It’s cold as fuck out and he came tomyhouse with enough food to hunker down for weeks. He isn’t going anywhere without a damn good reason driving him to. Worst thing I have to worry about is him making a mess rooting around the house or burning it down playing with the stove.
At least I could honestly claim someone broke in and torched the place, it wasn’t arson for insurance fraud. Could use the payout to bail me out and crash at the clinic…
No, bad Kiara. No arson.
Yet.
The wind slaps me in the face as I lock the door behind me and race back to the clinic, mind whirling. I can’t hide him forever.Someoneis eventually going to find out, and once they realize he’s feral? They’ll take him away.
Determination settles over me like a weighted shroud, grieving a future I’ll likely never see, but determined to fight for it until my dying breath anyway. “No, I’m not going to let that happen.” Havoc may have been happy to cast me aside without a second glance, but I’m not going to abandon my shifter just because we met each other in less than ideal circumstances. Mates are supposed to fight for each other. To be there when it matters.
That’s all I’ve ever wanted; someone to treat me like I’m the most important thing in their world.
And that beast of a man, while out of his right mind, stole food forme.Cared about feeding me when he’s been out suffering in the cold and starving. Actions speak louder than words, and everything about my new mate screams that he’s worth fighting for.
“Okay, Kiara, think,” I mutter, rubbing my temples. “First thing’s first, how do I keep him in the house long term?”
Food access. An area that’s solely his so he starts thinking of it as a safe space. A way to burn off energy so he doesn’t get restless and destroy the house or want to go for a run.
A blush warms my cheeks, and I mentally slap myself before I go too far downthatdirty rabbit hole.
Valerian root is like Xanax and Valium rolled into one the way most mages and witches prepare it. I bet it would help chill out a feral shifter.
Yanking out my phone, I ignore my numb fingers as I work my way down my supplier contacts, anxiety slowly wrapping a noose around my throat as the dead ends rack up and the list grows shorter.
“Sorry, Keys, but I’m tapped out until my next shipment arrives,” the earth mage says with genuine remorse. Sympathy does nothing to fix my problems though. At least, until he adds, “If you’re on a time crunch, you could always check out the animal expo in Rentown this weekend. I’d bet there’s at least one vendor there selling some, even if it’s at a scalper mark up. Depends on how desperate you are.”
I’ve beendesperatesince I moved to Mercy Ridge. But for the first time, I have someone else counting on me to figure shit out. And I’m not about to let him down.
“Thanks, Jax.”
Hanging up, I immediately text my brother, relieved when he agrees to give me a ride this weekend.
“I can do this,” I delude myself. “Everything is going to be okay. It has to be.”
Because I can’t survive losing another mate.
Chapter 17
Kiara
Sorry, Kia, turns out I’m on call. Rain check?
Istare at my brother’s text, starting to panic, but put a hard stop to that before it can gain any traction and take a deep breath to center myself. Shit happens. Life sucks, and if you can’t pivot, it’ll suck you down with it.
“Walk me through the day your powers started acting up again,” I ask Stryker, shoving my problems away to deal with after work. This man is single-handedly funding the bills on the clinic this month, he deserves my undivided attention during our appointments.
“Like I said, there’s nothing worth noting.” He concentrates on the energy reader in his hand, scowling when he can’t maintain the 700 Watts goal for longer than fifteen seconds before it starts spiking and plummeting erratically.
“I finished up a bodyguard job for some trust fund princess that wanted to hit every concert and show in the tri-state area for a month. Came home exhausted and burned out as fuck, but no random power surges.” He rubs a hand over his jaw. “Can’t say I had a reason to use my abilities the week after, so not sureif I actually used them or not. But Iknowit wasn’t as crazy as it is now, randomly sparking off and blowing shit up without me drawing on the power first. Mostly spent it at home recharging, hanging out with my parents and avoiding my brother as much as possible before my next assignment, a simple event security job at a wedding. It wasn’t until a couple of hours in that I first noticed a problem, and nothing weird happened leading up to that moment that I can recall.”
The reading on the energy meter flatlines to a big fat zero and his fingers tighten around it before he hands it back abruptly, fighting the urge to crush it in frustration. Closing his eyes, he takes several deep breaths, exhaling slowly. When he opens them again, the frustration has been replaced by calm determination, and I respect him all the more for it.
“Give me a minute and I can go again.”
I can’t help but snort. “That’s what she said.”
He barks out a surprised laugh, tucks his hands in his pockets, and rocks back casually on his heels. “It’s getting near closing time. Are your mates going to be mad I’m keeping you?”
