by Lila Felix
“What time?”
“Whatever time is okay with you. Name it and I’ll be there.”
We decided on ten o’clock. I’d have to carry clothes in my mouth, which I often did anyway. I’d kept my eyes closed during the conversation, loving the sound of the bass rumble of his charm roll over me. I didn’t know how he knew where I lived, but I suspected he’d scented me just as I had scented him during the past weeks—maybe months.
“Come in here, Dahlia,” Mom called from the kitchen as soon as I went back into the house. My chest swirled with questions and all things unexplained.
The muscles in my stomach pulled taut in expectation of seeing him again.
He would kiss me.
And I would let him.
“Yes, Mom.” Two cups of coffee were set up on the kitchen table. I took the seat across from her and allowed myself to smile.
“I love that smile. That’s an in love already smile.”
“Not in love, yet, Mom. Just the hope.”
“Says the girl who’s been avoiding her mate for goodness knows how long.”
I shrugged. There was no concrete reason for waiting.
“The Creator’s plans will not be overturned. Just when you think you’ve gotten control over them, he corrects us ever so gently.”
Acacia entered and took the seat next to me, stealing my coffee and taking a big gulp.
“What’s next?”
Mom patted her hand over the table, pushing her patience into my impatient sister. “That’s all up to the couple.”
“I’m going to see him tonight.”
“He won’t come here?” I could tell the scenario distressed Mom. The wrinkle on her forehead creased with her question.
“It was my suggestion. He wanted to come here. I need to know more about him before he comes here.”
“I don’t agree with it, but I knew that a normal coupling wouldn’t be possible with my wild child. You’ll carry your phone with you and let us know you’re safe with him, won’t you?”
“Of course, Mom.”
“Well…” She leaned back in her chair and turned her coffee cup around with her pinkie. “I wish we knew more about this male, but I trust your gut. It’s never steered you wrong. Sometimes, I swear, even when you were growing up, it was like there was no thoughts in your head, and your bear led you by pure, unadulterated instinct. It got you into so much trouble and then wiggled you right out of it. It was like watching a cub in the swamp instead of a child.”
“What’s for dinner?” Robin came in with Briar, those two holding hands as always.
“Whatever Dahlia wants. Tonight is a celebration. What will it be?”
My smile answered her.
“Salmon steaks it is. Ever ruled by her bear.”
I blew out a breath, weighted down with worry. I just hoped my bear didn’t crawl out of me trying to get to my mate like she did earlier. I almost had her tamped down to a minimum—then he put his hands on me.
Only a sliver of humanity stopped us from shifting right there in the halls of the college.
Hearing me think about her, she sent lonely and wanting thought and images to me, blinding me to my human thoughts. Pictures of Tarrow and I curled in embraces with only the moon covering our bodies. The pressure of his bite on my hip. A nip on my lips.
“Look at that blush!” Of course, Acacia would call me out on it.
“Just make the salad and shut up.” I smacked her in the arm and threw open the refrigerator, begging the cold air to shut down the warmth in my cheeks and the jokes cackling behind me.
Payback would be swift and with that many sisters, I would get all the payback in the world.
The meal went off with no more jokes and even my dad emitted a hopeful attitude about it. Once he nearly fell to pieces after my announcement, I thought he’d changed his mind.
“I’m going to study for a while. I’ll check in before I leave.”
Mom hung on to Dad’s arm while he sighed. “I can’t imagine trying to concentrate on studying on the same day as a mating.”
“It’s not going to be easy.”
I ran up the stairs to my room, determined to study, but instead came face to face with what would be my mate’s most critical opponents—all of my sisters.
The onslaught of questions was swift and unrelenting.
“I will answer everything. Can I please just study and see him for more than ten minutes before I have to answer questions? Write them all down. I’ll answer them tomorrow. I swear it.”
With heavy sighs and whining, they left, all but Acacia. She didn’t say a word as I opened my books and notebooks, prepping for at least a valiant attempt at cramming.
“Just say whatever you’re going to say.”
“If you’re happy, that’s all I care about.”
“There wasn’t time for anything today but the hope of happy.” I sighed and tipped my head back. “He’s gorgeous, Cia.”
“At least there’s that.”
I read the same pages over and over, never sponging any of the information I needed to. I hoped that speaking to him that night would afford me a little calm so I could at least survive the rest of the week without ruining the four years I’d already put in.
“Here.” At nine-forty, Acacia handed me a plastic sack with jeans, a long-sleeved thermal shirt and a hairband in it. “I didn’t want you to forget.”
“Thanks.” I hugged her harder than I should. Meeting my mate felt a lot like growing up and abandoning the one soul in the world that understood me and accepted me for what I was.
I made my goodbye to my parents swiftly and then crept out of the back door that faced the swamp. The tang of the murky water invaded my senses and my bear perked up. A smirk rose as her teeth poked through, shifting my human ones out of the way. They would be no good to me amongst the Cypress trees and rabbits already being hunted by my sharpened skills.
Pacing myself, I strolled slowly as the change took over my being, step by step. Toes turned to claws—fur sprouted in and between pores—nose turned to snout.
Tossing the bag full of clothes ahead of me, I fell forward onto all fours and roared, my beast’s call reverberating through and stirring a raven ahead. He cawed in fright and flew high into another tree.
Shivers skittered down my spine, rounded to match my stance. The bag of clothes was fetched between my teeth and I took off in a run to match all runs. I diverted along the trail I usually took, not wanting my steps to be premeditated. My bear heeded my mate’s warning, even if my human didn’t.
Conflicted, I staggered between fast leaps and more lethargic walks, not wanting to seem too eager, but at the same time, craving his presence more and more as the seconds passed. There was a clearing between the break in the trees behind my house and the weeds that began the Clan’s lands. I dropped my clothes several hundred feet before reaching the expanse and paced, huffing impatient breaths through my snout.
One sound of crushing leaves and twigs was all it took to know he was right where we’d decided to meet. The scent of pine and the sound of rapid breathing piqued my ears and nose.
My mate smelled like heaven and sin—slow delicious sin.
I risked a look in the direction of my mate and found he’d shifted and wore nothing but a pair of jeans, worn and ragged at the knees. His feet were bare. His chest gleamed under the crescent moon.
He was mine.
Wasting no more time, I willed my human form to come forth, not without a fight. I slipped on the jeans and shirt, noticing Acacia conveniently forgot to pack a bra or even underwear. She’d been reading too many shifter romance novels.
I wrangled my hair into a semi-neat knot at my nape and gave myself a quick pep talk.
“Dahlia.” I wilted and blossomed every time he said my name. I wanted to run into his arms and let him hold me.
“Tarrow. Hi.”
“I was afraid you wouldn’t come.” He looked down at the barren field at his feet. He s
poke the truth, honestly fearful I wouldn’t keep my word.
An eagle passed overhead, casting a shadow over his form but it did nothing to detract from the gorgeous male that the Creator had made just for me.
“I may not always be on time, but I don’t stand people up—especially my…”
My feet stopped a few feet in front of him. An overwhelming urge to kiss him cracked through my sternum like lightning down the trunk of a tree.
“My mate. I know. It takes some getting used to. We have time.”
“How did you know I ran here? I haven’t seen you on my runs, at least, I don’t think I have.”
It felt treacherous to ask him questions of suspicion when my heart and the other side of me demanded that I trust him at face value.
But humans don’t do that. We don’t trust until we’ve been proven wrong. Even then, it waivers.
“I’ve seen you in the trees for some months. I knew you were my mate.”
I took one step forward just to scent him better.
I’d know it if he were lying. My mom said she could taste my father’s lie in her mouth. He’d only lied to her once and never again.
“I love climbing trees. Why didn’t you pursue me?”
I hated to admit the sadness at him seeing me for so long and not coming after me.
“I almost did. For a while, I thought you may be in trouble or were hiding from someone. That was until I saw you swimming in the bayou from a distance. Then I knew that you were just having a good time. I don’t know. I just had this gut feeling that you weren’t ready to meet me yet.”
“The Creator’s plans find a way.” I whispered to myself, repeating my mom’s earlier sentiments.
“Yes. They do.”
“I…” He took one step toward me and then several backward. “It’s hard to fight him.” His hands splayed over his six-pack as though at any second his bear would claw right out through his belly button. “You live with your parents? Several other females?”
“How did you…”
“I can smell it on you. I’ve got a keen nose. Best in the clan. Six other females, no seven, and one male.”
One side of my mouth turned up in a smile. I was impressed but not yet ready to show him.
“Six sisters and my mom and dad. What about you?”
He sat down in place and stretched his legs out in front of him, crossed at the feet. The night’s atmosphere loved him, casting just the right amount of light over his stomach and chest—and it loved me too because I got to view the show.
“It’s just me and my mom. My dad died when I was seven.”
I stood there feeling a wash of empathy pour over me. Imagining a life without my family and doting parents was impossible for me.
“I know we just met, but this is really torturous for me. Can you come closer, please? If you can’t, or don’t want to, it’s fine. This beast is being more difficult than I’d ever imagined.”
There was nothing I doubted about the man in front of me. Even my bear was desperate for just one touch. I moved slowly and sat next to him, my feet near to his hips and my hips beside his feet.
It wasn’t enough.
He closed the distance between our torsos, scooting up until our hips were next to each other, leaning on his hand now on the other side of my thighs, his fingertips touching mine.
“Thank you. So, do you work at the school or are you in school? How old are you?”
I giggled at his questions and then admonished myself mentally for being such a girl. Yes, I was a girl, but that sound was reminiscent of pre-pubescence.
“I’m twenty. I’m in school and I work at the admissions office. It’s a work-study program. I can’t afford everything on my own and my parents do well just to feed the nine of us. But this is my last semester. After finals, I’m done.”
His eyes never left mine while I spoke. He didn’t make agreement sounds or nod at every breath, fake listening.
“What’s your degree in? What do you want to do?”
“Social work. I’d like to help shifter communities with issues that they can’t go to human resources to solve.”
That confounded him.
“That’s a valiant profession—honorable.”
Valiant wasn’t the word I would use.
“What do you do?”
He shrugged while reaching out to take one of my stray curls in between his forefinger and thumb. “I work for the Alpha in construction and I attend my duties to the clan. That’s all I do.”
My mouth twisted, but I didn’t want to ask. The first night didn’t strike me as the best time to fall into a discussion about politics and clan leadership.
“And your Alpha Female is pregnant? She was in school? I overheard the Alpha say something to that effect.”
“The Couer, Echo, is pregnant. Yes, she was in school, but had to take some incompletes. She’s a tiny thing and carrying the baby at eight or nine months while trying to study is not easy on her. Her health is the most important thing.”
I stiffened with long ago taught contradictions to his telling.
“Because she’s carrying the next Alpha. That’s why she’s important.”
It was a statement, not a question. I knew the truth about clans.
He shook his head. “No. Her health is important because she’s a member of the pack and the heart of who we are. That’s why we call her the Coeur, the heart. No one would be the same if something happened to her, down to the tiniest cub.”
That was not in my dad’s pamphlets. Not that he had pamphlets, per se.
My dad so wished he had pamphlets.
“I don’t understand clans very well.”
He was quiet for a while, on the outside. There was a whirlwind of scenarios swirling inside of him. It was the downward curve of a rollercoaster in my stomach.
“Friday night is the clan dinner. You could meet everyone. Learn more about the clan.”
“I don’t know.”
“I can pick you up and spend some time with your family, get to know them. Then we can go to the dinner and meet some of my people. If you don’t like it or feel uncomfortable we can leave.”
His nervousness spiked.
“What if I don’t like the clan?
Just as another hair decided to rebel, he raised his hand and tucked it back into place. My damned hair was the thorn in my side. I wrestled with my own desire to touch the hair on his face, the lips that smiled at me.
A war with my bear was brewing and she was winning, paws down.
I laid back on the damp land beneath my body, not giving a damn whether or not I got dirty. I never had before. There was no sense in changing it now.
His eyes roamed over me. It was like the gentlest touch from head to toe.
“You’re my female, Dahlia. Your needs and wants will always come before mine. If one day you decide you don’t want to be in the clan, then I will leave them. It wouldn’t be a sacrifice or a choice.”
“It’s not anything we have to talk about now, Tarrow. Friday is on. I’ll meet your people and you can meet mine. There’s nothing that has to be decided tonight.”
I yawned, probably awakening every bobcat in a mile radius.
“I’ve taken up too much of your time.”
I heard him sit back up and then raise to a standing position. There was a tinge of aggravation weaving its way into his heart.
He was aggravated with me. Already, I’d drummed up controversy and threatened to upheave his life.
One thing was right. I wasn’t prepared for any of this.
When I opened my eyes, he stood over me, smiling. I moved to get up. He extended both hands to help me and Creator help me, I let him, loving the feel of his skin on mine.
It wasn’t enough for the animal inside me, but she could just shove it.
As I came to a stand, he pulled once and my breath failed me once again as our chests collided, his unclad and mine barely covered with a thin shirt. His eyelashes were the cli
ncher. Yes, he had a killer body and a voice that could melt chocolate from a distance, but when he batted those come-hither brown eyes—I was done in.
“Everything will be fine. There’s nothing to worry about. Don’t you know the mated male’s creed? Rev’s been drilling into our heads constantly.”
I shook my head and stored the phrase in my head to ask my father about at a later time.
“Who is Rev?”
“The first Beta.”
“There’s more than one Beta?”
“Yeah. There’s three of us.”
Now the shadow was on me. Tarrow wasn’t just a clan member, he was part of their threads.
“I should go.”
“Sure. Any chance you can text me when you get home?”
“Why, worried I won’t make it?”
I expected a smart ass answer back. “Actually, yes, I am. Don’t try to get me to stop, either. I have a feeling I will be one worried male for the rest of my life.”
His concern seeped into my veins. Hands moved to cup my face and tip my chin up at the same time. I fell into a trance where my only saving grace would be his full lips on mine.
“I want to, beautiful. I do. I think we should have more time than this before that happens.”
Warm breath, sweet and male wafted on my face, coercing me deeper under his spell. My legs faltered once again.
“Breathe, Dahlia.” He chuckled, placing a single angst-inducing kiss to my neck, right under my ear.
I inhaled and returned.
“I don’t want to leave you.”
My bear pushed the words into my throat, but my heart brought them to life, vibrant, truthful life.
“This week is going to be hard and maybe longer than that until we are bonded fully. Don’t hesitate if you need me. I don’t care what time it is or how far it is. I’m not just a male. I am your mate—heart, soul, and body. I’ll do everything right. I promise.”
That last bit didn’t sit right.
We stood there for a time, breaths in sync with our already in-line heartbeats.
“Maybe I should walk you home.”
“No. It’s fine. I won’t see you until Friday night?”