn’t mean they couldn’t.

  Zander had already known his interest in Rae went beyond the mating frenzy. But she’d indicated with the scent mark that she wanted all other females to back off him, meaning Zander was no longer fair game.

  And it wasn’t a cute Hands off, ladies. He’s mine. It was more Stay the fuck away from him, bitches, or I’ll kill you.

  Did not at all help Zander’s mating hunger that Rae was saying she considered him hers, that he was more than a night in the sack to sate herself. He wanted to shout it to the world—She’s mine, all mine.

  Of course, as soon as he walked into the kitchen, every Shifter in the room snapped his head around and fixed him with a sudden glare. The scent mark was easily discerned, didn’t matter how long Zander showered or how much soap he used.

  Rae wasn’t there, thank the Goddess. If Zander had to fight her dad and brothers to the death, he didn’t want Rae around to be hurt.

  Logan, the oldest of Eoin’s sons, rose from the table, and planted himself in front of Zander. “That better have been her choice, bear.”

  Zander carefully walked past him and reached for an empty cup on the counter. He made no moves that could be considered a threat, though he also made it clear he was no submissive. He’d respect Eoin’s territory but wouldn’t obey him blindly.

  “Ask her,” Zander said, pouring coffee into his cup. “I was as surprised as you are.”

  Logan only watched him, though Colin relaxed a little and remained seated.

  Zander went on calmly. “She has my scent mark in return—entirely accepted by her. This way, if anyone wants to give her crap, they have to go through me.”

  Eoin, whose eyes had flicked to that of an alpha lion, gave Zander a nod. He hadn’t stood up, but he hadn’t needed to. He could intimidate standing or sitting. “I agree. It was a good thought.”

  The two brothers finally gave Zander grudging nods, taking their father’s decision as their own. Zander let out a silent breath of relief. If he’d had to fight them, he’d have hurt them, which would have grieved Rae.

  Ezra, who had been sitting at the table, well away from the unspoken battle, said, “Zander will make her a good mate. Rae needs a clan.”

  “What does that mean?” Carson asked. He too was at the table, looking a bit surprised he was taking a meal with Shifters and not hating it.

  “No one knows Rae’s pack or her extended clan,” Ezra explained. “It’s taboo to mate within a clan, so when a Shifter’s isn’t known, it’s harder for them to find a mate. Zander is pure bear, unlikely to be related to her, so it’s perfect. When are the sun and moon ceremonies?”

  Rae chose that moment to walk in. She took in her brothers, father, Zander, Ezra, and Carson all turning to look at her, and her cheeks went flame red.

  As usual when Rae got flustered she covered embarrassment with anger. She stalked past Zander to the coffeepot, dumped coffee into the remaining empty cup, and slammed the pot back on the stove.

  “Do you all have nothing better to do than watch a woman get herself coffee?” She fixed the room with her gray stare. “That’s pretty sad.”

  Ezra flushed and returned to his breakfast. Her brothers looked abashed and wouldn’t meet her eyes. Only her dad and Carson kept their gazes on her.

  Zander chuckled and saluted Rae with his coffee cup. Little Wolf had just showed everyone in the room exactly where they stood in her hierarchy.

  Eoin rose and went to Rae, his expression softening. “I’m happy for you, child. I truly am.” He reached for her and enfolded her in an embrace.

  “It’s only a scent mark,” Rae said, trying to sound offhand. She leaned into her father as he hugged her, closing her eyes to hold him tightly in return. When they eased apart, Rae wiped her eyes. “My wolf thought it was a good idea, that’s all. I can always take the mark away.”

  Zander gave her a level look. “You have to catch me first. And by the way”—he thunked his cup to the table and went to the stove to fill up his plate—“I’m n
ot taking mine back.”

  Rae shot him a startled glance but Zander only moved past her without looking at her. The fact that she was his now surged through his blood. The males in this town had had their chance. Tough shit for them.

  Rae headed for the stove once Zander was seated at the table, as though she didn’t trust herself near him. She heaped scrambled eggs from the big frying pan onto her plate and laid a couple of pancakes from the griddle on top of them. She’d worked up as much of an appetite last night as Zander had.

  Rae turned away, a full plate in her hand. “We’ll talk about it lat—”

  There was a loud popping sound and a man sprang into existence in the kitchen. He was tall and lean, with a runner’s strength, and had eyes like dark holes into nothing. He also carried the strong, unmistakable scent of the realms of Faerie.

  Every Shifter but Zander snarled, hackles rising. Rae gasped out loud, but instead of dropping her plate or anything else dramatic, she set down her breakfast, shifted into her half-wolf, and went for him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Rae had almost completed her leap when Zander caught her around the waist and hauled her back. She was a volatile armful as she snarled, fought, and tried to bite, but Zander held her fast.

  “Don’t be inhospitable,” Zander said in her ear. “This is Stuart Reid. He’s a friend. I called him to come up here and talk to me.”

  Rae turned her wolf-human face up to him. Her muzzle was full of black whiskers over which her gray eyes fixed on him. Even as her ferocious beast, she was cute.

  Rae let her muzzle recede as she became fully human once more. “He’s the guy you know?”

  “Yep. He’s Fae but not the same kind of Fae.” While Reid had the long, lean Fae features, his hair was midnight black, his skin darker than that of the Fae most Shifters knew about. “He lives in the Las Vegas Shiftertown now. Your dad’s met him a couple of times at Shifter leaders’ meetings.”

  “Which you’ve never attended,” Eoin said sternly. “How do you know what goes on at Shifter leaders’ secret meetings?”

  Zander kept his eyes on Rae. “I know a lot of things. Don’t worry—Reid isn’t regular Fae. He’s dark Fae, or whatever he calls it.”

  “Dokk alfar,” Reid said in his deep voice. “Not hoch alfar—the High Fae. Different species.” Sounded like he explained this often.

  “He can teleport,” Zander said. “But only to places he’s seen before, so I made a little movie with my phone last night and sent it to him. Hope you don’t mind.”

  “I deleted it,” Reid said quickly to Eoin. “I promise I will not violate your territory or your privacy.”

  Reid had obviously lived with Shifters a while—he knew just what to say to soothe Eoin down.

  Eoin’s irritation was only for Zander. “Maybe discuss it with me next time, Moncrieff?”

  “I didn’t want to disturb you,” Zander said. “And didn’t have time to warn you this morning. Anyway, Reid’s a good Fae and I need to consult with him. Want eggs?” he asked Reid, gesturing to the stove.

  “No thanks,” Reid said. “I had breakfast. Wouldn’t mind coffee though.”

  Eoin had already opened a cupboard to take down an extra cup and pour the brew. He was not about to let anyone else in his house serve a stranger—especially a Fae. If the stranger attacked, the strongest Shifter of the household would be right in front of him with a steaming hot beverage in his hands.

  Reid only thanked Eoin politely and sipped the coffee.

  “How everything in Vegas?” Zander asked conversationally. If he got the man talking about ordinary things maybe everyone in the room would relax.

  Reid understood. “The Lupines are settling into their new homes well. Eric and Graham have learned to work together without tearing into each other, though they still argue. Graham’s mate is heavy with her first cub, and Graham acts as though no one else in the world has sired a child before.”

  Zander grunted a laugh. Graham McNeil, leader of the Lupines in the Vegas Shiftertown was a blustering pain in the ass, but his bluster hid great caring and canny leadership skills. No one but his mate would dare say that to his face, however.

  “Otherwise, all is quiet,” Reid finished.

  “Good.” Zander set his empty plate on the counter. “Let’s take a walk. Rae—join us.”

  Rae set her half-eaten meal on the counter without bothering to argue. She quietly lifted the sword she’d leaned against the kitchen cabinets and walked out behind them.

  * * *

  The morning was crisp and clear, a beautiful summer day. Rae would have preferred to spend it on a run or grabbing fishing poles and heading with her brothers to the lake. A lazy day fishing and napping in the sun would be perfect. But she had things to worry about and she wasn’t about to let Zander walk off alone with a Fae—no matter how trustworthy Zander said he was.

  Zander kept a swift pace, leading Reid into the woods along the same route he and Rae had taken last night. He didn’t go all the way to Daragh’s place—that would still be watched.

  Zander stopped them in a small clearing in the trees, a quiet space warm in the sunlight, the breeze that sighed through it cooling and soft. A flat-topped black boulder rested on the dark earth, deposited here by a glacier eons ago.

  “Rae?” Zander said, signaling her forward. “Want to show him our problem?”

  Rae didn’t. The sword was sacred to Shifters and this man was Fae, no matter how much Zander reassured her about him. Reid didn’t seem intrinsically evil, but Rae had never met a Fae before, so what did she know?

  “It’s all right,” Zander said. “I wouldn’t have brought him here if I didn’t trust him. And I can always break his neck if I turn out to be wrong.”

  Reid didn’t look worried. “I don’t betray Shifter secrets,” he told Rae. “I know a bear Shifter who would kill me, and I don’t mean Zander.”

  Rae didn’t know what to make of that statement but she did believe that Zander could flatten this Fae in a heartbeat. Zander had easily held her back from attacking Reid, even though Rae had been in half-beast state, which should have matched or even surpassed Zander’s strength in his human form. Rae hadn’t even come close—Zander had held her as easily as he would pick up a paperclip.

  Reid watched with interest as Rae unsheathed both halves of the sword and laid it on the rocks. The silver glinted in the sun, the runes sharp outlines. The sword made no noise at the moment. No humming, nothing.

  Reid stared at it. “It’s broken.”

  “No shit,” Zander said without heat. “We want to know if the runes on it tell us how to put it back together.”

  Reid leaned closer to study the blade but Rae noticed he didn’t try to touch it.

  She looked Reid over while he examined the sword. Fae had always been portrayed to her as having white-blond hair, like Zander’s, with pale skin and intense black eyes. Reid had the eyes, but his hair was soot black, and he had a deep tan from living under the desert sun. Rae wondered what dokk alfar were, why Reid lived in a Shiftertown, and how he survived outside of Faerie. The Fae didn’t like iron, this world was full of it, and so the Fae had long ago decided not to venture too far into the human world.

  “Hmm,” Reid said.

  Zander moved in impatience. “Can you read it or not?”

  “I can.” Reid straightened up, in no hurry. “But it doesn’t make any sense.”

  “It’s Fae—I don’t expect sense. I just want to know how to stick it back together.”

  “It’s not so much instructions as a story.” Reid let his finger hover above the runes. “It’s a tale of two lovers who were forced apart, endured madness and torture, and then found each other again. They became one and then went to the Summerland, hand-in-hand.” He pointed to the swirl of runes on the hilt then lifted his hand away.

  Zander frowned. “Well, that’s uplifting.”

  “I don’t know if it’s a Fae legend or a Shifter one,” Reid said. “I’ve n
ever heard it. The Fae woman whose magic is in the swords might have used a tale that was popular at the time, or the Shifter swordsmith told it to her. I can only guess.”

  “Great,” Zander said. “How does this help us?”

  Reid studied the sword a moment longer then lifted his shoulders. “I haven’t the faintest bloody idea.”

  Zander growled. “You’ve been hanging around with Shifters too long. You sound just like them.”

  Reid shot him a dark look. “I’m in exile. Don’t rub it in.”

  “The trick with exile is to learn to enjoy the hell out of it. What do you think, Rae?” Zander slid his arm around her waist. “Have you ever heard a story like that?”

  “Other than Romeo and Juliet? No.” Rae shook her head, trying not to like the warmth of him against her so much. “It isn’t quite the same, though, is it? These lovers reunited—does it say for how long before they went to the Summerland?”

  Reid examined the runes on the hilt again. “It’s cryptic. It might mean they lived together for three hundred years or it might mean they found each other and were wiped out in five minutes.”

  “Zander’s right,” Rae said. “Seriously uplifting.”

  Reid pointed to where the runes had split with the break. “That’s exactly where the lovers were reunited and battled to stay together.”

  “Thought so,” Zander said. He pressed a kiss to the top of Rae’s head and released her. “Thanks, Reid. Appreciate it.”

  “It’s an interesting problem,” Reid said. “If I uncover anything else that might help, I’ll let you know.” He took a step back, as though clearing space around himself.

  “Wait!” Rae reached out to him. “Are you just going to go? At least stay for lunch.”

  Reid shook his head. “I don’t like to stay away for too long.” He shot them a wry smile, which lit up his face and made it darkly handsome. “The cubs I help take care of get unruly. Besides”—he grew somber again—“I’m Fae. They’re used to me in the Las Vegas Shiftertown but I wouldn’t last long here.”