Guardian's Mate

“I’ve put a lot of people on alert, both Shifters and human, about the ferals who hurt the Carsons, asking far and wide if anyone has any info. Sean is keeping you out of the Guardian Network to keep you safe from other Guardians but that doesn’t mean he can’t do searches of his own. He’ll find something.”

“Miles witnessed something similar, you said.” Rae shivered. “It’s horrible. Why would Shifters go after other Shifters?”

Zander grunted a laugh. “You’re young and cute. Shifters used to tear each other up all the time. Clan wars, mate challenges, hierarchy changes . . . Shifters have a history of violence. We were originally bred as fighters, remember. Battle beasts for the Fae.”

“Yes, but that was a couple thousand years and many generations ago.” Rae took another swallow of wine. “I hope we got over it.”

“Mostly.” Zander wiped his fingers on a paper towel and closed the empty pizza box. “But there’s a kernel of savagery inside every Shifter, no matter how long we’ve been around. That’s why Shifters go feral. They become the battle beasts and can’t snap out of it. I healed a feral not long ago.” Zander quieted, his eyes going still. “It was horrific. I healed him, but then I was mindless. I wanted to kill, to rip apart everyone in sight. Since I’m a big-ass bear, like you say, I was unstoppable. A fearless cub—a little boy one-tenth my size—was the only thing that took me down.”

He shuddered, his remembered terror touching Rae. She set down her plate and glass and reached for his hand. Zander didn’t hide his grateful look when he closed his fingers over hers.

“You weren’t feral,” Rae reminded him. “It was only your healing gift giving you hell.”

“I know that.” Zander’s grip tightened. “But I might not have come back from it. It was easy to slip to the other side, and I don’t have a Collar to stop me. Shifters can look human but we’re not. We’re all one step away from the savage.”

“Except for the cubs,” Rae reminded him. “We take care of them—even my dad picked me up and took me home with him, when he had no idea who I was, who my parents were. You stopped yourself for a cub, you said. Tell me about him.”

As Rae had hoped, the mention of the cub made Zander’s haunted look recede. “Cutest little polar bear you ever saw,” he rumbled. “Name of Olaf. I thought about asking to adopt him but he’s so happy living with a bunch of bears and humans, all of them smitten with him, that I didn’t have the heart to take him away. So I visit him. Maybe when he’s older I can teach him about being a polar bear. He’s an orphan, like you. Maybe I can be the clan he never had.”

Zander would do that, Rae saw. He’d take care of the cub, like he took care of everyone else.

“You’re a softy,” Rae said. “For a big-ass bear.”

Zander’s eyes took on their usual glint, his fear and his relief evaporating. “You watch who you’re calling soft, Little Wolf.” He shoved aside the plates, glasses, and pizza box, reached across the table, and dragged Rae onto it. “You’re going to pay for being so nice to me.”

He didn’t bother with Rae’s tank top or his T-shirt. He yanked off their underwear and started loving her on the polished wood of the tabletop. Rae laughed as his thrusts came hard and fast, then again when they rolled off to the floor.

Neither of them worried much about it. Zander slid back inside her and Rae sank into him and let the happiness come.

* * *

Zander dragged himself off the bed a few hours later. They’d retreated to the bedroom for a deep sleep after their frenzy in the living room, and now someone was banging on the front door.

Rae opened sleepy eyes but Zander signaled her to stay put, grabbed his samurai sword, and strode out. The scent on the other side of the door was Shifter but Zander drew the sword before he glanced out the window to see who had approached.

Like polite Shifters, they stood a few yards from the cabin, just inside the flower garden. They’d announced their presence and now waited to be admitted to Zander’s territory. The cabin was Zander’s territory at the moment—renting a place for a few days counted.

Zander lowered his sword and opened the door. “’Bout time you got here.”

The younger of the pair took a step back. “Goddess, that is not what I needed to see right now.”

Zander hadn’t bothered to dress, so he stood fully naked in the doorway, his sword at his side. “What’s your problem, Mason?” he asked. “Gone all squeamish on me? Goddess help your mate.”

“Just cover that up. Bears, I swear, are fucking clueless.”

The older Shifter laughed. “Get over it, little bro. He’s got a woman in there. I’d say we can come back later, but I’m not waiting another two days for you to finish.”

Zander growled. “More like two weeks, but I get it. Be right back.”

He slammed the door and strode into the bedroom, sheathing the sword and finding his clothes. “Broderick and Mason McNaughton,” he told Rae by way of explanation as he pulled on his underwear and jeans. “They’re from Austin. I asked them to come up here and look at the sword.”

Rae peered at him over the quilt. Goddess help him. Her dark hair had come out of its braid and hung tousled to her shoulders, and her face was flushed with sleep. Zander wanted nothing more than to crawl back into the nest with her and snuggle down into her warmth.

Zander pulled on his T-shirt, realizing that his chest was dotted with love bites. Rae liked to chew on him.

“I can get rid of them if you want,” Zander said to her. “Send them to your dad’s house. We’ll meet them there.”

“No.” Rae threw back the quilts and dragged a hand through her hair. With her breasts bared, the covers bunching around her hips, she was sexier than ever. “I want to talk to them. Why do you think they can fix the sword?”

“Because they’re good with metal. You sure you want them in here?”

Rae nodded. “Give me a sec and I’ll come out.”

Zander’s mating frenzy, not sated at all, buzzed as he watched Rae reaching for the garments strewn around the bedroom. The curve of her back as she leaned to the floor led to her tight backside; the soft round of her breast moved as she snatched up her tank top.