I turn to Tiana nervously.
“I’ll handle it from here,” she says, her voice low and urgent. “Go keep him distracted.”
“What?” The word comes out as a squeak.
She stands up and sets her coffee mug down. I turn, watching Aaron step through the portal, his face dark with anger as his eyes lock on mine. My tail curls between my legs.
Tiana immediately lifts the quieting spell, the shield dissolving around us.
She throws me off guard when she throws her arms around me from behind and steps on her toes and kisses my cheek, the gesture so unexpected I freeze in place.
“See?” Tiana says loudly, her voice carrying across the room. “That wasn’t so bad. Us having a real woman-to-feline chat. You are, in fact, the perfect mate for my brother.”
Seth and Kiara notice the commotion. Samara walks over to me and grabs my tail, smoothing her fingers over the fur.
She looks to Tiana. “So this means I can finally get to know my sister-in-law?” There’s genuine warmth in her voice that catches me by surprise.
Tiana grins at her.
Aaron approaches immediately and puts his hands on my face, searching it. “Are you okay?” he asks.
I frown at him. “We’re fine.”
“What’s the problem, big brother?” She smirks. “Your mate isn’t allowed to get to know us?”
“She’s such a lovely lioness,” Tiana continues. “I’ve clearly misjudged her.”
Kiara gives Tiana a strange look, then goes, “Mmhmm,” as if she doesn’t believe her at all.
She goes to stand beside Tiana. Seth approaches.
“Hey, bro,” Seth says. “I saw Mara in the library, and she said she had some woman stuff to handle with the girls.”
Aaron removes his hands from my face and grabs my waist, pulling me against him possessively. The heat of him seeps through my clothes, familiar and grounding. “Don’t come here alone again. Next time let me know, and I’ll bring you here myself.”
“Oh, please,” Tiana says, rolling her eyes. “We weren’t going to turn her into a frog or anything.”
Kiara snickers.
Samara brushes her fingers over the tassel of my tail. My tail pulls away from Samara’s hand and gently brushes over her cheek. She giggles.
“I wouldn’t let anything happen to her,” Samara says. “You can trust me, Aaron. I really like your mate.”
I try to turn toward Samara. Aaron’s arm tightens, keeping me where I am. My lion settles.
I grin at her. “I like you too.”
“Come on,” Aaron says. “Let’s go get settled in. We’ve got classes to teach tomorrow.”
“See you at Sunday dinner, Mara,” Tiana says, a mischievous glint in her eye. “You can leave the grump at home.”
Aaron huffs but pulls me to the stairs.
“What are you doing?” he asks as we descend. “We talked about this.”
“We talked about Eric,” I correct him, keeping my voice equally low. “And it’s been a year, and your mother and sisters haven’t warmed up to me. So I took care of it myself.”
The lie tastes bitter on my tongue, but I force myself to meet his eyes steadily. My lion whimpers inside me, hating the deception, but I silence her. This is for Aaron’s protection.
