by Zoe Chant
Finally, Matt’s form shivered underneath him as he shifted back to human.
Grey released his throat and backed up a few paces, waiting to make sure Matt wasn’t faking him out before he shifted himself.
Paul was standing off to the side with his mouth open.
“As the lady said,” Grey told Matt and Paul. “Consequences.”
Paul went silently over to help Matt to his feet. Matt was bleeding in several places, but was well enough to angrily shake off Paul’s helping hands and haul himself to his feet on his own.
“This isn’t over,” Matt snarled as limped toward his truck.
There was a shiver of movement in the corner of Grey’s eye, and he turned to see Alethia.
But not the human Alethia. She stood on all fours in her snow leopard form, her teeth bared.
“Whoa!” Matt stumbled backward.
Paul was staring. “Ali!” He turned to Grey. “Did you do that to her?”
“No,” Grey said coldly. “I did that for her.”
Alethia snarled. Matt and Paul both jumped.
She prowled forward, and they retreated toward the truck.
“Alethia is telling you that it is over,” Grey told him. “And if you’re too stupid to figure that out, I guess that shouldn’t surprise me.”
The doors had barely closed before the truck tore away down the driveway.
Grey turned to Alethia. “Was that the sort of consequence you wanted?”
She was glaring after the truck, but at his words, she shimmered back into her human form, and turned to him. “Yes. Thank you. And thank you for holding back. I wanted to see him humiliated, and I got that in spades.”
“I wouldn’t have killed him,” he reassured her. “I have more self-control than that. And he wouldn’t be worth so much trouble, anyway.”
That made her laugh a little. “I guess you’re right,” she said. “After all, he doesn’t matter anymore, does he?”
“Nope,” he said, putting his arm around her. “Come on, let’s go back inside.”
***
Ali had never had anyone do anything like that for her before.
Grey had fought Matt because he’d hurt her. And he’d do it again if she was hurt in the future. She knew it in her bones.
After they got inside, Grey sat down in the big overstuffed chair in front of the fire, and tugged her until she sat down on top of him with a squeak. “Wait, that can’t be comfortable, I’m too heavy.”
“Are you kidding?” Grey cupped her hips in his hands. “You can sit on my lap any time. You’ve got just the right curves to hold onto like this.”
She smiled helplessly, her self-consciousness melting away, and turned to kiss him.
“Mmm.” Grey kissed her back, again and again before he pulled away. “Ready to leave this town? Ready to come up north with me and find our own place together?”
Ali pictured leaving Prescott. Just picking up and leaving it behind. Her crappy job, her judgmental relatives, her bad reputation. All gone.
And in their place, Grey Landin, who was looking at her with warm silvery eyes, lit in the firelight.
“Yes,” she said. “Yes. Yes!”
Grey wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her fiercely. “Thank you,” he whispered against her lips.
“You know,” she said. He pulled back to listen. “When I was with Matt, I thought I knew what love was. It was this desperate wish to be noticed. It was this feeling that I wasn’t good enough, and I had to be better so he’d love me back.”
Grey’s arms tightened around her.
“Then after we broke up, I thought love was a con. That people only ever said that they loved each other to get something. That was when I was dating so much. Because I thought there was nothing more than that.”
He kissed her temple.
“Then, as I got older, I thought that there might be something more out there…but I didn’t know what it was and I didn’t think I’d ever get it.”
Ali pulled back just enough to look him in the eye. “I love you,” she said. “And it’s like a rock under my feet, it’s like a fire to warm myself at, it’s like a roof over my head. It’s the best thing I have ever felt. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”
His eyes kindled into silver flame as he kissed her again. “I love you. And I can’t wait either.”
Epilogue
Alethia had never been anywhere as beautiful as Glacier National Park.
Grey was talking to his friend Cal, but Alethia wasn’t listening to a word they said—she was too busy admiring the mountains stretching up into the distance.
She could live here for the rest of her life and that view would still take her breath away.
Grey and Cal’s voices got louder as they neared her. “I want you to meet my mate,” Grey was saying.
Alethia tore her eyes away from the scenery and shook Cal’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Alethia Parker.”
She was getting used to using her full name again. It was a little strange to think of herself as Alethia again inside her own head, but it no longer felt weird for other people to call her by her full name.
It helped that her snow leopard was definitely Alethia. What she liked most of all, apart from her mate, was having that that true form inside her.
“Soon-to-be Alethia Landin,” Grey added.
And she couldn’t wait to get away from being a Parker. A whole new her.
“It’s nice to meet you, too.” Cal had a quiet smile on his face, and he was giving Grey a knowing look. “I used to think that Grey Landin would never settle down. It’s nice to see him proving me wrong. You must be some woman to have him looking at you like that.”
Alethia raised her eyebrows at Grey, curious. He gave her a look that said, Later. “She is. And now that I’m settling down, you’ve got no excuses, yourself.”
Cal laughed and shook his head. “No, I’m a confirmed bachelor. Married to my job.”
“It seems like a great job to be married to,” Alethia offered. “This place is beautiful.”
Cal nodded. “The most beautiful place in the world. And I’ve been over every mile of it. I could never leave.”
The intensity of his feeling came through in his voice, even as quiet as it was. Alethia glanced over at Grey. “I think we might end up feeling the same way.”
Grey’s smile intensified. “I know we will.”
“Well, let me point you at your new house, then,” Cal said. “You’re welcome to get a place in town, if you want, but the family housing for rangers is pretty good.”
Family housing. Alethia thought about what that might mean, in the future.
Cal gave them directions, and they said their goodbyes and went back to the truck. Grey lifted her up easily into the cab, and they drove off.
Alethia looked at Grey once they were moving. “What did Cal mean? All that stuff about you being hard to pin down. You’ve been full-speed-ahead since we first laid eyes on each other.”
Grey glanced at her, a warm look in his eyes. “Can you blame me?”
Alethia refused to be distracted. “Don’t change the subject.”
He glanced away for a second, then back. “All right. I already told you that I was kind of wild when I was younger.”
“I remember.” Although to be truthful, Alethia had a hard time picturing Grey being wild. He was one of the most grounded men she’d ever met.
“Getting into fights, doing stupid, dangerous stunts. Shifting where people might see. And also trying my luck with any girl who looked like she might be willing.”
“Oh. Well, we’ve both had to work hard to get ahead of our pasts, haven’t we?”
He nodded. “When my friend Ben died, I realized that I wasn’t doing anything with my life but screwing it up. I turned right around, I worked hard to qualify as a ranger, I got a job and I did good work.”
“I know you did,” Alethia said softly. “When you put your mind to someth
ing, it gets done.”
He looked over at her. “That’s a trait we share.”
She blushed, and he went on, “I was working hard, but I still got with girls sometimes. I never tried to find anything long-term. I thought I wanted to be alone.”
Grey shook his head. “I’d already changed before I got to Colorado. I knew I didn’t want any trouble, that I was tired of one-night stands. But meeting you…” He looked over at her again, and this time he smiled. “It showed me what I wanted instead.”
The truck came around a curve, and suddenly they were in a little residential area just outside the official border of the park. Grey glanced at the piece of paper Cal had given him and pulled up to a house.
Alethia stared at it. “Is this ours?”
It wasn’t huge, but it was a lot bigger than Paul and Molly’s tiny little place. And it was…nice. Well-kept, a nice little yard, a big bay window…
“Comes with the job,” Grey told her. “Do you want to check it out?”
Alethia nodded.
Grey had the keys, and they went inside. “There’s even furniture!” Alethia exclaimed.
Grey nodded. “The man who lived here retired. He’s touring the country in his RV. He didn’t want all the furniture.”
The house was open and airy-feeling, not cluttered at all. It had light wood floors and a cream-colored couch.
Grey caught her hand as she was looking around. “I want to give you something.”
“A beautiful home isn’t enough?” she asked, already feeling dazed with happiness.
“That’s for both of us. I wanted to get a present just for you.” He reached into his pocket and took out a box. It was long, thin, and velvet-covered.
Alethia felt her eyes go wide. She took the box from him and opened it slowly. Inside was a delicately beautiful silver necklace with a sapphire pendant.
She touched it, speechless. No one had ever given her anything like this before.
“Do you like it?” Grey was watching her closely.
“Of course I like it! It’s so beautiful. Thank you, thank you so much.” She leaned up into his kiss. “I love it.”
He cupped her face. “I don’t know much about things like jewelry and perfume, but I’m going to learn. I want to be able to give you nice things.”
Alethia felt warmed all over. Not by the necklace itself, even though it was gorgeous and she couldn’t wait to wear it, but by Grey’s words. He wanted to give her things that she loved.
“I’m so happy,” she sighed. She took the necklace out of the box and held it out to him. “Will you put it on me?”
He smiled. “It would be my pleasure.”
She turned around and bent her head, pulling her hair to the side. Grey’s fingers tickled the back of her neck as he fiddled with the clasp. When he finished, he pressed a kiss just above where it rested at her nape.
She touched the pendant and turned back around to kiss him again. He wrapped her up in his arms and held her tight.
“I love you,” he whispered into her ear. “I can’t wait to share my life with you.”
“In our house.” Alethia still couldn’t believe it. A mate who loved her, a house to share with him, beautiful country all around, a future stretching before them…
“The house has three bedrooms,” she murmured.
“Family housing.” Grey’s voice was teasing.
She pulled back to raise her eyebrows at him. “Were you thinking of having a family?”
Grey’s eyes were warm and bright. “I always thought I didn’t want one. I was such trouble as a kid. But now that I’m with you, we can handle some trouble. And that’s the kind of trouble I do want.”
Alethia wrapped her arms around him again. “Me, too.”
He kissed her. She leaned into his embrace and felt the future unfolding in front of them.
The End
A note from Zoe Chant
Thank you for buying my book! I hope you enjoyed it. If you’d like to be emailed when I release my next book, please click here to be added to my mailing list.
Please click on the title to write a review of The Snow Leopard’s Mate. I love hearing what my readers think! It helps me decide what to write next.
Page down to read a special sneak preview of Alpha Bear Detective, by Zoe Chant.
The cover of The Snow Leopard’s Mate was designed by Belle Arden.
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Special Sneak Preview
Levi had screeched the car to a halt in front of the Capitol building as Danny called in shots fired, and they’d leapt out and taken opposite routes into the darkened grounds, trying to cover as much territory as possible.
Levi had been the one to find the shooter…just in time.
As he helped the intended victim to her feet, she met his eyes, and he couldn't help but stare.
She was absolutely gorgeous. Long, curling black hair, full mouth, dark eyes surrounded by long lashes, and very generous curves. Her chest was heaving, which really showed off her—
Levi forced his eyes away, surprised at himself. Here the poor woman was running for her life, hyperventilating out of panic, and Levi was such an asshole caveman that all he could think about was her hot body? He was usually a better man than that.
He met her eyes instead. Trying to ignore how beautiful they were, he asked if she was all right.
“I’m fine,” she said.
But Levi wasn’t so sure. She was still breathing in quick, panicky bursts, and—there was a spreading dark stain on her left sleeve. “You’re bleeding.” Unable to help himself, he brushed his fingers over her arm just above where she was hurt.
That was definitely not procedure. Hurrying to cover how unprofessional he was being, he told her, “You need a doctor.”
Fortunately, she didn’t seem to be upset—or paying attention anymore. Instead, she was scanning the area.
Which was what he should’ve been doing, instead of ogling the victim.
“Laura!” she called. “Laura?”