by Hazel Gower
Little-bit struggled in his arms, but he wasn’t letting her go even if his life depended on it. Grayson looked over at Arden and smiled at him. He grinned back. Grayson knew his best friends would be happy he’d found his mate as he was safe from going feral. Arden had come close to it himself.
“Let’s get our mates out of here. I want Kane to look them over,” Arden said. Grayson couldn’t have agreed with him more. “Dr. Jerome is here also.”
Grayson nodded, and they made their way to an exit, but they didn’t get far before a woman who looked just like Remy, but sickly skinny, dragged a half-human, half-demon boy to them and got in their faces. “Let them go. Put them down,” she screeched.
Arden didn’t stop and moved around her and Grayson followed suit, wanting to get his mate checked over too.
“Grayson, cover her eyes,” Arden shouted as the light got brighter with the exit ahead of them. “We don’t know how long some of them have been under here.”
He covered his little-bit’s eyes and didn’t miss her flinch as they stepped out into the morning sun.
He followed Arden straight to a medical tent, and Arden ordered Kane to look over Remy. Grayson gently placed his little-bit on one of the hospital beds. “What is your name?”
Her lips didn’t move, but her hands flew up and her fingers moved quickly.
Blinking, he spoke again, but this time slower. “My name is Grayson.” He pointed to his chest. “You’re safe now. What is your name?”
She narrowed her eyes, and her lips thinned. Then he jumped back and gazed around as he heard shouting in his head, “Nara.”
When his gaze fell back on her he raised his brow, unsure if he heard what he thought he did. Her face lit up for a moment, and her hands and fingers went flying again. When he didn’t say anything, her face dimmed, and his heart sank at the thought that he’d brought that look over her pretty face. She was pretty, even covered in dirt, her long strawberry blonde hair in one massive knot, her clothes ripped and threadbare, and her body was definitely close to emaciated. He couldn’t wait to fatten her up and see her healthy. He bet she would be stunning.
Anxiously, he turned to Kane, hoping he was done looking over Remy so he could move onto his mate, Nara…well, maybe that was her name.
Kane came over to them, and Grayson moved to the side so Kane could check out his little-bit. Kane smiled down at his mate. “Who do we have here, Grayson?”
Grayson raised his hand and shrugged. “I don’t know. She won’t talk. She’s my mate though.” Damn, it felt good to say that. The little-bit had just saved his life and given him a reason to live and keep fighting. She was the woman he was destined to love. His leopard purred and wanted to take over and sit on his woman’s lap and let her pet him. She’d turned him into a lap cat.
His mate started moving her hands again, and Kane smiled like he knew what she was doing. “Hi, Nara. I’m Dr. Kane Wolfen.” Grayson raised his brow when he saw Kane move his fingers at his mate and then turn to him. “She’s deaf. I can sign. I’m rusty, but I remember. Faith and Kirby will teach you if you ask. The place they work at has one child who’s deaf and another who’s hearing impaired.”
Grayson nodded, but didn’t take his gaze off his mate. He would learn how to talk to her. He would study hard so he could communicate. He wondered if she had been the one to yell the name into his head. If so, he wondered if they could learn to talk that way. It would be cool to talk so intimately.
Grayson looked over at Arden and Remy and then back to his mate. “Ask her why she was yelling at Arden.”
This time Grayson watched Kane’s hands as he moved them slower than she did, but he looked up when Kane was done to see her eyes light up and a beaming smile spread over her face as she signed back. Kane burst out laughing halfway through her signing. He laughed so hard he held his stomach. Grayson wished he knew what she was saying. He caught her gaze and shouted in his mind. “Please tell me what’s so funny?”
When he got no answer, he snarled at Kane, “What are you laughing about, wolf?”
Kane’s laughter died down, and he signed quicker to Nara this time before he turned back to Grayson. “You’ll never guess who she is. I only hope for your sake she isn’t anything like her sister.”
Grayson became more intrigued and would have asked what the hell Kane was talking about, but Arden beat him to it. “For crying out loud, Kane, who is she?”
“She’s Remy’s sister.”
At Kane’s words, Grayson darted his gaze from his mate to Remy, and he almost fell to his knees at what became glaringly obvious. The two women looked so similar they could be twins, except Remy had blue eyes and his mate had a warm brown color and her hair was more strawberry blonde. And he just knew they would have similar figures once Nara gained some weight.
Arden interrupted his thoughts when he muttered, “I wonder how old she is?”
Grayson gave a mental shake. These should be questions he should be asking.
Kane signed to her. “She says she’s nineteen. That she was caught with her mother and father when she was eleven.”
His heart sank and guilt like he’d never felt before assaulted him. How could he have not known his mate was out there and had been captured for so long? How could he not have done everything in his power to kill as many demons as he could? He shouldn’t have given up and rested. He should have kept fighting, not started to wind down.
He ignored Arden and wallowed in his guilt. He vowed from this moment on he would fight the demons. and his priority was a safe and happy mate. His goal now in life was to make sure she never had to worry that demons would take her again. She would live the life she wanted. Grayson promised himself he would give her everything she needed and more.
He heard Kane tell Arden that his mate still had her mother and she had a half-demon brother like Faith. When Kane told them that she could read minds Grayson just knew she was the one who had yelled Nara in his mind. But she told Kane that she was having trouble reading Grayson’s mind. He wondered if that was why she hadn’t tried talking mind-to-mind again. He needed to work with her; maybe they could figure out how to communicate that way.
“Cats don’t have much in their brains to read,” Arden said, and Nara must have read it in his mind, because she giggled. It was a silent giggle, but you could tell it was giggling.
Grayson winked at Nara and snarled at Arden, “Watch it, wolf.”
Arden grinned at him just as Jamie came barging in, stopping their banter. A woman, who Grayson assumed might be Remy and Nara’s mother, followed close on his heels, holding a demon-boy’s hand. She rushed over to Nara when she spotted her and let go of the boy’s hand to sign. Nara signed back and pointed to each of them.
The woman hugged Nara and in a choked voice whispered, “Thank you for saving us. Thank you.”
* * * *
Grayson didn’t leave Nara’s side. He stayed with her, and even when he showed her the make-shift bathroom facilities, he waited as close as he could. He helped her get some food—dry biscuits and soup. He stopped her from gulping down the water, making sure she sipped it slowly so she didn’t make herself sick. He even helped her with her Ugg boots. He loved her face when she had those on; she lit up, her eyes went a lighter brown, her smile turned blinding as it spread wide, and her cheeks gained color. Her hands kept going in and feeling the fur. She rubbed the soft tracksuit pants on her body, and he knew she liked how nice they felt.
One thing he did notice was she asked about Remy a lot. He’d learned the sign for Remy’s name from watching her, and thanks to her mother signing back and using her voice when she did. Nara wanted her sister.
When they arrived home at the base and were all meeting up again to discuss what had happened and where all the new refugees would live, Remy and Arden appeared and Nara gravitated straight to her sister. He had a feeling she wasn’t letting Remy out of her sight anytime soon.
When Arden offered the spare rooms up in his house to
Nara and their mother and brother, Grayson knew that he wouldn’t let Nara be too far from him. She would stay in the same house as him, even if he had to give up his house so he could be with her.
“Nara stays with me.” He growled so they knew he meant what he said. He got up in Arden’s face, ready to challenge him if he dared to deny him.
“What the hell is wrong with you two?” Remy snapped at him and Arden. “Grayson, what on earth are you talking about? My sister is not for you.”
What the hell? How could Remy say that to him? He thought she was his friend. “Stay out of this, Rem.” He put a little bit of a bite in his tone, so she knew he meant business and wasn’t being his usual playful self.
“You so just didn’t tell me to stay out of this.” Her blue eyes darkened, and he knew he should have gone about this differently when she continued in a clipped tone. “I may have been dumped by them, but they’re still my family. That is my sister.” She pointed to Nara, who straightened and shot a smile her way. “I didn’t know she existed until today, but she’s still my sister. So don’t you dare tell me to stay out of this.” Remy placed her hands on her hips and glared. “I want to know what’s going on.”
Scanning the room, he caught Nara’s gaze and smiled at her. “Nara is mine. She is my mate.”
“Are you sure?” Remy asked. “You sleep with anything that has a vagina.”
Grayson bit his tongue and resisted the urge to growl at Remy, his soon-to-be sister-in-law.
“I don’t want a tomcat for my sister,” she stated.
Grayson couldn’t hold back his snarl.
Remy didn’t seem to notice or care. She raised her brow. “Have you even asked her? Maybe she doesn’t want to be your mate. She might want to get away from all this.” Remy waved her hands around at everyone.
His stomach plummeted, and his heart missed a beat. No, surely his mate wouldn’t reject him when he needed her so much. She was his reason to live now.
Nara patted Remy to get her attention. When she had Remy’s gaze, Nara signed. Her mother came forward to help translate. “Nara says that she will not be going anywhere with…” Their mother trailed off and she huffed. “I’m not saying that.”
Kane’s chuckle had the hairs on Grayson’s skin raising in frustration as he wished he knew sign language.
Their mother sighed. “Fine, but I’m saying it nicer. Nara isn’t going anywhere with the man arguing with her sister. She says she’s not leaving Remy.”
Grayson didn’t need her to tell him that, he could see that she wasn’t leaving Remy.
Their mother had tears running down her face. “She says she always wanted her sister and now that she has Remy she isn’t going anywhere with anyone but her.”
Remy gathered Nara to her and hugged her.
Okay, so Nara wasn’t saying she didn’t want him. She just didn’t want to leave her sister. He understood. There was no denying the absolute love Nara had for Remy. Nara may have only just met her, but there was no doubt she adored her.
Grayson would do anything to make his mate happy, and if being with her sister did that, then he would make sure she stayed with her sister. It meant that he would be staying with Arden and Remy too, because he wasn’t being apart from Nara either.
He looked over at Remy and smirked. She stuck her tongue out and him, and he rolled his eyes. At least what he was about to do would guarantee he was never bored. “I’ll give up my house too. I’m moving in with Arden.”
“Say what!” Remy screeched and eased away from Nara. “You can’t live with us. Cats and dogs don’t live well together.” Remy nudged Arden’s shoulder. “Tell him, Arden.”
Grayson didn’t know if he appreciated the laughter that started up around them.
Arden grinned down at Remy. “Pixie, Nara is his mate.”
Arden went on, but Grayson’s cat had had enough and came out. He hated the distance between their mate. He stalked over to her and his cat eased back again, purring at the closeness to their mate. He focused on the conversation and heard Remy calling him ancient and say she was worried he’d decay. She was a cheeky sod and knew just what buttons to push to get a response.
“I assure you, Rem, that I will not decay,” he stated in his driest tone.
Remy looked from him to her own mate and then her sister for a while before she smiled at him. “You can stay, but I don’t want to find hairballs everywhere.”
The chuckles around him didn’t even annoy him because he saw Nara give a soundless laugh. Her whole body shook with it. He would put up with any of Remy’s taunts just to see the happiness on Nara’s face. His leopard purred, and for the first time in years he looked forward to the future.
* * * *
Nara
The man named Grayson had barely left her sight. He was convinced she was his mate. Remy had explained to her yesterday what that meant, and Nara had spent the night thinking about what she’d learned. She was grateful to Remy for explaining the mate thing. She had sat in front of Nara and made sure she saw her lips move as she spoke. Remy, Arden, and Grayson had been learning sign language as much as they could while trying to explain things to Nara.
Nara liked the idea of a mate, but she wasn’t sure she was ready for one. She needed a little space. She wanted to get her bearings. She wanted to at least give herself a couple of days or a week to settle into her new life. She wanted to get use to knowing she was free.
Nara had spent as much time as she could with her sister over the last two days, when Remy wasn’t with her own mate. She was coming to love her sister even more than she thought she could, and she was so excited that Remy was pregnant and she would become an aunt.
The issue now was she needed to talk to Grayson. She needed some time on her own to settle in. To figure out where she fit now and what she wanted.
She found her mother sitting in the rumpus room with her brother Emmett, relaxing as they watched TV and stuffed their faces with food. Her brother and mother had become food hoarders. When they weren’t shoving food into their mouths, they were stashing it in places.
She sat down and got her mother’s attention and signed. I need you to come and help me talk to Grayson.
Nara heard her sigh projected in her head. Her mother had become an expert at projecting her thoughts at Nara. So much so that she really didn’t need to sign anymore. “Fine. But they really need to hurry up and learn how to sign, Nara, because I can’t follow you everywhere.”
She got up, and they found Grayson in the kitchen cooking Nara’s favorite meal of spaghetti. She felt a little guilty that he was cooking for her and she was about to beg for space. Nara went and tapped his arm. He turned and a smile lit his face. She debated if saying what she wanted to say to him was worth it. Looking over at her mother, she nodded and just did it.
I like you. I like the idea of mates. I am willing to get to know you. But I need some space. Time. I need to get settled. Please, give me time to figure out what my life means now. I never thought I’d be free. I don’t know what I want to do. I don’t know how to live. I need space to think. To start to learn to live. I’d be happy with even a week. I just need time to think of what I want. I know that sound selfish, but for so long I have been caged and now I’m free. Let me be free. Please. Nara signed and tried her most pleading expression to help convey her need.
Grayson watched her hands, and she hoped her mother was talking. He stared at her face for a while after she finished pleading, pouting her lips, cupping her hands together in a pleading motion, and staring into his eyes.
Nara wasn’t sure he was going to go for it, but when he nodded and she heard his ‘oh, okay’ in his mind, she knew he would give her what she asked for. Nara couldn’t help but throw her arms around him. She hugged him and projected, “Thank you. Thank you so much. I need just a little time.”
His arms came around her, and he squeezed tight for a moment before he let her go and turned back to the food, giving Nara her space.
Taking a calming breath in, she slowly let it out as she walked to the back yard and went outside, looking toward the sea. Feeling so free for the first time in years, she went in search of her sister.
Chapter 1
Nara
Demons. Nara couldn’t remember a time in her life when they hadn’t been an issue. Even after being out for almost two weeks, she didn’t think she’d ever stop worrying about them. She told herself over and over that she was safe. Demons wouldn’t get her here; there were too many shifters and they were way too close to so much water. Demons hated water.
The ocean. She loved the smell of it and going for long walks along the beach, watching the waves crash to the shore and the feeling of sand between her toes. It was so peaceful. Calming. Her sister took walks along the beach almost every day, and Nara loved tagging along. She had learned a lot these past couple of weeks about her sister. She was strong, clever, resourceful, forgiving, caring, fun, and so full of life. Remy knew what she wanted. She was tough, but she loved so fiercely. Nara wanted to be just like her.
Remy was learning sign language for her, and when she forgot the sign for a word, or didn’t know the sign, she shouted her thoughts at Nara. Nara was getting really good at reading her sister. Remy always made sure when she spoke—even when she was talking to her mate Arden—she faced Nara so she could read her lips. Well, most of the time. Nara knew when she didn’t that it was something private, or sexy things that Nara didn’t want to know. Nara had caught quite a few thoughts that she really wished she hadn’t.
Mates. That was something she was learning a lot about too. Nara had one. Grayson. She had begged him a little over a week ago to give her space, time. He wouldn’t stay in another house, but he promised to give her what she needed. The problem was she didn’t know what she wanted. Nara had never thought she’d get to be with a man, let alone have a relationship, or even what could result from it. She liked what she saw from the males around her and how they were with their women. Nara didn’t know if she could have what they had though. They were so possessive, and she had already spent eight years in a prison. She wanted to be free and not caged. That was the only thing she did know.