After a quick trip to the bathrooms to clean up, Sara and I once again step into the elevator. The scent of our loving lingers, reminding me of the selfish moment I seized for us. Too bad it hadn’t been under better circumstances. Still, our encounter calmed the part of me that had been on edge ever since learning of the lion shifter’s latest—and last—attack on my true mate.
I cut a quick glance at the female who will soon carry a piece of my soul. Sara is a contradictory mix of strength, innocence, and courage. She’s perfect for me, the one woman who will love me as I am, trusting in me to be a man worthy of her.
Sara slides her gaze to me and smiles. My soul brightens, the piece of hers shining within me and chasing back the shadows. I love this woman, deeply and completely. I’d give my life for hers, but I refuse to allow it to come to that. I’d rather kill for her, over and over, until I’ve annihilated every threat.
Linking our fingers, I turn Sara into my embrace and kiss her, a soft brush of lips that hopefully conveys what I’m feeling, that I’m honored to be the keeper of her soul.
The elevator comes to a stop, and the doors open. The scent that reaches me tenses my body and leaves my wolves alert, eager, and excited. I ease back, ending our gentle kiss, and look over Sara’s head, meeting the brown eyes of the man who raised me. Jarah’s dark skin is in shadows, hiding his expression, but the force behind his gaze hits me with the intensity I remember so well from my youth.
Jarah slides his gaze from me to Sara. As if she feels his focused study, Sara turns her head. I can’t see her expression from this angle, but she doesn’t stiffen as she had in Dante’s presence. Unlike that moment in her house, Jarah’s not unleashing his inner animals on Sara. I’m grateful for that. The three bears—black, grizzly, and polar—living inside Jarah’s body and soul are not tame, not even close to being tame. They’re pure predators, honed by time to kill.
“I’d hoped I’d gotten in touch with you soon enough to save you.” Jarah reaches forward as the doors close, stopping them with his wide chest, and skims the back of his hand over the tousled locks of Sara’s hair. “It appears I’ve failed. Again. Apparently, I’m not cut out to be a hero. Then again, I always knew playing the role of villain was easier.”
“Jarah.” Sara’s low whisper holds a hint of fear. She steps in front of me as if trying to shield me with her body. “What are you doing here?”
“I felt my child’s pain.” Jarah thumps his balled fist against his chest. “Here. Daegan’s agony radiated outward from here as if it were my own.”
“Daegan’s your son?” Sara’s voice softens, the empathy she holds eradicating any apprehension she might’ve had.
“No more than I am.” I twine our fingers and step next to Sara. Although her attempt to shield me would’ve been useless had I actually faced a physical threat, I can’t help but be warmed by her protectiveness. “Jarah raised Daegan and me, molded us into the men we’ve become, but he’s not our biological father.”
Jarah inclines his head, his focus never straying from Sara. “Technically what Ilan says is true, but the bond of a parent to child isn’t necessarily restricted to blood ties. Wouldn’t you agree, young Sara? It’s one forged out of something deeper. Love, perhaps. I was the one who comforted Ilan and guided him past his fears. I even dried his tears on the few occasions he cried as a child.”
Sara’s grip on my hand firms. She flicks her gaze to me, judging me and this moment. She’s not sure how to take Jarah’s presence here. I can almost see the question in her gaze. Is Jarah a threat?
I stroke my thumb over her skin and lead her from the elevator, placing my body between hers and Jarah’s. While I don’t fear this male who killed my mother for eviscerating my biological father’s human lovers in front of witnesses, I feel Sara’s apprehension. Despite my lack of tension, she’s agitated.
The elevator doors close, leaving the three of us standing in the darkened lobby of the veterinary clinic. Without access codes to the restricted areas, we have to retreat to the first-floor waiting room. The single-shifter female who greeted me promised to return in an hour or so once the human doctor finished with a patient. With some time remaining, we’re left playing the waiting game. Good thing too. I have questions for Jarah.
“Why have you contacted Sara? She’s told me about your call, how you tried to convince her to take Soren and run.”
“Soren. A quite thunderous name.” A warm, full smile spreads over Jarah’s face, his straight, white teeth standing out starkly against his skin. “It pleases me knowing you remembered my stories of the gods.”
“Immortals remember everything.” Including the disappointment in this man who raised me. He failed my protégé by calling for his banishment from the Host.
Jarah inclines his head. “But after a time, selecting those memories from the endless ones clogging our minds can be draining.”
He’s right. I’d ignored the memory of our conversation about true mates until thoughts of Sara had triggered them. “Answer me, Jarah. Why have you tried to lure Sara from me with talk of death? Are you jealous that I found heaven on earth before you?”
Instead of answering, Jarah turns his back on me and makes his way to the hard plastic chairs in the corner of the large open room. Aisles of pet food and a children’s play area block this section of the room from the windows along the front of the clinic. He settles his massive frame on one of the chairs and spreads his hands over his jeans-covered thighs. With scuffed and worn workman’s boots on his big feet and a red flannel partially buttoned over a white undershirt, Jarah fits the image of a local.
Sara lingers near the child-sized plastic kitchen set, complete with fake food and utensils while I take a seat near Jarah. “Has time turned the eldest member of the Host into a coward?”
“Eldest by a few days.” On a slow pivot, Jarah faces me. “And no. However, I have taken a leave from my duties. Connal is acting elder in my absence.”
“I didn’t know such a thing was possible.” Jarah’s commitment to the Host had been unwavering. He’d always felt obligated to weigh in on the many requests for assassinations that came before the Host.
“It wasn’t until I deemed it so.”
As eldest, even if only by a few days, Jarah would have that power. “And you felt it necessary to leave because?”
“This modern world we live in has had a negative effect on the Host, Ilan. Whereas in years past, Connal, Teague, and I have acted as the ruling members, leading the Host, the Shifter Council’s decision to expose our existence to the humans has forced us to modify the way we come to judgments. In order to comply with the agreement reached with the humans—an agreement we had no say in—we were required to become inclusive and allow a representative from each of the single shifter groups to weigh in on all cases.”
“You mean one from each of the subspecies?”
“Yes, even the jaguars, the smallest of groups, has demanded a voice.” Jarah’s brown eyes darken, black flames bleeding into the color. “Connal, Teague, and I are now outnumbered, and while I have the overall power to force my will upon the Host, repeated use of such tactics angers the singles, causing them to form side alliances with each other. They discuss things outside of the chamber hall, planning how they’ll convince the stubborn ancients of their biased versions of the truth.”
“This has made your process harder.” I state the obvious conclusion. The three ancients, firstborn sons of the goddesses, took their roles seriously, forgoing the lure to breed and start their own family lines. Instead, they’ve stolen children along the way to fill their drive to nurture. Jarah told me this once.
Jarah pushes to his feet and flexes his hands. “The Host has turned into a mini version of the Shifter Council. I spend my time settling fights among the members instead of weighing the evidence presented to us. Assignments get handed out I don’t approve of because I must consider whether it’s worth forcing my will upon the group every time they make a poor choice.”
“This is the reason Mya Ammon was marked to die.” Sara grips the top of the toy stove. “Isn’t it?”
Jarah looks over his shoulder at Sara. “Yes. I reasoned she was a single shifter. She’d be reborn. There was no sense fighting for her life.”
Sara’s nostrils flare, and her knuckles turn white. “Then Ilan is a better man than you. He did fight for her.”
“It’s impossible to save everyone. You’ll learn that, young Sara.” Jarah faces me, blatantly dismissing my true mate.
“Maybe that’s why Ilan has been deemed worthy of heaven while you’re still waiting,” Sara responds before I can reprimand Jarah.
With his gaze locked to mine, Jarah nods, but it’s the approving look in his eyes that tells me his opinion of the female chosen to be mine. He takes his seat a second time and stretches his legs out, crossing his ankles and his arms. “Perhaps you are correct. Only time will tell, won’t it?”
“Why are you here, Jarah? You’ve told us of your failings toward Mya and the issues in the Host’s chambers, but neither of those things answers my question.” And if I’ve learned anything over the past few days, it’s that those who dance around their answers are about to deliver something I won’t like.
“Death is coming for you, my son.”
“So I’ve heard.” From several people, including Molly, the young child leader of her own pride. “For allowing Mya to live. Am I right?”
Jarah doesn’t speak. He stares at me. Nothing shows in his expression.
Oh yes, this is definitely going to be something I don’t like. “Am I right?”
Jarah flicks his gaze to Sara. “Perhaps you’d like to go to the cafeteria downstairs. I was told there’s a fresh pot of coffee.”
“I already had some.” Sara looks to me. “Unless you’d like me to leave for a little while.”
“You choose. I won’t send you away or force you to stay.” The conversation we had not long ago convinced me of this. Sara is capable of deciding what details she wants and what she’d rather allow me to handle.
Sara wets her lips, then hesitantly sits on the farthest chair with her hands folded in her lap.
Jarah shakes his head, obviously disapproving of my choice, but then he meets my eyes. The seriousness in his eyes captures my attention. “You’ve heard of the attempts by some of the single shifters to steal a Royal’s immortality.”
At the expectant pause, I incline my head. Molly, the young female who warned me death was coming, is proof of their attempts. And their success.
“Your alpha has been entered into such an experiment. A different kind from what turned Molly Burnett into a pride leader. Word has it Gabriel’s sacrifice will open endless possibilities for single shifters who seek strength and eternal life. Others whisper that it’ll mark the end of the Royals’ existence or, at the very least, their freedom, turning them into hosts forced to sustain the lives of those singles joined to them.”
Owen’s image flashes before me, along with his chilling revelation. Either Owen or Gabriel needs to die. “It won’t work. They’ll turn feral at best, die at worst.”
“They’ve already proven it’ll work, Ilan. So has every alpha who’s joined another shifter to their communal spirit. Ask Dante. Or his siblings, Devin and Mira. All are outsiders who now share a mystical tie to another family’s spirit.” Jarah thumps his chest. “As an alpha, I have that power too, a gift of the heavens. I can sever your tie to the first Kane and bind you to my soul…if you are willing.”
“I am not.” Doing so would sever my connection to my goddess…my grandmother. The stories my birth father shared of her once I reconnected with him defined my life as much as Jarah’s teachings have. I can close my eyes and conjure up her face. When I do, gratitude overwhelms me. She brought Sara into my life and guided my nephew to me. I believe that with everything I am. The Kane goddess was responsible for both, forcing me into a position where I wouldn’t deny either.
“Exactly. Such a bond can exist only if both the first alpha and the one being joined are willing.” Jarah drops his hand to the seat next to him and leans over it, closing the gap between us. “Gabriel is not. The single shifter who’s joined with him is not. That is what is angering those conducting this experiment. They’ve figured out how to duplicate the ceremony alphas perform to join a new member to their family spirit, but they can’t force those being manipulated to accept the unnatural bond.”
“If Gabriel is anything like Ilan, I’m not surprised. Stubbornness must be a Kane trait.” Sara’s comment pulls both Jarah’s gaze and mine to her.
Jarah’s mouth curves into a small smile. “Or possibly a shifter trait. We’re all stubborn, some more so than others. Age seems to compound such qualities too. In Gabriel’s case, it’ll mean his death, but if Ilan and Soren die before he does, then the Kane spirit, the soul of the first Kane, can be captured and used in a different type of experiment, one that’s already proven to be successful and somewhat controllable.”
“They’ll join the spirit of the first Kane to a baby, turning it into an alpha,” I explain, knowing the topic of souls is still new to Sara.
“A single-shifter baby, right?”
“Yes,” Jarah and I answer at the same time.
“Never a human?” Sara glances between us. “I mean, if humans can bond with shifters, couldn’t they do so with the…the spirit of a shifter family?”
My blood chills. While I’ve never considered the possibility, the potential is there. I glance at Jarah. The same apprehension shows on his face.
“Let’s not give anyone ideas, okay?” Jarah smiles, but it’s forced.
Sara nods. “So whoever experimented on Ilan’s brother wants to kill Ilan and Soren because they expect Gabriel’s unnatural bond will fail. That’s why those lion shifters kept coming after us. They need a backup plan.”
“Yes, and they will continue to come after them until they’re successful.” Jarah focuses on me. “I don’t know who they’ll send to take you out, but they’ll come. If you defeat one, they’ll send another and another. From what I heard, those who hold Gabriel are desperate to act quickly. My plan had been to hide Sara and Soren, then return to help you.”
“As you said, they’ll keep coming at us. Hiding isn’t the answer. We need to find my alpha and free Gabriel.” But I’m not looking forward to the choices that’ll need to be faced afterward, especially if Owen’s prediction is correct. His life or Gabriel’s. I’d rather consider another, convincing them to accept this bond neither of them wanted.
A light turns on, brightening the room, before Jarah can respond. He closes his mouth and looks in the direction of the approaching shifter.
After a moment, the same blonde female who greeted me at the door steps around the toy kitchen. A nametag on the shirt she must’ve put on after she left me identifies her as Jenna. A small smile graces her mouth as she greets us. “Dr. Kagan is ready to sit down and give you an update on Ezra.”
“And Daegan?” Jarah stands. “Does she have an update on Daegan?”
The woman swallows hard. “Yes, that’s who she was just in with.”
“Did she say anything to you? Have you seen Daegan? Is he okay?” Jarah presses, concern bleeding into his voice.
The shifter female glances at the floor before raising her gaze to Jarah. “He’s alive. Any other details should come directly from Dr. Kagan.”
More evasive answers. I really don’t like it when people avoid the hard truths, but I’m learning there’s only one way to deal with it. Patience. The truth will eventually come out.
On a slow exhale, I firm my hold on Sara’s hand and motion ahead of us. “Then let’s speak with the doctor.” Before my mind starts conjuring all the bad things that could happen to Daegan. Honestly, though, I can’t think of any. He’s immortal. As long as he didn’t die, he’ll be fine. Of course, it doesn’t mean he isn’t suffering, but pain is better than oblivion for a Royal. We don’t get second chances.