FavoriteObsession, page 15
She needed to do some serious soul searching and come up with a way to end her fascination with Josh. Otherwise… No, she refused to allow the thought to form.
“For what? I’m the one who should apologize. It was wrong of me to let things go as far as they had with Josh.” She swallowed past the guilt. “I didn’t plan on it.”
Aron sighed. “I know. That human is obsessed with you and you can’t resist him. Putting the two of you in close proximity is asking for trouble. I don’t blame you for what happened tonight. The fault lies on the human’s shoulders.”
She straightened in her seat, her elbows on the table. “That human is Josh. Please use his name.” She waited until Aron inclined his head marginally. “And you can’t hold him responsible for my actions. Josh cannot force me into any situation I don’t want to be in. I’m stronger than he is, don’t forget.”
He snorted and a smile replaced the tight press of his lips. “I’m not so sure about that. The human—” Aron raised his hand to stop her correction. “Josh is unusually strong and quite…primal. There is something different about him, but I can’t put my finger on it. My cats are confused by the male too. They actually view him as a rival.” He shook his head. “Crazy, I know, but true, nonetheless.”
Aron’s words pleased her. She fought the smile threatening to break free. Her happiness must’ve shown anyway. Booming laughter filled the diner.
They sat in the farthest booth from the counter so the humans wouldn’t hear them unless they shouted. Or laughed with uncontained amusement. The only other customer was a young redheaded male in ripped jeans that hung so low on his hips his butt crack showed. The human glanced over his shoulder. She narrowed her eyes and tried to place his face. He looked familiar. A local, had to be. The small farming community she called home was a close-knit group.
Many of the shifters made a point of befriending them by volunteering at community events or generally being a good neighbor. Rafe even took it upon himself to make sure the elderly living near them had fresh meals and company.
Their interest served two purposes. One, the inborn need to protect the weaker members of their pride or in this case, the citizens of their hometown. The other, they hoped to make allies in the human world beyond the ones associated with Shifter Affairs in preparation for the day when their existence became common knowledge.
The fear among the shifter community and the human government was a real one. The secret of the nonhuman species who’d lived among humans for millennia wasn’t one that could be hidden forever. The expression she’d heard Jazz use fit them the best—shifters were the big pink elephant in the room everyone ignored.
Once the humans realized exactly what they’d been associating with? Gods, the thought chilled her.
She studied the male a moment more. He vaguely resembled the one who’d stopped the confrontation between her and the redheaded female at the bar. “Do you recognize him?”
Aron turned in his seat. The human dropped his gaze and looked away. She’d witnessed the reaction countless times over her life. Humans might not know of the predators living among them—yet. Some part of their psyche, however, recognized them for what they were and reacted accordingly.
“He was in the bar the night I fought Josh.” He lowered his voice to a soft whisper. “My cats don’t trust him. He reeks of hatred and drugs, some of which I’ve never scented before.”
“He’s been staring at me since we walked in.”
“I know.” Aron dismissed the human by turning away. He focused on her. “Many males do. You’re quite captivating, Mira.”
“It’s annoying.”
He chuckled. “I imagine it’ll become a point of contention for your mate too. He’ll want to keep you sequestered away for his pleasure.”
She ground her teeth. “He’ll have to deal with it. I’m not offering a relationship outside the bedroom nor am I offering exclusiveness.”
“You’ll eventually give him everything he demands. It’s our way.” A cocky grin spread over his face. “Not to worry, sweet Mira, if you choose me as your mate, I’ll make sure you’re so damn satisfied you won’t ever want another cock or care to resist my orders.”
The smug look he wore irritated her. She clenched her fists and fought the release of her claws. Wrong time, wrong place.
“My breeding partner will get sex, Aron.” She leveled a hard look on him, letting him see the truth in her words. “Sex, not love.”
“Love isn’t necessary. You know that as well as I do.” His grin faded. “And few males allow their women to sleep around on them or live elsewhere whether they love them or not. Our possessive nature won’t stand for it.”
“Unless you’re going to beat me or lock me up, you can shove your possessive nature up your ass. Love is the only thing that ensures shifter mates remain faithful. If you want fidelity, go find your human one.”
Aron let his gaze roam over her. After he finished his slow perusal, he met her eyes. “Not once in my long life have I ever met a human who stirred me.” He tilted his head, a look of contemplation on his face. “I’ve often wondered why. Most males at least do a double take when they find one pleasing to look at.”
She grinned. “So are you telling me you don’t enjoy having a woman’s legs wrapped around your waist?”
His rumbly laughter filled the diner, drawing the attention of the redheaded human. Aron whipped his head around and stared at the male. Whatever look he gave him put the fear of god in the human’s eyes. He threw money on the counter and hurried out the door. She shifted her attention from the swinging door to the parking lot. The male jogged to his truck, jumped in and peeled out.
With the distraction gone, Aron mirrored her pose—elbows on the table, hands splayed. He inched closer until his fingertips touched hers. She forced herself to remain still and ignored her growling cats. They’d didn’t want another male’s touch. They wanted Josh.
Mira stared at where her fingers met Aron’s. She’d made a horrible mistake tonight. How was she going to be able to choose another male when her cats had their sight set on one she couldn’t have? Allowing Josh to pleasure her only intensified the possessiveness they already felt for him.
“You want to pull away. Don’t you, Mira?”
To avoid lying, she asked, “Well, you didn’t answer me. Don’t you enjoy sleeping with females?” Better to put him the spot rather than her.
“Yes, I enjoy having a woman’s legs around my waist. I simply don’t care who they belong to.” He held her gaze, challenging her. “Take my hands, Mira.”
She gave each of her cats a stern growl, reminding them she was in charge. Once sure they’d behave, she covered his long fingers. Aron waited a heartbeat before twining them together. Her breaths quickened as she fought to contain the annoyed animal spirits who paced inside her soul.
“I am sorry, Mira.”
“I already told you, I’m the one who is sorry.”
“For abandoning you. I should never have given up on you.”
Well, she hadn’t been expecting that. The change in topic caught her cats’ attention too. Each animal swung its head to stare at him through her eyes. She cleared her throat. “The window for apologies is over, Aron. You delivered your refusal to my father nearly three centuries ago.”
Aron frowned. Deep creases marred his forehead. “I did no such thing.”
She tugged her hands free and wiped them on her thighs. “Don’t lie about it. I remember quite clearly the day my father came to me. It was fifteen years to the day I’d been violated. Father said you’d sent word that you changed your mind.”
Eyes closed, she recalled the letter her sire had read to her. The cursed words had changed her life. “You said that after much soul searching you could not find it in your heart to accept a ruined female as your mate. That if the goddess had meant for me to be yours, she would’ve intervened and warned my father of Edmund’s plans. You suggested I go to the torture chambers as a cleansing ritual. If I survived with my mind intact, then and only then, would you reconsider your stance, but regretfully, you couldn’t guarantee it.”
A low growl rumbled from Aron’s throat. Her eyelids popped open. Feline fangs filled his mouth and the tips of claws broke through the skin of his fingers. She gasped, covered them with her hands and glanced around. The waitress who sat behind the cash register paid them no attention. She wrapped silverware in a repetitive pattern, her eyes sleepy and unfocused. Good. She hadn’t noticed Aron’s slip.
Mira turned her attention to him. Lips squeezed in a tight line, he took deep breaths in through his nose. The hands under hers trembled. “What’s wrong with you?”
He slipped his hands on top of hers and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “I sent no letter to your father, Mira. I’d planned to come to you that year, but our pride leader was killed. I was forced to remain at home until Kade’s sire could return and take control of the family. We had cubs, females and several humans. They could not remain unguarded.”
The words filtered into her mind. The implication of them rocked her, left her confused and uncertain. Aron hadn’t refused her as she’d been led to believe.
She dropped her gaze to the table. Brown circles stained into the laminate and dozens of little nicks marred the white surface. She focused on two overlapping circlets, one larger than the other. Scents from the diner—grease, human perspiration and the trace of shifter—drifted to her. Each piece of sensory information grounded her. She was here, not in her familial estate in Ireland getting her heart ripped out. Two of the three most important males in her life—her father and Aron—had denounced her that day.
After the letter had been read, her father had asked her to leave their lands. She was worthless to him. Her mating to the Alexander pride had been meant to align the two strongest bloodlines and bring the goddess’s prophecy to life. With nowhere to go, Kade’s sire—Aron’s new pride leader—brought her and Devin into his family, hoping Aron would change his mind.
“You were already gone by the time Devin and I arrived in your pride’s territory.”
“I didn’t even know you were coming. I’d been led to believe you’d refused me.” He stroked his thumb over her knuckles. “And I couldn’t get away fast enough.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The Council delivered a letter from you asking to be freed from our agreement.” He dropped his gaze to the table. “Gods, I was a fool. I should’ve traveled to your estate and spoken with you in person. Hell, I should’ve mentioned your letter to my pride leader. Instead, I burned the damn thing and ran to the other end of the world. Like a damn coward, I hid from you, my family and the shame your denouncement brought.”
He had cut all ties without so much as a word of goodbye to his family. Everyone had assumed he’d run because he wanted no part of the prophecy or her. Nobody had even known he still lived until a couple of decades ago when a Christmas card showed up from Australia.
“I waited for you.”
“I know. I returned a few years later but I couldn’t bring myself to approach you.” He glanced at her. Regret burned in his eyes, the contacts doing little to hide his pain. “When I finally worked up the courage to speak with you, you’d already moved on. Still, I stayed for a while and watched you from afar. Do you know what I saw, what finally made me give up on us?”
Unable to speak, she shook her head.
“You in the arms of my cousins.” His breaths quickened. “It killed me, Mira. Fucking killed me.”
Devin had tried to reason with her. He’d told her the same thing—it had been a miscommunication. Letter or not, he hadn’t believed Aron would act so cruelly.
“We were deceived.”
“It appears that way.” Aron cursed under his breath. “Did you see this letter? Was it in my handwriting with my seal?”
“Yes. It even carried your scent.”
“So did yours.” Aron slid out of the booth, dropped to his knees beside her and pulled her to the edge of the booth. Hands wrapped around her waist, he laid his head in her lap. “I am sorry, Mira. So very sorry. I never denounced you.”
Tears made his voice tight. Hers flowed freely. Three hundred years wasted. All the pain and indignation they’d endured were founded on lies. Aron had suffered too. She saw this now. Mira petted his striped blond mane. They both needed the comfort.
“But why?”
He shrugged. “I’d bet money it had to do with the prophecy. The single-shifters have always assumed the link your children will breach is the tie to the gods they believe has been wrongfully denied them. Their quest for immortality has made them bitter and desperate.”
She hated the damn prophecy. At the moment, she despised the gods too.
“Just as your fake letter suggested, the goddess would’ve told my father which male she wanted me to mate if it was set in stone.” Unless she had and her obstinate sire had ignored her dictate. No, Mira refused to believe that. Her father was a lot of things, but he loved the goddess. She shook her head. “I was an opportunity to Edmund. Nothing more.”
With his cheek against her leg, he peered at her. “The goddess didn’t intervene because the events of our lives were supposed to happen the way they did.”
Mira huffed. “So I was meant to be raped, shamed and ridiculed? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”
Aron nodded. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
The seriousness in his voice stopped her cocky answer. “Why?”
“To make you into the female you are today. Strong, independent, respected. You, my darling Mira, are unlike any woman I’ve ever known.”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t give me any lines.”
He lifted his head. “I’m not. Things happen for a reason. It is why I have never found my one among the humans.” He tugged her closer so his body wedged between her legs. “I’m supposed to mate you now, not three hundred years ago. This modern era where we hover on the verge of discovery is the one our children are meant to alter. The link between the humans and the shifters is the one they will breach, not some mystical nonsense.” He shook his head. “The gods don’t despise the singles, they simply love them differently. Besides, don’t they realize the world was never meant to house so many immortals? It is the reason we don’t breed well.”
Although his reasoning made sense, she didn’t want to believe it. She shoved at his shoulders but didn’t budge him. “I never agreed to mate you.”
“But you will, Mira. It’s only a matter of time.”
“Dammit, I will not blindly fall into the role assigned to me at birth. Prophecy or not. If the goddess anticipated this path for us, she wouldn’t have allowed me to take a beloved human.”
Aron studied her for a long time. Finally, he sighed. “You love this human?”
“Josh,” she corrected automatically.
A wan smile graced his mouth. “Josh, of course.” Aron placed a palm over her belly. “Well, my sweet Mira? Do you love him?”
“I don’t think I’m capable of loving anyone.” At least she wouldn’t be, not once she cut Josh out of her life.
“You love your twin.”
She smiled. “Yes, I do. Devin has always had my back, even when I thought his actions were unreasonable. But the twin bond goes beyond love.”
“And often greater than any other.”
“No, that’s not true. Devin loves me. Of that I have no doubt, but his devotion to Lena is greater. She is his one.” She’d been shocked to see with her own eyes the deep connection between her brother and his little human. “That kind of devotion is rare. It surpasses all, as it should.”
Aron stared at her with unblinking eyes for a long breathless moment. “Shifters can form that deep bond too.” Slowly, he raised his hand and trailed a finger down her cheek. “I want you to be mine.”
She pushed against his shoulders. “It’s late. Let’s call it a night.”
Instead of obeying, he cupped her cheeks and leaned close. She pressed her lips together. He sighed and let his hands fall away.
“Yes, let’s call it a night.” Aron stood and dropped a twenty on the table, their bill paid and food long gone. He took her hand and led her to the door. “I won’t walk away as easily this time, Mira.”
After tonight’s revelations, she figured as much and wasn’t so sure she was happy about it. Scratch that. She was positive she wasn’t pleased with the turn of events, but her life had never been about happiness. No, her life had revolved around the prophecy.
The bitter reality was the goddess didn’t care about her as long as she popped out the kids destined to change their world.
* * * * *
Josh walked down the hallway of his house. He knew it belonged to him yet it didn’t look the same. Instead of the ugly brown carpeting under his feet, sleek hardwood gleamed. Drywall replaced the faded wallpaper and solid wood doors hung in place of the hollow fake ones which blocked off each room. He glanced at everything, but didn’t stop to ponder the changes. A baby’s cry urged him forward.
He flung open the door at the end of the hall. The shrill scream of a newborn met his ears. A quick scan of the room showed three cribs, a rocking chair and changing table. He frowned at the sight, ignored the oddness in the next breath. The baby’s demands beat at him. He strode to the middle crib. A red-faced newborn in a blue onesie with a healthy head of black hair lay on his back with his fists curled by his hips. Josh scooped the child up and lifted him to his shoulder.
The crying didn’t stop. Each wail increased his urge to comfort him. He rubbed circles over the baby’s back, gently patting after each pass. After a few strokes, the child belched.
Josh chuckled.
Content now, the little boy made those happy gurgles babies often made. Josh kept up the soothing caresses and studied the room. A safari theme decorated the walls. Cartooned pictures of lions, tigers and jaguars formed scenes across the surface. Stuffed animals and a throw blanket folded neatly over the back of the rocker added to the wild motif.
