Page 54 of Brazen

I stared at him. He’d totally lost me.

“There are mates, and there are fated mates. A mate is the shifter form of a spouse. A fated mate is determined by nature. It’s that one in a million chance. It’s when you’ve found “the one.”

“I knew the moment I caught your scent that you were mine.”

22

SAM

* * *

“Yours?” Clio raised a skeptical brow.

I nodded, never being so sure of something in my life. Of course, what I wasn’t sure about was how she’d react to my declaration. “And I’m yours.”

She stared at me. Alarm, grief, and wonder flitted across her expression. Her lips trembled.

“It’s okay. I know it’s too soon for me to throw all this at you. You don’t recognize me by scent the way I do you. But I want you to know that what happened with JT’s dad will never, ever happen with me. I’m yours. Nothing will change that.”

A shiver ran through Clio. Of recognition? I could only hope.

She reached out and held my jaw then came in for a kiss.

Fuck, yeah. That felt like a yes. I kissed her back, taking my time, showing her I could be tender. That it wasn’t just one setting with me–hot sex or nothing.

When we broke apart, she went in for one more quick kiss, then refilled her glass and mine. “Are you the only one around here who is a shifter?” Her eyes widened as if she realized something huge. “Oh my God. Your whole family must be shifters.”

I nodded. “Yes. And almost everyone at Wolf Ranch. But some have human mates. Wes is a wolf. Joy isn’t. You know both of them, and they’re together. Marina, the woman at the bake table, she’s human, and she’s mated to Colton Wolf. I mentioned Boyd before. He’s married to Audrey, and they have a little girl. Lizzie’s younger than JT, and she’s half-wolf. There are others, too.”

“Unbelievable.” She sighed and shook her head.

“What?”

“I moved to Cooper Valley, so I could hide JT’s superhuman abilities. I’ve had to move three times. We came here from Northern California because he broke his arm, and it healed within a few days.” She gave a semi-hysterical laugh. “He ripped off his own cast. Here, I thought he would blend in well with the other kids who loved to run around in the mountains.”

“Well, he will blend in because there’s a big pack here for him–and you–to be a part of. It’s like a big family.”

“Is everyone in town a shifter?”

I took a sip of wine. “No. Ernie and Edna aren’t. Only a small part of the community is. We’re good at hiding it.”

“So Ted didn’t lie about that, it has to stay a secret.”

Nodding, I replied. “Yes. I’m not saying he lied about anything. I’m just saying his pack is wrong about mating humans.”

She nodded, digesting that. Her brow furrowed. “What should I tell JT?”

“He doesn’t know what he is?”

She shrugged, and when her bare shoulders rose, so did her lush tits.

Down, Wolf.

“He knows he’s different,” she said. “He’s more, but I haven’t told him what he is. We don’t even know if he’ll ever shift. I didn’t want to open any cans of worms before I had to. Besides, I don’t understand it enough and couldn’t answer any of his questions.”

“I can talk with him about it.”

Something in her face softened–some invisible tension she’d been holding. “Thank you. I think that could help.”