by Hazel Gower
This week Grayson was close by and had been in the wings, ready to come in and save her. She didn’t need saving. She was safe. She needed to believe she was too. She hoped if she told herself enough it would sink in. Looking out at the sea, she thought of what she wanted. She needed goals, even if they were small or silly, but she wanted—no, needed—things to work toward. Now she was free to live a life and not stay hidden.
Schooling. She had only gone to school until she’d been captured at eleven, which had been the middle of year five. She’d struggled with school because of her disability. Reading minds wasn’t helpful either because not everything she heard was nice or appropriate. It didn’t help that when the school did get the aid she needed and she started to get a little ahead, her parents moved because they thought the demons were close. She was behind, and she’d like to further her education.
Swimming. She knew the basics. How to float and the doggy paddle, but she wanted to be better. Nara wanted to be able to swim in the ocean. To do laps in a pool. She watched as the waves crashed to the shore and knew that safely she could only go in up to her thighs. She wasn’t a strong swimmer and the waves would be too much for her inexperience. Learning to swim was one goal she would set for herself.
Food. Until she’d been taken, she’d never truly known hunger. The demons weren’t good at making food or giving it. Before she’d been kidnapped she’d been too little to learn to cook. Now though, she could. She intended to learn to make all types of food.
Love. Nara loved her mother, brother, and sister, but she wanted to be loved like she’d seen in movies and watched her sister’s mate Arden treat Remy and the other shifters treat their mates. Grayson said she was his mate, but Nara wasn’t sure. To tell the truth everything seemed way too good now, and she worried it wouldn’t last. She was scared that she’d mess it up too. She’d never been with a man before, or even liked one in the way she did Grayson, and he wasn’t just any man, he was a shifter.
She stopped walking along the beach and sat down on the sand. Her fingers dug in the grains, and she let it sift through her fingers before digging them in again. Nara took a deep breath of the sea salt air, enjoying the fresh, soothing smell. She sat basking in the enjoyment of watching the calming ocean. Time passed, but she didn’t notice or care.
She thought over again what she wanted and the four goals she’d set for herself. They were doable. They would all push her to different stages in her new independence and bring her out of her comfort zone. She was scared, and she knew each goal would test new fears further. She was terrified of losing her family, her sister especially when she’d only just found her. Nara was scared that if she gave Grayson a chance, he would break her heart, or she would fall in love and be taken again. She was also scared that she was missing out on him. Missing out on what she was destined to do.
Lost in her thoughts, it took her a moment to feel it, but when she did she knew the mind as soon as he left the wooden steps and entered the beach. Nara didn’t bother turning to see Grayson. She knew he was coming to her. His leopard had purred as soon as he spotted her on the beach, “Mate.”
She brought her knees up and rested her chin on them. Transfixed by the waves crashing to the shore, she waited for Grayson. It was time to talk to him. He’d given her space, and she knew today was the time he was going to start getting closer to her. She was ready, or as ready as she’d ever be.
* * * *
Grayson
This week had been heaven and hell all wrapped into one. Grayson understood why Nara had needed her space and time to think. She had options now. She was free. He couldn’t even imagine what she would be feeling, knowing that what she thought her future would be was now so different. Even if she had somehow escaped from the demons, he didn’t think she would have thought to find shifters to help keep her safe or gone to the water and stayed close. Her whole life had been one cage after another, restricted because of how she’d lived. Now she had so much more freedom, and not only that, she had a sister, a whole new family and him.
Grayson wanted to give Nara everything. So the time she asked for had been hard, but he would do anything for her. His leopard was holding back now, waiting for their mate. His feral nature was almost dormant, as if it knew the fragile nature of their mate.
The hard thing had been letting her breathe and take in everything that had happened alone. Grayson wanted to hold her, to tell her everything would be okay. He wanted to…well, basically coddle her, but she needed to figure out where she stood and what she wanted in this new course of her life, and as much as he didn’t want to, he had to let her. He had to show her he would support her and let her have what she needed.
Today was the first day she’d gone out by herself. She hadn’t left the house without her sister, mother, or one of the Wolfens. Today though she’d left after lunch, and it was now late afternoon and she wasn’t back. He was worried, but knew he had to let her fly free. He was sure if she was ready for this, she was ready to talk. She had grown, and he was so damn proud of her.
It was time to find her though. He had an idea of where she might be. She walked with Remy every day and she came back beaming, happier each time she went. The beach. The ocean. He hadn’t heard any mind-to-mind links since he found her and he was sure she shouted her name at him, but when she came back from the beach, her mind shouted at him her love of the ocean and beach. She loved the feel of the sand, the smell of the salt in the air, and watching the waves crash to shore. She didn’t use words, but the images she sent were enough. He would build a house for her as close to the water as he could get.
He strolled to the beach, stopping at the wooden stairs to the entry onto the sand and looking back and forth along the long stretch until he spotted Nara sitting by the shore. His leopard purred loudly “mate”.
Grayson made his way to her, taking his time and drinking her in. When he had rescued her from her prison her hair had been dull and lifeless, but now it shone brightly in the late afternoon sun, red strands shining off her strawberry blonde hair. The closer he got, the clearer her skin became, and now she had color. She had been white and her skin sickly looking, but now it had a light tan, and she glowed. Each time he saw her, she got more beautiful.
He came up behind her and shouted his thoughts at her, hoping she’d hear them. “Are you ready to talk, or do you need more time?” He sat down beside her.
Nara had her legs up, hugging them to her. They came down when he turned to her and her hands went wild signing. “You don’t have to shout. I’m attuned to you now.”
Signing back to her, Grayson also said the words in his mind. “Does that mean I don’t need to sign? You can hear my thoughts?”
“Yes, because now I’m focusing on you, and I’ve become more attuned.” She stopped signing and tapped her head.
He wondered if their bond would strengthen when he fully mated her. He was eager to find out, but knew that wouldn’t happen for a while. “Do you know what you want?” Grayson thought clearly and signed.
Nara’s hands flew, and he concentrated for a moment on them, but a second later he heard her in his head, but this time it was different, because it wasn’t just a word it was more…a soft, sweet, almost musical voice. “I have four goals…” She shrugged. “…things I want to do. Advance my schooling, learn how to swim and how to cook.”
Grayson waited for the fourth, but she didn’t say anything. “And the fourth one?”
Her cheeks turned pink and darkened to a red as his gaze focused on her. “I want to work on us. I’d like to have what I see the other couples have. Truthfully, I don’t know if we’ll have it. I’m not the same as them.” Now that she had a link to him she was good. Her fingers still moved, but he didn’t need to watch them.
“I don’t want them. You are my other half. Meant for no one else.” Grayson gathered her hands in his own and brought them up and kissed her knuckles. He kept a hold of her hands. She was talking so well to him that she didn’t
need them, and he wanted to touch her, to hold her so badly. His leopard purred, happy to be close with his mate. He’d like to have their naked bodies skin to skin, but he knew that wouldn’t be happening for some time.
“You want to do that with me?” Her blush spread from her face down her neck to her chest.
“You saw that?” Grayson knew he had a Cheshire cat grin on his face. She’d blushed and leaned into him but hadn’t turned away from him when she’d ‘seen’ the images he’d imagined of them naked together. This was bigger progress than he thought he would get from her. She was young and had been held captive for eight years. Grayson expected progress in their relationship to be slow. The bond between them must be a strong one. “I want to do that with you. I want to do many things with you.” Numerous images of all the things he wanted to do to her flashed in his mind.
Nara’s groan was music to him. He would say ‘to his ears’, but she didn’t talk out loud. He was okay with her voice in his head. He liked how intimate it felt.
“I never thought I’d get to have this.” She flashed a picture of them sitting in the sand, him holding her hands. “A relationship. A chance to have someone to love me. A chance to have a family of my own. I know I’m young, but I feel like I’m a lot older than I am.”
“Your soul is old. I’m happy you want us together.” He was; Grayson had worried that her week of space and thinking would have her not wanting to have a relationship so soon after being free and while she was so young. He knew at her age he would have never been as stable as she was after being held captive for so long, and even without what she had gone through, he wouldn’t have been ready for a mate at her age. He was so proud of her, proud to have such a strong mate. His leopard pranced back and forth, preening at how amazing their mate was.
“Can I see your leopard?” Her big, warm brown eyes gazed into his, and Grayson knew he would do anything for her.
Darting his gaze around the beach, he saw a shifter and some humans, but he knew the humans were paranormal and they knew about shifters. The town was now on lockdown, and they didn’t really get outside humans much anymore.
Letting her hand go, he stood and started stripping. Grayson didn’t know if he expected her to turn away or watch him, but she didn’t take her gaze from him as he stripped. He loved watching her eyes widen, her mouth open and close over and over, and her hands clench. She liked what she saw. Grayson stretched and loved how she inched closer to get a better look.
Naked, he let his leopard free. He took over and Grayson loved Nara’s reaction. She jumped in joy and couldn’t hold herself back from hugging him and running her fingers over him, sending words of love to him about how much she adored his leopard form. “You’re beautiful. So soft. Wow, I’m touching a real live leopard.”
Grayson hadn’t known if he’d still be able to hear her in his leopard form, but he was happy he could; it confirmed their strong bond. His leopard wouldn’t stop purring. He’d never purred before in his life until he met Nara. He was lapping—literally at her cheek—her attention up.
Grayson wondered if he could project to her mind in his leopard form. “I’m happy you like me in both forms.”
Nara’s smile had his cat rubbing up on her and practically sitting on her lap; he liked her smiling just as much as the human side of him did.
“Will you stay in this form for me? I’d love to sleep snuggling up to you. Maybe…maybe the…” She looked up from him and stared out at the water for a while, and he waited for more. She took her time before gazing back at him. “I feel safe with you in this form. I want the nightmares to stop. Will you try sleeping with me in this form so maybe I won’t get nightmares?”
He would do anything to make Nara happy, and if sleeping with him in his leopard form did that, he’d do it. His leopard preened, and Grayson knew that keeping him in his cage from now on was going to be hard.
Chapter 2
Grayson
His leopard was in heaven. He’d slept all night with their mate. He knew she wasn’t ready for the man, but he was happy to stay with her in leopard form if that helped them get closer. He didn’t like staying in his leopard form for so long; he was old, and before he’d met Nara, close to going feral. Grayson’s leopard was cocky. It may be the other half of him, but it was the ‘arrogant and always thought he was right’ part. Right now he was prancing around and on cloud nine.
Grayson didn’t want to leave the bed this morning, but he wanted to serve her breakfast in bed. He crept out of her room naked and almost squealed like a little girl when a feminine cleared throat sounded behind him.
“Do you want to tell me why the hell you’re sneaking out of my daughter’s room naked?” Irene’s voice was filled with venom. She wasn’t a fan of him, Arden, or really any of the shifters. Grayson and everyone else cut her some slack though, because she’d had a hellish life.
Turning, he cupped his balls and dick. Shifters weren’t usually cautious of nudity, but the woman he now looked at was his mate’s mother. He backed down the hall toward the sunroom where all his stuff was. “She asked me to sleep with her.”
Her eyes widened and she screeched, “What!”
Grayson shook his head. He raised his hands and then dropped them when he realized he’d exposed himself. “In leopard form. I slept in leopard form all night. I’ve just changed back and am going to put on some tracksuit pants and make Nara some breakfast.”
When he got no response, he backed all the way down the hall, shut the door to the sunroom, and quickly grabbed a pair of pants and slipped them on. Grayson wanted to have breakfast ready before Nara woke up. Leaving the room, he was relieved not to see Irene anywhere.
He went straight to the kitchen, happy to find it empty too. He knew Remy and Arden would sleep until noon, as Arden had patrolled late and Remy had stayed up waiting for him, binge-watching sappy drama shows.
Grayson grabbed everything he needed from the fridge, cupboards, and drawers, and started on breakfast for his mate. The eggs were done and he was just crisping up the bacon when the hairs on his back rose, and he knew Irene was there before she even opened her mouth.
“You’re not taking her from me. I’m her mother. She’s my baby. My child. You’re not taking her,” Irene snapped.
Grayson dropped the spatula, turned, and raised his hands. “I’m not taking her from you. She’s my mate. She—”
Her finger poked his chest as she interrupted him. “I know you’re her hero, but just because you are doesn’t give you the right to take advantage of her.”
She stopped, and he waited for her to say more, but when he looked behind her he saw Nara standing there. She looked adorable with her messy bed hair, wearing one of his shirts, which was baggy on her, yoga pants, and bare feet with her toenails painted bright pink. She was beautiful, and he felt so lucky to know she was his.
* * * *
Nara
Rested. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a full night’s sleep without being plagued by nightmares. Last night she’d slept eight hours. Grayson had slept in leopard form next to her, and she’d loved it. It was the first time she could remember ever feeling safe, loved, and cared for.
Grayson wasn’t in bed now. Stretching, she sat up and looked around the room for him. She didn’t see her leopard, or the man. Smiling, she eased out of bed. Nara couldn’t stop grinning, Grayson’s leopard was hers; she didn’t know about him as a man, but she felt that his leopard was all hers.
Nara went to the bathroom and freshened up. She went to the drawers, grabbed some yoga pants, and slipped them on. She’d slept in a large men’s shirt. It smelled just like Grayson. She had tank tops but hated sleeping in them. Nara had taken one of his shirts and didn’t think he knew until she noticed a new one the next night and a grin of pure satisfaction when she saw him each morning.
Comfortable, she padded down the hall and into the kitchen, stopping at the entry with the sight before her. Her mother was standing in fron
t of Grayson, stabbing him with her index finger. She couldn’t see her mum’s face so she didn’t know what was being said, so she did what she had promised her mother a long time ago she wouldn’t do—read her mind.
“He thinks he can just come in and be her hero. He’s not taking advantage of my daughter, and he’s not going to take her from me. Sleeping in his cat form all night my arse.”
Nara bit her lip and went to her mum and wrapped her arms around her.
Her mother spun in her embrace, kissed her forehead, and eased back so Nara could read her lips. “What happened to your promise?” She tapped her head and then Nara’s forehead. “Stay out of my head.”
Nara felt heat at her back and smelled the soothing scent of the ocean and knew it was Grayson. He always smelled so good, like a clean, fresh, woodsy smell, or the ocean sea breeze. He didn’t touch her, but he was close enough she could feel the heat of his body and she could hear his thoughts and they were directed at her.
“How’d you sleep, honey?”
She wanted to turn so badly, but her mother was giving her the look—the one every mother has that scrutinizes their children into knowing everything they think and have done. “Good.” Nara gave her head a mental shake. “No, better than good. I had my first nightmare-free night. Thank you.” Nara stepped back so she brushed against his chest. “I’m sorry about Mum.”
“She’s just being a mum.”
Nara loved his voice. She might not ‘hear it’, but she did in her head, and it was deep, raspy, and sounded like a purr. His cat sent purrs into her head all the time, and she loved the sound. She leaned back, and as soon as her back touched his chest, purring rebounded around in her head. She wished he would touch her, but she knew with her mother watching he wouldn’t. He was a gentleman.