Chapter Two

 

 

 

The gun became a lead weight in Tailor’s hand and he let it fall to his side.

Her son. It couldn’t be.

Dhani had been adopted at the age of six following the deaths of his parents. His foster mother had died five years ago after being beaten to death by his foster father. From what Tailor had discovered, the couple hadn’t been mates and had abused Dhani from the start of his time with them. Dhani had no known living family and the woman standing in front of Tailor was definitely not his foster mother.

Which could only mean…

“You’re his birth mother.”

Laya gave a reserved nod.

A slew of questions crowded into his mind, but the woman was right. This wasn’t the time or place for that particular conversation. He turned and began rifling through the clothes of the Ba’Kal in charge.

“What are you doing?” Laya asked.

“One of the men said Vane had contacted them by phone. There’s a chance I can trace the number back to him.” He found the Ba’Kal’s cell phone, slipped it into his pocket then took Laya by the arm. “You’re coming with us.”

She tried to wrest her arm from his grip as he hurried out of the house, but he refused to let go. “You don’t have to use force,” she hissed. “I was the one who sought you out, remember? Besides, I have my own car.”

“Which I’m sure you were smart enough to park where the cops won’t find it. I’m not letting you out of my sight until I get more answers.” All three loaded into his car and he took off. After the distant lights of the police cars faded from his rearview mirror, he released the vice-like grip on his emotions and glanced over at Laya threateningly. “Tell me everything. If I detect even the slightest lie, I won’t hesitate to use any means necessary to get the truth out of you.”

It was harsh, but he couldn’t take any chances. If she was working with Vane and meant to sabotage Tailor’s search for Dhani, he had to know immediately.

She turned to face him squarely. “You first. I’ve told you who I am. Now tell me why you’re so desperate to find my son.”

He ground his jaw in impatience. Dhani’s relationship with him was still a sore subject. Then again, he no longer held the desire to keep it secret. He’d come to terms with the fact that somehow, against the natural laws of his kind, he’d been given a second mate. All that mattered now was what he did to fix the mistake of driving Dhani away. “He’s my mate,” he said tensely.

Laya merely nodded. “I thought as much. No one would go to the lengths you have unless it was for love. Having said that, if your intentions toward my son are anything less than honest, I’ll kill you myself.”

Her words rang with truth and made Tailor wonder just what kind of mother she could be to abandon her son into the care of an abusive foster family then worry about his safety years later.

Before he could get off a sarcastic reply, she asked, “This must mean he’s still alive, right? Or else you would’ve sought out your own death by now.”

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Dhani and I never bonded. When we met, it…wasn’t the right time.”

She was quiet for a moment, then shifted her gaze to the dark scenery outside. “My mate and I bonded the night we met, about three decades ago. I loved him madly. He was a fierce warrior like you, proud and strong. He fought with passion in our war against the Vam’kir. Later, when I became pregnant with Dhani, he started to grow distant. He hid parts of his life from me and would leave for weeks at a time. Whenever I confronted him about his secrecy, he would always say he was doing what was best for our family. That, one day, he would reveal what he was hiding and I would join him when the time was right.”

Her voice took on an edge of animosity. “Eventually, I grew tired of his disappearances and decided to follow him all the way to England. He met with a large group of others in a remote location. Some of them I recognized as Ba’Kal. The others were a mix of Vam’kir and humans. I couldn’t believe he was conversing with our enemy. Then I saw five men being taken in as prisoners. These were Ba’Kal. They were being handled as if they were the traitors and not the ones my mate was meeting with.”

“They were trying to release Roh Se Kahn,” Cy said grimly from the back seat. When Tailor looked at him sharply, he said, “Keenan was born nearly thirty years ago, and all of Roh Se Kahn’s followers you’ve found in the past year have been Ba’Kal, Vam’kir and humans all working together. That’s never happened before under any circumstances.”

Laya nodded. “He’s right, only my mate and the others didn’t try. They succeeded. I heard awful screams coming from inside the building and had to know what was going on. The others wanted to kill me as soon as they saw me, but my mate convinced them I wouldn’t interfere. He explained to me that they’d been in contact with Roh Se Kahn and that the dark God had revealed to them his plans for peace.

“He claimed Roh Se Kahn knew the Mother’s children would annihilate each other in their hatred and that the only way to stop it was for all the races, including humans, to acknowledge one true God. My mate said Roh Se Kahn would lead them into an age of peace under his rule and they would be saved.”

Her tone grew hushed and she brushed briskly at her eyes, as if wiping away tears. “I loved my mate, but what I saw in his eyes that night took everything away from me. He was insane. While most of the other followers boasted about Roh Se Kahn making them wealthy, I knew my mate was following out of blind servitude.”

Tailor thought back on the zealous look he’d seen in the eyes of the Ba’Kal he’d been interrogating before Laya had killed him. It raised chills across his flesh that Dhani’s father had given in to that same madness. It must’ve taken extraordinary strength for Laya to resist the lure of darkness that had consumed her mate, yet it didn’t explain why she hadn’t followed him. Mates were alike in almost all areas. Why had she kept her faith in Miel Se Luuda when her mate had forsaken it?

When he asked her this, she looked at him and didn’t bother to hide the moisture brimming on her lashes. “The bond of a mate is strong, but the bond between a mother and her child is even stronger. I knew if my mate was caught for his treason, my child and I would be put in danger as well.”

Though Tailor didn’t doubt that, he couldn’t help but notice her choice of words. She hadn’t said that worshiping Roh Se Kahn was wrong. Rather, that she’d been afraid of the consequences.

“The spell they performed to free Roh Se Kahn from his realm failed the first four times they tried it,” she continued. “They succeeded on the fifth Ba’Kal. His spirit was torn from him, and the separation of his animal’s soul from his own caused a rift in our realm that allowed the dark God to pass through. The creation of the rift broke the spell that kept him from taking any form in our realm and his essence entered the body of a willing human.

“I wasn’t a warrior then. The fear I had caused me to go into labor and I gave birth to Dhani that night. For the next six years, my mate held me and our child captive. He couldn’t kill me even though I defied him since it would mean his own death, so he tried everything to convince me that his allegiance to Roh Se Kahn was right. Finally, I managed to escape with Dhani. I knew my mate would never stop looking for us, so I took Dhani to a faraway community and told them to give him to a good family. I never gave them my name or the name of Dhani’s father. I couldn’t risk my mate finding him.”

She took a shaky breath, then said, “I disappeared after that. I was too afraid to keep in contact with Dhani, in case my mate ever found me. I did what I had to do to keep my son alive.”

And delivered him into the hands of monsters, Tailor thought. The cynicism and hatred that rose up made him look away in disgust, although he had to admit, only a portion of his hatred was for the woman next to him. What had he done to keep Dhani safe? He’d been so wrapped up in his own pain and confusion after meeting Dhani that he was responsible for delivering his mate into the hands of a much worse monster.

He cleared the ache in his throat and asked, “If you let him go, how did you find out he’d been taken by Roh Se Kahn?”

“When the Jaes’din had his men search for the families of the Ba’Kal who had been kidnapped by the old Vam’kir king, I heard that Dhani was one of them. I tracked his location to the Jaes’din’s mansion, then to the Magnique’s palace. I went to Ireland to fight in the war against Roh Se Kahn, hoping to hear more about my son. That was where I learned he’d been taken by the dark God. Since then, you’ve been the only link I have to my son.”

Tailor swallowed heavily. In spite of his suspicions, he wanted to believe that she had Dhani’s best interests at heart. That her presence was an asset and not an omen. However, he couldn’t let his guard down yet. There was still too much at stake.

“We’ll go to my place for now,” he said. “In a few days, after the heat dies down from the police, Cy will take you back to get your car.”

“The hell I will,” Cy spoke up. “It’s bad enough I gotta watch over you. I have better things to do in my off time than play chauffeur to a woman who’s not going to give me anything in return. No offense,” he said to Laya.

Laya smirked. “None taken. When I kiss a man, I like to feel skin, not steel piercings.”

Tailor gave a low chuckle, feeling his mood lighten with her quick barb. “If I recall, weren’t those the exact words of the last woman you tried to get with?”

“Like you’re one to talk,” Cy replied with a snort. “I heard you slept with so many women, you lost count. And how many of them wanted to kick your ass for not calling them afterwards?”

Tailor grinned, recalling the days when he would’ve done anything to get into a woman’s bed. When all he’d needed was a drink and a warm body. He shrugged. “A whiskey glass or a woman’s ass will turn any man into a horse’s ass.” At the bald glare he received from Laya, he quickly wiped the grin from his face. “So I’ve heard.”

When the ring of his cell phone saved him from the blistering comment he knew Laya was about to make, he pulled it from his jacket and answered.

Manning’s voice came on the other line. “Where are you?”

“On the way to my place. What’s up?”

“You need to drive to the community near Salt Lake City in Utah.”

Tailor restrained his irritation. “I know I’ve been gone for a while, but I can’t start working yet. I think I’m getting close to something.” As Manning’s Ketai, his personal guard, it was his duty to assist Manning in all the affairs of Manning’s role as Jaes’din. For the past year, however, he’d been in dereliction of his duties. While Manning was aware of how important it was for Tailor to find his mate, Manning had also repeatedly expressed his concern over Tailor’s welfare.

“This isn’t about me,” Manning said. “I just received a call from the Alpha of that community saying a Ba’Kal had come to him asking for a man named Tailor. A young Ba’Kal with long red hair and no family. Ring any bells?”

Tailor clenched the phone in a tight fist, his chest seizing with hope he didn’t want to give in to just yet. “Dhani,” he said in a choked voice.

“I don’t know for sure. The Alpha said the man wouldn’t give him his name. Only that he wanted to speak with Tailor, my Ketai. Tailor, be careful. If this is Dhani—”

Tailor ended the call and spun his car around in a 180. He gripped the steering wheel as he headed for Salt Lake City, trying to gain control over the storm of his emotions.

“What is it?” Laya asked.

“Boss?” Cy said at the same time.

Tailor ground his teeth, refusing to let hope weaken him. After so long, could it be true? Could Dhani be waiting for him at a community…safe…alive?

“That was Manning. He says he knows where Dhani is.”

A heavy silence filled the confined space, then Laya glanced at him with a small smile on her lips. “If it is Dhani, thank you for taking me with you.”

Tailor kept his expression cold. “Don’t thank me. Like I said, I’m not letting you out of my sight until I know I can trust you.”

 

* * * *

 

Dhani stared through the window of the guest bedroom he’d been given in the small mansion. It was spacious and well-furnished, befitting an Alpha’s wealth. Central heating kept winter’s bite at bay and outside, the dawning sun shone on a thin layer of frost. The surrounding greenery was welcoming with the promise of a fresh, new day.

It was all so beautiful and comforting. Everything he’d prayed to enjoy again over the past year and all that he’d feared was forever lost to him. At any moment, he expected the light to dissolve, plunging him back into an abyss of darkness. The scenery would melt away and the heat would fade, leaving him once more naked and so cold, his bones would ache.

What surrounded him now seemed like a dream. An illusion conjured by his insanity and overwhelming need to feel something. Anything other than the pain and emptiness he’d lived with for too long.

He reached within for the soothing presence of his spirit and felt the leopard purr in assurance. For so long, he’d been without that presence, trapped alone in his mind and shell of a body. In the alternate realm, where he’d lived with Roh Se Kahn, there had been no light. Even the blessed light of Miel Se Luuda that resided in his soul, marking him as one of her children, had been suppressed. The darkness had taken away his ability to communicate with his leopard and held him in agonizing suspension.

Dhani shivered at the memories that still consumed him. He tugged at the jeans and T-shirt he’d been given, uneasy in their confinement, yet grateful for their cover. In the alternate realm, he’d been stripped of his clothes, along with any other form of privacy. There, only the essence of a being could exist. Material things were lost or destroyed. He wasn’t quite sure. It had been Roh Se Kahn’s power that had kept Dhani’s physical body from fading along with his clothes.

Although Roh Se Kahn had preserved his human form, it hadn’t been without consequences. In that realm, time only existed in the soul. While Dhani’s body had lain dormant, his mind had still felt the effects of time passing. Hunger, thirst, cold. All the things he would’ve experienced physically without warmth, food or water over a year’s time on earth. In many ways, the realm had been his coffin and he a prisoner that had been buried alive with no chance to escape in death.

He clawed his hands through his long hair, trying to dispel the memories.

I’m not there anymore, he told himself. I’m not trapped in the darkness. I’m on earth, alive.

But not free.

In his faint reflection in the window, he caught sight of the single lock of white hair falling from his left temple like a bright wing shining out from the rest of his red hair. His hand shook as he touched it. To anyone else, the white lock might seem harmless, but he knew what it was. A shackle on his soul. The mark of a brand tying him irrevocably to the being that had tortured him mercilessly for an entire year.

At the sounds of raised voices, he turned to face the door to his room. A familiar voice shouted, “Where is he?” seconds before the door was flung open. Adrenaline spiked in Dhani’s blood as the man he never thought he’d see again ran in then came to an abrupt halt. Dhani’s heart seized and his hands began to tremble.

His spirit surged forth with aching need to go to the man and touch him to make sure he was real. At the same time, Dhani’s body reacted in a way it had only once before―the first time he’d met the man. His skin tingled and blood rushed to his groin, filling him with nearly uncontrollable desire. It took all that he had not to fall to the floor in relief, yet his fear still clung to him like an iron weight.

Tailor was even more handsome than he remembered. In place of his normally casual attire, he wore black leather pants, a skin-tight shirt and a black jacket that enhanced his large frame. A dusting of blond whiskers covered his jaw and his multi-faceted blond hair fell in wild waves past his shoulders, as if he’d been up for days.

The small arsenal of weapons strapped to his chest and waist gave him a feral look that matched the fierceness of his posture. Every line of his body was rigid and the energy rolling from him exuded intimidation, yet it was his eyes that held Dhani.

They were clear blue and so intense with emotion that Dhani couldn’t look away. He saw disbelief, shock and a depth of hunger in them so great, it made Dhani quiver with anticipation. For endless days, months, he had envisioned the warrior before him. Dreamt of what it would be like to see him again. Now that the moment was here, Dhani found he couldn’t trust it. What if this Tailor was just another illusion his mind had conjured to stave off insanity?

Then the moment was broken when several others entered the room. Alarm spread through him and he drew back until the window behind him cut off his escape.

A man with long black hair and several piercings on his face moved to stand next to Tailor, and beside him entered a petite woman. There was something familiar about her, though Dhani couldn’t remember ever meeting her. By the energy of her spirit, he knew she was Ba’Kal. The other man lacked that same energy, however, which meant he had to be Vam’kir.

The Alpha, Grayson, who had taken him in hours ago, came in with a slightly irritated expression. “Like I was trying to tell you earlier,” the Alpha began, “the boy is safe and appears unharmed. One of my Betas found him last night coming into my community in his leopard form. It took my man some time to convince him to meet with me. He was scared and badly shaken. When I finally got the boy to take back his human form to tell me who he was, he was completely naked. Wouldn’t give me his name or birth community. All he said was that he had to talk to you.”

Dhani winced inwardly at the description of his sudden appearance in the Alpha’s community. Upon reentering their realm, he hadn’t thought of clothes or decorum. His mind had only been on one thing—finding Tailor. He’d run as far and fast as he could from the darkness of the alternate realm and it had been only by sheer luck that he’d found this community.

“How long has he been here?” the woman asked.

“About six hours. He won’t eat or sleep. Hasn’t spoken a word, except for demanding to speak with you,” he said, nodding to Tailor.

Tailor approached slowly, his gaze locked on Dhani. “I came as soon as I could, daishen. I’m sorry it took so long.”

Dhani watched him, caught up in the calming timbre of his voice and the confidence in his attractive features, his mind barely registering the Ba’Kal moniker roughly translated to ‘sweet love’. As Tailor drew near, his natural scent wafted over Dhani. He smelled of the forest after a heavy rain. Of the intoxicating aroma of fresh earth and musk. Beneath those scents was a hint of old blood that gave him a dangerous appeal, but Dhani wasn’t fazed by this.

What did hit him, however, was the energy in Tailor that grew stronger with every step he took. Dhani could feel the man’s life force, his essence. It was raw and commanding, like the essences of the damned souls that dwelled in the alternate realm. Theirs had been powerful as well, and they had used their power to violate him every chance they got. They had torn through his soul like a vicious storm, inflicting waves of pain he could still feel.

When Tailor stopped a few feet away and reached out, Dhani flinched and squeezed his eyes shut. He tensed in expectation of the suffering he knew would come. Then, after several pounding heartbeats, he finally opened his eyes and met Tailor’s gaze. Instead of the promise of hatred in them, he saw only hesitancy and…guilt?

Tailor lowered his hand. “I won’t hurt you, Dhani. I swear, no one will ever hurt you again. You’re safe from Roh Se Kahn now.”

“Wait,” Grayson broke in. “Is this the Dhani who helped end the war against Roh Se Kahn? The boy who was pulled into the same dimension the dark God was banished to?”

“This is my mate,” Tailor said without breaking eye contact with Dhani, “and I’m taking him home.”

“Your mate?” Grayson exclaimed, before his expression hardened. “I’m sorry, but that doesn’t change the fact that this boy has been with Roh Se Kahn for a year now. I was at the battle and heard about what happened. I can’t just let you take him. For all we know, he’s been corrupted. He could be a spy sent here to betray us all. He could be serving Roh Se Kahn—”

Before anyone could blink, Tailor drew a knife from his belt and threw it at the Alpha. It hit the wall beside the Alpha mere inches from his face. In the next instant, Tailor backed Grayson to the wall with a hand around the man’s throat and another knife pressed to his jugular.

In a deadly tone, Tailor said, “Call him boy one more time and it’ll be the last thing you do.”

Grayson’s eyes widened and he sputtered past the choke hold around his neck. “You are Ketai to the Jaes’din. You can’t just take this boy—Dhani—to your home without first contacting the Jaes’din of your intentions. He’s too much of a risk. Think about it. Dhani appeared out of nowhere. How do we know he wasn’t released from Roh Se Kahn’s realm on purpose, or that Roh Se Kahn doesn’t have a plan for him?”

Dhani tensed, afraid that Tailor might believe the Alpha. That he would be held prisoner again until he could prove his loyalty to his kind, which would be impossible. Most of all, though, he feared Tailor might distrust him as much as the Alpha did.

Before Dhani had been pulled in by Roh Se Kahn, he’d known he and Tailor were mates ― had been overjoyed to find the one person who was destined to love him completely. But Tailor had rejected him repeatedly, giving no other reason than the fact that Tailor was sure their link as mates was a mistake.

As crushing as that had been, however, Dhani hadn’t stopped longing for Tailor in the bleakness of his imprisonment. He hadn’t given up hope that maybe, by some miracle, Tailor might learn to accept him.

Now, that hope could be torn away by the very real accusations of a well-respected Alpha.

Then, to Dhani’s incredulity, Tailor reached into his pocket for his cell phone, dialed a number then put the phone to the Grayson’s ear. “Talk to the Jaes’din yourself,” he said in a daring tone. “Tell him you want to keep me from my mate.”

When Grayson took the phone and began talking, Tailor turned and strode back to Dhani. Concern lined his face and Dhani could see the restraint in his posture as he was about to touch Dhani’s cheek, but instead, reached for his hand. “Are you okay?”

Dhani nodded, dumbfounded by the faith Tailor was displaying in him.

“Will you come with me?”

Again, Dhani tipped his head and took his mate’s hand. As they headed for the door, he heard a deep voice yelling through the other end of the cell phone pressed to Grayson’s ear and watched the man’s tan skin turn pale.

Grayson mumbled a quick apology before Tailor yanked the phone from him and returned it to his pocket.

“You ever doubt me again,” Tailor said as he pulled his knife from the wall, “and you’ll be bowing down to the Alpha that takes your place.”

Dhani let his mate lead him from the small mansion, trying and failing to tamp down the desire that was flooding his system. In all the time of his captivity, he’d never once envisioned a scenario where Tailor would not only want him, but threaten another’s life just to keep him. It had always been him dreaming of a way keep Tailor. An impossible dream that had given him the only warmth he’d known over the past year.

As soon as they exited the front door, Tailor surprised him again by pulling him into a tight embrace and capturing his mouth in a kiss. The move was so abrupt, Dhani didn’t have a chance to prepare. He was swamped by the ferocity of Tailor’s energy, so strong that his first instinct was to retreat. His heart pulsed frantically in terror and he struggled in the man’s hold.

But Tailor wouldn’t let him go. The band of his arms only tightened around Dhani and crushed him closer.

Dhani’s mind froze in panic at first, then his body seemed to take over. Need, stark and demanding, took control and seemed to beat back the fear that had been his constant companion. His spirit leapt up from within, denying him the caution he still harbored.

Dhani released a breath in shock that was swallowed by his mate. The firmness of Tailor’s hand delving into his hair and bringing him closer drew a moan from deep within his chest. Tailor’s rumbling approval vibrated along his lips, causing his dick to swell painfully. When Tailor’s other arm circled his waist and brought their groins together, sparks danced beneath Dhani’s skin. The steel rod of Tailor’s cock rubbing along the length of his own through the rough material separating them sent his senses into overdrive.

He surrendered to the claim of his mate’s tongue dominating his and forcing him to feel what he’d only fantasized about in the other realm. The world fell away, time stopped and instead of darkness, all that existed was the heat of Tailor’s body against his.

Then, slowly, Tailor drew back, leaving Dhani gasping for air he couldn’t quite pull into his lungs. Dhani felt a sliver of trepidation enter his mate’s energy as Tailor brought their foreheads together.

“I’m sorry,” Tailor panted. “I know I had no right to do that, but I couldn’t stop myself. I thought I’d lost you again.”

The words fell on Dhani in a blissful haze, until the last one registered.

‘Again’.

He stiffened as realization set in. Tailor wasn’t talking about losing him to Roh Se Kahn. He was referring to his first mate, the man he’d lost before Dhani had come into his life. Dhani pushed away and looked up at the man with a challenging stare. “Who did you think you’d lost—me, or your first mate?”

Guilt crept over Tailor’s handsome countenance and he shook his head in denial. “Dhani, I didn’t mean—”

“I know what you meant,” Dhani said through the constriction of his throat. His thoughts were thrown back to the one and only time Tailor had deigned to touch him in the past. It had been with a kiss as searing as the one they’d just shared.

The memory was as clear as if it had happened yesterday. They had been standing in the kitchen of Rowan’s palace. Tailor had just admitted the reason for his reluctance to accept Dhani as his mate. He’d said it was impossible because he’d already met his mate, and that his mate had died before they could bond. He’d told Dhani there was no way he could love again, then he’d kissed Dhani as if his life had depended on it.

At that moment, Dhani had been determined to help his mate love again despite the cynicism in Tailor’s heart. He’d been willing to look past the multitude of women Tailor had bedded in his attempt to forget the pain of losing the one man who had been his destiny. All that had mattered was that Tailor was his, and he’d wanted to do anything to heal the man’s heart.

Then, when Rowan had entered the kitchen and caught them unawares, Tailor had pulled away as if appalled by what he’d done. In the wake of the embarrassment and rejection, Dhani had run.

Later, when he’d recited the spell to bring his best friend Keenan back to life, a part of him had still clung to the hope that he could help Tailor love again, even in the face of his own death.

Now, however, that hope seemed like a fool’s dream. Tailor would never get past his devastation over the death of his first mate, and Dhani would never be the man Tailor truly wanted.

The man with the piercings came out then, followed by the red-headed woman. “I gotta say, your balls are a hell of a lot bigger than I gave them credit for,” he said to Tailor. “I’ve never seen an Alpha ready to piss his pants like that, and I’ve killed more than my share during the war between our kind. You ready to take your mate home now?”

Unbridled rage stole the last of Dhani’s patience. He met Tailor’s tempered gaze with fierce resolve. “He’s not taking his mate anywhere. That man died years ago, didn’t he?”

A flicker of wounded resignation entered Tailor’s eyes, but Dhani ignored it. During his months on end of torture, the dream that his mate might still be out there searching for him had been all that’d kept him going. Then, when Tailor had been ready to kill to protect him, his fantasies had become a reality.

For a very brief moment.

The guilt that remained thick in Tailor’s energy gave Dhani pause. Tailor had stood up for him, defended him. Only Dhani couldn’t bring himself to settle for being second best, despite how damaged he was.

“Dhani,” Tailor began stiffly, “don’t do this. Neither one of us was given a choice in being mated.”

Given a choice? Given a choice?

Fury surged through Dhani’s veins and the anger he’d suppressed over all the injustices in his life boiled to the surface. He pointed at Tailor, then at the other man, saying, “Fuck you, fuck him and fuck this whole Gods-damned realm! I won’t go with you just because you think you’re obligated to protect me. I survived a whole year in a pit of hell I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. If you think I’m going to let you tell me what to do, you can go screw yourself. I’m not your mate. I’m not the one you want.”

He swallowed the tears burning his throat and tried to still the tremors shaking his entire body. A small part of his brain told him he was being irrational. That Tailor didn’t deserve his hatred. But a larger part of him screamed at the audacity of Miel Se Luuda tying them together as mates. What right did she have to link him to a man who’d already given his heart to another? Hadn’t he suffered enough for one lifetime?

The man with the piercings threw up his hands. “Whoa, little guy. I know Tailor’s ugly puss is enough to make a runway model sign up to be a nun for the rest of her life, but don’t go blaming me for that. I’m just the man sworn to keep his ass alive so he can piss you off.”

“Cy, not helping,” Tailor ground out.

“Oh, you want me to help. In that case, run Dhani. Somewhere out there’s a man who can love you with the brain in his head, not the one in his—”

Tailor pulled the gun from his side holster and aimed it at the man’s head. “Finish that sentence and you won’t have a brain.”

Almost simultaneously, Cy drew his own gun and faced off with Tailor. “I guess we’re gonna find out who has the bigger balls.”

Alarm diverted the anger in Dhani to the new threat and he jumped in front of Tailor, barricading his mate with his own body. “Stop! Don’t kill him.”

Tension clogged the air, mingling with Dhani’s primal instincts and something else. Something alien that reared up within him. It was dark, chaotic and thrashing against his soul to be let loose. It thirsted for death, building inside him until his blood raced and skin burned with the need to release it. His palms blazed with energy that didn’t belong to him. It was an infection, growing more powerful with his anger until he didn’t think he could control it any longer.

Then Cy flipped his gun and holstered it. “Seems Tailor isn’t the only one who wants to protect his mate out of obligation.”

His own words being thrown back at him shook Dhani into awareness. He had been ready to protect Tailor, whether his mate wanted it or not. The irony of that knowledge dispelled his anger, but the darkness was still there, hammering at his resolve. It intensified with his effort to force it under his control, beating at his temples with nauseating impact. He looked down at his palms and saw blue sparks dancing over his skin, then fisted them tightly.

As he turned to meet Tailor’s gaze, the earth tilted and blood rushed to his head with dizzying speed. Just before his knees gave out and the world went dark, he felt Tailor’s arms catch him and the deep tenor of his mate’s worried voice calling out his name.