“How did I not know this?” Davian asked, one hand covering his mouth as he tried to absorb all the information, I’d spent the last few hours sharing with everyone.
The skies were already growing dark outside, and I had to remember it was only Spring. Sunset was still pretty early in the northeast. There was a chill in the air, and I snuggled deeper into the pajamas I’d eventually changed into.
“Mama Anne thought it was best for everyone if we just tried to forget it and move on. I agreed,” I whispered.
“Here, drink this,” Sybil said, handing me a steaming mug.
I was so wrung out, I needed the pick me up and her teas always had a healing quality to them. Erryn sat quietly in the corner, her instinct to hunt and kill anyone who hurt any of us must have been in overdrive because she was cleaning her guns, and we already knew they were immaculate.
“Sweetie, your phone is ringing again,” Martina said, but I just shook my head.
“I don’t want to talk to anyone.”
“Look, I don’t know about Lions, but I can tell you about Wolves. There is no way a mated Wolf would ever touch another person as long as his mate breathed air,” Mitchell said, and I hated to say it, but yeah, it soothed something inside me.
Images of Asher fucking the blonde Lioness had been flashing in my head for hours. My stomach threatened to turn in on itself every time I thought about it, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from dry heaving. He had every reason to want out of this, whatever it was we did. It had only been one night, after all. And technically, I only scratched him, I didn’t bite him back yet. Was planning to when we’d been interrupted.
Kismet? Maybe. Fuck.
“Well, are you going to go back to work?” Sybil asked.
“Don’t see as if I have a choice,” I muttered. “The GHA is still at large. We were supposed to be setting up a trap.”
“Can’t say as I’m fond of the government using my baby sister as bait,” Davian huffed, and it made me grin.
“No worries, brother. It was my choice.”
“Okay, I think we should all go out for a drink. Just Clan.”
“Um, I don’t know if I am up for that,” I mumbled.
“It will be fun. We can color coordinate our outfits like we did in school,” Sybil said, clapping her hands.
“Yeah. We can do that! Come on, Nova, we need the bonding time,” Martina said. “Do I need to make it an Alpha order?”
“Ugh. So bossy,” I said, allowing Sybil to drag me off the couch.
We spent the next hour showering, doing our hair, putting on makeup, and eventually dressing for our first Witch Shifter Clan outing at The Thirsty Dog. I had to admit, it felt good being with my sisters again. I’d missed being with them like this. Just having access to them whenever I wanted. The comradery we used to share on the daily, the feeling of belonging, it was soothing and healing, and I needed both.
Mitchell drove us there in his giant pickup. His brother Tim was already there with his husband, Peter, and they’d snagged us a table, having already ordered apps and drinks.
“What is this?” I asked, sniffing at the brightly colored liquid inside the martini glass.
“An Aviation! It’s amazing, try it,” Tim said, pressing the bottom of the cup and tilting it.
I had no choice but to sip and swallow and was pleasantly surprised when I did. I tasted the sweet violet liqueur immediately. After that were hints of lemon, bringing a brightness to the cocktail, and complimenting the bouquet of whatever top shelf gin the bartender used. I knew Tim, and he didn’t do bottom shelf anything. I grinned and tapped my glass to his.
“Cheers,” I said.
“Cheers, Foxy,” he replied and winked. “Now, let’s get our gin on!”
We went through the first round of booze and appetizers fairly quickly, but we were Shifters, so that was to be expected. As the afternoon passed into evening, I realized we were having a helluva time. The Thirsty Dog was always a fun place with virtual games and a dance floor, a DJ booth, good food and drinks, pool tables, pinball machines, and more to keep us supes entertained and jovial. After winning my fourth round of e-trivia, I was banned from playing.
“Oh my gods, Nova, you are such a fun sucker. Right Erryn?” Martina teased, tossing her napkin at me.
“You are a bit of a know it all,” Erryn agreed, and Davian just grinned at his mate like she was the cleverest thing ever.
“Ha! You should talk, Marti. Hey, Mitchell, do you know what we used to call your mate when she was little? Marti tattles, cause she always cried to Davian whenever me or Nova did anything wrong,” Sybil said, and we all laughed.
It was true. Martina went through a period of tattling when we were about seven before Davian explained the difference between telling to keep someone safe and telling to be a brat.
The rest of the night went much the same. It was a good time spent with friends and family, cracking jokes, and making memories. Maybe if my heart wasn’t broken, I would have enjoyed it more. As it was, I’d spent the last few hours ignoring my cellphone, and pretending I wasn’t dying on the inside.
“Hellllooooo! Incoming hottie at five o’clock!” Sybil whisper-screamed, being her wonderful, happy-go-lucky self.
I laughed and turned my head, freezing in place when I saw who’d just walked in. Fuck. I was not ready to see him just yet. Thoughts of what he’d been doing the past few hours tried to claw their way into my carefully closed off psyche, and I whimpered. Fucking whimpered.
“Hey, are you alright?” Martina asked, her eyes glowing with her Wolf.
She had much better control now that she’d claimed her position as Alpha and found her fated mate. But I still did not want her getting riled on my behalf. I nodded.
“Yeah, uh, I-I’m fine,” I said.
“Who is that big blond dude headed this way? He looks like he wants to eat you,” she pointed out unhelpfully.
“Who wants to eat Nova? Oh, Mr. Big Blond and Burly? Well, if it’s the happy smexy fun time kind of eating, I am all for it,” Tim said, giggling as his husband slapped a hand over his mouth.
“Sorry about him. Gin is his kryptonite,” Peter said and shook his head. “Let’s go, Honey.”
“But I want to watch Nova get eaten!”
“Now, now, we can go home and watch all the Food Network you want, okay? See you guys later,” Peter said, holding onto his mate as he left the bar, passing Asher on the way.
Tim said something that had the Lion Shifter’s eyebrows disappearing into his hairline, but whatever it was, it didn’t stop him from zeroing in on me once more. I braced myself for whatever he was going to say. The insults, the anger, the hatred I felt I’d deserved for keeping my secret from him. I braced myself, not even trying to hide the warring emotions swirling inside of me. I was so damn happy to see him. He looked angry and a little rough, but still so damn handsome in his black shirt and pants.
Asher’s golden eyes were glowing with his Lion, his mane looked as if he’d been brushing it back with his fingers, and his short beard seemed longer than it had been that morning. He was the best looking man I had ever seen, and my heart cracked a little more, thinking of what I’d lost.
“Hello, I’m Martina Harbor, Nova’s sister,” my sister said, moving in front of me with her hand extended.
“Asher Donnelly,” he growled. “Nova’s mate.”
Nova’s mate. He said he was my mate. What the heck?
“Oooh, okay,” Martina said, her eyes bouncing back and forth between me and Asher.
I was just as clueless as to what was happening. Power seemed to roll off Asher in big, crushing waves, and it was all I could do to hold his steady stare. He was so heavy. So dominant. And so fucking pissed.
“Um, hey, everybody, let’s move this party to the dance floor,” Martina said, giving me and Asher space.
Not that I wanted it. I was freaking out without making a single sound. His eyes roamed over me from head to toe, and I shivered with desire. How could he do that? How did one man have the power to turn even my brain to mush with just a little look?
“You left me.”
It wasn’t a question. But I felt the need to answer.
“Yes.”
He huffed a breath, the rumbling in his chest was audible from where I sat across the table. I felt his anger, his pain, and it hurt to experience. I sucked in a heavy breath, my eyes filling with tears.
Did he hate me? Was he there to tell me off?
I closed my eyes, letting the tears go as I waited for him to do whatever he needed to do. I wasn’t going to run or leave, I deserved whatever it was he had to get off his chest. But I wasn’t ready for him to touch me, and when his big hand closed over mine, turning it so we were palm to palm then squeezing it tightly, I wasn’t ready for the wave of feeling to crash into me.
“Never again. You hear me?” he asked, his voice cracking. “You will never leave me again.”
I gasped, raising my eyes to meet his, and the raw emotion I saw there was my undoing. Asher stood and pulled me up, crushing me to his chest as he kissed my head, my cheeks, my lips, drinking in the tears that ran down my face.
“You are mine. You said so. Never again, Baby. You stay with me. You belong with me,” he growled.
He ran his hands over my shoulders, cupping my neck, and my face, hugging me so tightly as he repeated himself over and over, saying more than I ever hoped to hear before he crushed his lips to mine and kissed the hell out of me. I was a goner. I completely swooned, leaning into him, daring to hope he left that woman untouched and came after me instead.
Should I ask him about that? Is that too much to hope for?
“You crazy, gorgeous, brilliant, infuriating woman. I could never touch anyone who isn’t you. I haven’t touched anyone since the first time I saw you! Didn’t you know?” he growled, cupping my cheeks in his hands, and forcing me to look at him.
“You mean? For three years!”
“Three long years I waited for you to be ready to hear me out, to listen to my apology. I’ve got you now, Baby, and I am never letting go.”
“But what about cubs?” I whispered, hating that I couldn’t be everything for him.
“First of all, I need you, Nova. Nothing else, no one else. Just you. Second, I read that report three years ago.”
“You knew I’d been taken by SCAR and they used that garbage on me?”
“Yes, I knew. I also know you haven’t been to see a reproductive specialist. Have you tried getting pregnant before and failed?”
“What? No!”
“Then you don’t know what that drug did or if it had lasting effects,” he said reasonably and I paused, shocked. He was right. I never did get tested, I always assumed it was what it was.
“But what if—”
“Baby, you can what if until the cows come home. I don’t give a fuck. You are my fated mate, Nova. I knew it the moment I met you. That’s why I acted like a dick. I was jealous of those fucking lab coats hanging all over you.”
“Who? Gabe? He’s gay,” I said and shrugged.
“Actually, Gabe is bi. Drew is straight. And even if he didn’t wind up working for you, I still fucking hated him back then.”
“So, wait, I’m your fated mate,” I said, trying to catch up.
“That’s right, Baby. You are my destiny. But even if you weren’t, I would still pick you. I will always pick you, which is exactly what I told my mother when I tossed her and that female out of my house.”
“You kicked your mom out of your house?”
“Yep, and more. I left the Pride. That’s what kept me tied up all day. I’m officially a rogue Lion. I tried calling you and texting, but you didn’t answer. Made my Lion fucking nuts. Oh, here,” he growled and picked up my hand.
“What is it?” I asked as he slid a ring on my finger.
“It’s a ring.”
“I know that, but—”
“You already wear my bite. But since we live in a world filled with normals, I figured you needed something to show them you belonged to someone. To me. That is an engagement ring. Never take it off.”
“Oh, um, typically you ask a girl when you give her one of those.”
“Is that right? Well, maybe good little girls who don’t run away from their mates get nice proposals. But not you, Vixen. I’m telling you, you’re gonna marry me. You are going to take my name. Gonna wear my ring. And my bite, and you’re gonna ride my cock every night and sleep by my side because you are never getting rid of me,” he growled, nuzzling my face, kissing my lips, licking my neck, and finally, nipping my earlobe between his teeth throughout his entire, lengthy, and sexy as fuck speech.
I was a trembling, needy mess by the time he raised his head. My panties were damp, and from the heat I saw in his eyes, he’d already scented my arousal.
“Maybe now you’ll start to understand what I mean when I say you’re mine, Vixen. Now let’s get the fuck out of here so I can show you.”
“Okay.”
“Okay,” he nodded.
“Let me tell my sisters I’m leaving, then we can go,” I said, feeling completely intoxicated by him.
Asher Donnelly was truly a force to be reckoned with, and I had to admit I had no idea what I was in for when we came together the previous night. But now I knew. Now I knew, and I craved more. I loved the possessive way he watched me and the filthy words that came out of his mouth.
No one ever talked to me like that before. I’d been told I was beautiful, sexy, hot by a lot of people in my lifetime. But with Asher I felt that way. He made me believe I was all those things, and that belief made all the difference in the world.
I kissed him once, pressing my mouth to his before turning to find my sisters. It was the first time I’d initiated a kiss, the first time I’d touched him without cajoling or provocation, and I liked it. I liked the way he let me, and I fucking loved that he looked so damn pleased and turned on by my small display of possession.
I was through waiting. If he still wanted me with all my damage and all my baggage, I was more than ready to next level this thing. Tonight was the night. I was going to claim Asher Donnelly as my own.
With my mind on that, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going when I pushed through the crowd to find my sisters. I didn’t get a chance to scream when I felt the pinprick on the side of my neck. By the time I understood what was happening, paralysis was already settling in, and I was being dragged backwards through the side door. And all I could think about was him. His face when he told me how he felt when I left.
Would he think I ran? Would he forgive me again when he found the truth? Would he forgive himself?
Asher, I am so sorry.