by Lola Kidd
“I think they both should,” Melody piped up. “Obviously, someone did something stupid, and the other person took it too personally. Hil and I have these problems all the time. We just apologize and make up.”
“We’ll even take Mary’s car home and leave you two here to make up,” Hilary said. “But we’re not going to leave until this is fixed or you guys agree to talk.”
“There’s nothing to fix,” Mary said quietly. “It didn’t work out, and that’s that. There’s no need for anybody to apologize.”
“Maybe I should apologize,” Melody said. “Get the whole apology thing started.”
Hilary nodded in agreement.
“I apologize to you, Connor, for tricking you out here,” Melody said. She came over and gave him a hug. “Do you accept my apology?”
“Thanks for your apology,” he said. “But this doesn’t change things between me and Mary. I know you girls are only trying to help, but there’s nothing you can do.”
“You don’t have to do anything,” Hilary said. “Just let your animal guide you. I know it sounds cheesy, but we’re shifters too. We know how it works.”
“Once you find your mate, that’s it.” Melody gripped his arm tightly. “You shouldn’t let her slip away just because you’re being stubborn. Or she’s being stubborn. Or you’re both being stubborn. Whatever.”
“Just fix it,” Hilary said.
Mary looked at him and then at the girls. “What am I going to do with you two?”
“Don’t hesitate to call me if you ever have a problem, but please don’t try to do this again,” Connor told them.
“You guys aren’t even trying,” Hilary said, and stamped her foot. “Can you at least tell us what went wrong?”
Mary gazed at him through the darkness. There was fear in her eyes.
It wasn’t the girls’ fault, but they’d think that if he told them what had happened. They couldn’t know that their friends were thieves and that was what had broken Mary and Connor up. It would crush them.
He didn’t blame them, and he didn’t want them to blame themselves.
“Adult things,” he finally replied.
Melody rolled her eyes. “Is that code for sex stuff? I mean, we’re basically adults. You can just say sex stuff. We aren’t babies.”
Mary laughed, and Connor’s lion melted. It was the kind of laughter where she threw her head back and her entire body shook. It made him smile.
“It wasn’t sex stuff,” Mary said. “We just had a disagreement that we can’t get over.”
“All disagreements can be gotten over,” Hilary said sagely. “Especially when a shifter and its mate are involved.”
“Why do you keep saying that?” Mary asked. “You can’t possibly know who his mate is.”
“We can tell,” Hilary said. “We can tell by how he looks at you. Mom thinks so too. And I bet if you asked his family, they’d say the same.”
They probably would, not that it mattered. His lion thought so too. Connor wished he could take everything back, but he didn’t want to have to compromise his values for a relationship. It wasn’t fair. Either she loved him for who he was, both the good and the bad parts, or she didn’t love him at all. She couldn’t pick and choose.
Except that was what he was doing, too.
Connor suddenly couldn’t breathe. Mary was being unreasonable. He was trying to get a thief off the street and stop anyone else from getting hurt, but she was trying to protect her family. He wouldn’t do anything differently. Melody had called him for a ride, and he’d come. Why hadn’t he called the cops? Underage drinking was a crime too, but he wasn’t going to turn them in.
Maybe there was a way to get the thieves off the street without implicating the twins.
He could figure it out. No, they could figure it out. Mary was his mate. His lion wasn’t ever going to forget her. He was going to have to find a way to compromise, to make this right.
“I apologize,” he said.
It left a surprisingly bitter taste in his mouth. Even knowing that it might get him his mate back, it was still difficult to say. He knew he was in the right here. He had the moral high ground, but that didn’t matter. Not if he wanted to get Mary back.
“What?” Mary was as stunned as he was.
“I apologize. This is stupid, right?” He let his lion guide his thoughts. He wasn’t sure where he was going with this yet, but as he spoke, he knew it would all work out. “This is stupid. I don’t want to lose you. If everyone can see that you’re my mate, why aren’t we together? I’m making this harder than it needs to be. So, I apologize.”
“Told you so,” Melody said smugly.
“I understand if you don’t want to accept my apology right away,” he told Mary. He didn’t move to come closer to her. That would have been pushing things. “But at some point, when you’re ready, I’d love to talk.”
“I don’t know yet. I’m going to need some time to process this.” Mary bit her lip. “But maybe in a week or two.”
That was enough for him. It was a start.
He was going to win her back. He knew he would.
Chapter Fifteen
That had been so easy, Mary couldn’t believe it. That was it? He apologized, and she was supposed to get over it that quickly?
The twins did have a point. She did miss him. Against every bit of common sense she had, she missed him.
But was love enough? That was how she felt; she was sure she loved him. But so what if he made her heart flutter every time she saw him? So what if she’d never felt so loved in her entire life? So what if she felt secure whenever he was around? Was that feeling enough?
She wasn’t a shifter. She had no idea how their mating rituals worked. What she did know was that she missed him.
That was a start, but she couldn’t bring herself to apologize yet. She hadn’t really done anything wrong. She was protecting the girls, and that had to count for something.
Who knew what his “I’m sorry” meant. Maybe he was just trying to get the girls to shut up and feel better. That was possible. But it was also possible that he really was sorry, that he didn’t want to fight with her anymore and knew where she was coming from. Maybe he understood her.
“Can we get out of here now?” Melody asked.
“I think we should go,” Connor agreed.
Something was wrong. Something had changed in the last few seconds. He was on edge, driven by his lion. His posture was rigid, and his hands were clenching at his sides.
Mary drew Hilary close to her. “Come on, girls, let’s go. We can talk to Connor again in the morning.”
A howl pierced the air. Melody jumped, and Hilary stood closer to Mary. Connor turned quickly and studied their surroundings.
“I think there are wolves out here,” he said. “You three head for your car now.”
The bush closest to her rustled. Mary told herself that it was just the breeze, but she dragged Hilary in the direction of the car.
“I think I know who that is,” Hilary said. Her voice was barely louder than a whisper, and her eyes were wide with fear.
“It’s the kid from the mall?” Connor asked with a growl.
“Yes,” Melody said. “But I don’t know how they found us. We haven’t talked to them at all tonight. Nobody knew we were going to come out here.”
“These two guys were being real jerks to us the last time we went to the mall. When Connor dropped us off,” Hilary said.
“Connor told us they weren’t good dudes and that we should stay away from them,” Melody said. “We should have listened. He was right. But they weren’t happy when we told them we weren’t going to hang out as much anymore.”
“When were you going to tell me any of this?” Mary asked.
“This isn’t really the time for that discussion,” Melody said. “We should get to the car and talk about it when we get home.”
“She’s right,” Connor said. “Get to the car now.”
The fe
ar in his voice made Mary freeze up. “We should go together.”
Connor nodded. “You three in front, and I’ll follow close behind you.”
“I’m sorry too,” she said abruptly. “For whatever I did. We can discuss it later, but just in case, I’m sorry too.”
She couldn’t say any more to him in front of the girls, so she hoped he could see in her eyes how sorry she really was. He would never do anything to hurt her or the girls.
They’d figure things out together. She shouldn’t have shut him out. The thought of losing him in a final way made her acutely aware of how small a hurdle was in front of them.
To her right, there was a growl, then a chorus of howls filled the air. A wolf leapt from the bushes and ran at them.
“Run!” Suddenly, Connor transformed into an enormous lion. The beast grabbed the wolf as it lunged at them.
Melody screamed and grabbed Hilary.
“We have to move!” Mary tore her eyes from the sight of her love being attacked. She had to keep moving. If they stopped now, they were all done. The lion was stronger than a wolf; there was no way he’d be bested.
“We can transform too.” Melody crouched low.
“No,” Mary said, pulling her up. “He can handle this himself. He’s much stronger than you. We’d only get in the way.”
She was dragging them as she talked. She had to get them to the car. Connor was fighting to keep them safe. If anything happened to them, it would hurt his position.
She had to get to the car so he could do what needed to be done.
Chapter Sixteen
Connor could barely keep himself from closing his teeth on the wolf in his grip. These were only boys. They were fighting over something stupid, and he didn’t want to kill them, but it was hard to keep his lion in check.
This wasn’t another lion from his pride. These weren’t even the same animals.
To make matters worse, they were going after his mate and her family.
He wanted to bite down and finish this once and for all, but he couldn’t do that. The human in him couldn’t kill a teenager for making a mistake. There was still a chance this could all be worked out.
He was going to have to hurt them badly to make them stop. He could accept that much. Once the girls were out of sight, he started fighting for keeps. He didn’t want them to see him hurting one of their friends. He didn’t know what any of them would think of him if they saw him go in for the kill, and he had to look like he was willing to kill to stop this.
There were three of them. Two were on his left, and they seemed unsure. They waited for the bigger one to make the first move every time. He needed to take out that wolf. No matter what the other two did to him, he was going to focus on the one in front of him.
He waited for the largest wolf to lunge, and then he went at it. He let the wolf get in close and then went for its throat.
The wolf fought viciously. The other two, while not as strong or decisive, were able to deliver good bites to his hind leg and haunch.
Connor couldn’t let that get to him. He kept his mouth on the wolf’s throat and dragged it to the ground. Even as the other two scratched at him, he kept his hold on the wolf until he felt it begin to transform in his mouth. Soon, he was biting the neck and torso of a human male.
“We give. We give! Please stop.”
The terror in the boy’s voice was obvious. The other two wolves transformed and came around to where Connor could see them.
He recognized two of them immediately from the day at the mall. The one in his jaws had talked to Melody, and the one who looked the most scared seem to recognize him too.
The girls were right. But why were they out here?
“We’re sorry,” the one in his mouth said. “We thought they were going to tell you, and we didn’t know what to do. We thought maybe we could scare them and make them not say anything.”
Connor shook him lightly to let him know to continue. He wasn’t going to transform back yet.
“We’re the ones who did it, okay?” the boy in his mouth said. “Melody and Hilary had no idea what we were doing. We were just using them as bait. As soon as they knew something was up, they stopped. It was just us, okay? You can take that to the cops if you want.”
Now, Connor transformed. “What were you guys doing? What were the girls doing before?”
The boy beneath him rubbed his throat and shivered. “You know. We’re using them to rob people. They didn’t know what was happening, though. They weren’t ever there.”
The other two boys nodded quickly. They weren’t going to say a word.
“And why did you use the girls?” Connor asked.
“Because they’re hot?” the boy said, exasperated. “We sold them some of the stuff we stole, but they didn’t know where we got it. Are you going to call the cops or what?”
“Yes, I’m going to give the information to the police. But I’m going to give you the chance to turn yourselves in first.” Connor crossed his arms and stood at his full height. “If you’d like, you three can go to the police tomorrow morning and tell them what you did. I think they may be more lenient with you if you turn yourselves in now.”
The other two looked at their leader. He looked to Connor and shook his head. “We’ll turn ourselves in, in the morning.”
Connor nodded. “You boys are getting off easy. I could kill you. And if you go after my mate or her sisters again, I will.”
Chapter Seventeen
Mary gripped the steering wheel, her knuckles turning white. She could barely breathe. She’d apologized, but she hadn’t really had time to tell Connor what she was feeling.
When a very much alive Connor emerged from the woods, holding his tattered clothes to cover his nudity, she almost fainted. She let out the breath she’d been holding.
“Cover your eyes, girls,” she said quickly.
“It’s just nudity,” Melody said. “He’s all covered, anyway. We can’t even see the good stuff.”
Connor went to his car for a minute, then came over to her door wearing a pair of sweatpants. “I always keep these in the trunk in case of emergency.”
“Are you okay?” she asked nervously. His perfect body still looked intact, but he could have internal injuries or something else wrong. “I think you should go to the hospital.”
“I’m fine. I’m not going anywhere except to your place to make sure you’re okay.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “They were only teenage boys. They were never going to get the upper hand on me.”
“You didn’t hurt them, did you?” Melody asked with fear in her voice. “I know what they’re doing is stupid, but they really are good guys. They weren’t always like this. They fell in with a bad crowd.”
“I didn’t hurt them,” Connor assured them. “They’re going to have to turn themselves in to the police. This is far from over for them. You girls might even have to testify against them.”
“This isn’t going to be good for the company,” Mary warned him. “Have you told your dad about any of this yet?”
“I can tell him later. When I told him the first time, he didn’t believe me. What’s important now is that we get you guys home. I’ll follow you to make sure you get there safely.”
Mary’s hands shook as she drove them home. No one had much to say, so she ran through her apology in her mind. She’d been foolish, and now she had a chance to make it up to Connor.
“We’re going to bed,” Hilary said to Mary as they entered the house. “You two can head to your room if you want.”
“I’m sure you two need to apologize and make up,” Melody said as she walked up the stairs with her sister. “Nobody’s going to bother you guys. No worries.”
Connor came in a few moments later. “Where are the girls?”
“Upstairs,” Mary told him. “And Gina is already asleep, if she’s home. Could you come downstairs with me for a minute?”
He nodded and followed her down the basement steps. “Wh
at’s down here?”
“My bedroom.”
“Whoa.” He stared at the unfinished parts of the basement. “This is a little Cinderella-ish, isn’t it? Stepsister made to live in squalor?”
Mary laughed. “I asked to live down here. Gina was pretty angry when I did it by myself one weekend when she was working. I love the space because it’s all mine. Watch.”
She pulled the curtain closed and set up the Chinese blinds. “With these closed, it’s like I have this space all to myself. It’s like having an apartment of my own, almost.”
“Does this give you any kind of privacy? I would think they could hear everything upstairs through the heating ducts.”
“They can’t hear anything.” Mary put her hand over her mouth and screamed. “I used to practice this all the time. I wanted to know if someone broke in, would anyone be able to hear me upstairs if I screamed. Nope. Nothing. Whatever we say is just between us.”
Connor nodded. “I was pretty scared back there. Afraid of what would happen to you and the girls. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you. Any of you, but you in particular.”
“I was scared too.” Mary sat on the bed and patted the space next to her. “I do have a hard time trusting you. That’s not going to change overnight. But what I want you to know is that I still love you regardless.”
Connor smiled. “You love me?”
“Don’t you love me? Isn’t that what I’m feeling in the energy between us?”
He put his hand on her chin and tilted her head toward him. He kissed her lightly on the mouth. “With all my heart.”
“Well, then, what do we do now?”
“Make it official.” He laid her down on the bed and moved her shirt away from her shoulder. “I have to bite you. If you’re as sure as I am about this, I can mark you now.”
“I’m sure.”
She braced herself for the pain, but it was more like a light scratch. She felt a rush of emotions and started to cry.
He kissed her tears away. “I know it’s a lot to take in all at once. I can’t believe you let me do that. I was sure it would take months for you to get there.”