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At least she had Cole and Silas to protect her. They were far better mates than me.
My phone buzzed.
Cole: Eva’s asking for you. How long are you going to be?
I stared at the screen for a few minutes.
“Get back, son. Your mate needs you,” Rufus said. He clapped his hand on my shoulder. “She’s been through a lot. You all have.”
As much as I hated to admit it, he was right.
Me: On my way.
Me: Is she OK?
Cole: Yes.
Listening to Rufus went against the grain, but for once I did as he suggested.
A small hurricane flew at me the moment I stepped inside the pack house.
“Tanner!” Lily shrieked like a banshee. I’d seen her when we stormed into the winery, but Rufus reached her first and spirited her and the other females away as quickly as possible, so they didn’t have to witness all the bloodshed. Not that Lily would have cared. For a 16-year-old, she was surprisingly vicious.
“Hey, short-stuff, are you happy to be home?”
From the scowl, I judged not, but I could understand why. She’d always been a wild child, which was why she clashed so hard with her father. Hamish was overprotective and believed females should be seen and not heard. Not surprisingly, Lily had never been that kind of docile female. And never would be.
“I have a plan!” She bounced up and down on the spot, completely unaffected by her kidnapping ordeal.
“Yeah?”
“A shifter fight club, where we can take part in legit fights against other shifters and humans.”
It wasn’t a bad idea.
“Females too!” she continued.
“Hmm, not sure Hamish will go for that,” I warned her.
“Dad can do—”
“Lily!” Cilla didn’t look happy. “Leave Tanner be. He wants to see Eva, not be pestered by you!”
Lily looked remorseful for a few beats, then grinned. “Eva’s cool. She saved me.”
“She did?” My eyebrows shot up.
Her eyes narrowed. “She’s stronger than you think.”
“I know,” I replied. Pride swept through me. My mate might be human, but she was a fucking lioness.
“Lily, now!” The small female grumbled but allowed Cilla to pull her away, leaving me standing at the bottom of the wide staircase. There was nothing stopping me from heading up there to see Eva now. I gritted my teeth and took the first step.
If she forgave me for being a stupid male, I’d tell her everything about Jessie-Lynn and then beg for forgiveness. And if she couldn’t, well, I’d spend the rest of my long life trying to make amends.
Eva
The swelling around my eye had gone down and my ribs no longer hurt as much. I wasn’t sure how it worked, but because I was now the proud human mate of three shifters, my body apparently healed much faster than normal. It was another fortunate side effect of the bond. Not only would I live longer, but viruses like the common cold or Covid wouldn’t affect me.
