Page 28 of Titan’s Mate

Titan got more sausage out of the fridge, in case Brock hadn’t eaten anything he’d killed the night before and needed meat.

Luckily he knew how to cook eggs and sausage—that was easy compared to turkeys. Although, making the Spurkeys was fun, especially because of the way Mari’s eyes lit up when she saw them.

The back door opened and closed and a minute later Brock came in from the mudroom, zipping up his jeans. He grunted a greeting. There were shadows under his eyes, and he still smelled strongly of wolf.

He glanced around. “No happy xióngmāo this morning?” he growled.

“You can stop being cryptic, I know she’s a panda,” Titan said. Brock just snorted. Titan was used that—he was ornery after his wolf went wild. Titan just had to make sure Brock had enough control back that he wasn’t going to scare Mari.

He’d been known to start more than one brawl when he was like this.

“She tell you that?” Brock asked, pouring himself a big mug of coffee.

Titan shook his head. “I saw her animal last night.” He stopped breaking ground sausage into the pan and said, “Do you know why she keeps it a secret?”

Brock said, “I checked them out in the shifter databases, after I went in her head and saw hers. They’re pacifists, which is one reason why they’re so rare. They were almost wiped out by more aggressive shifters.”

Titan nodded. He’d sensed there was more to it than that, but he wasn’t sure what. He cooked in silence, leaving Brock to glower on his barstool, until Mari showed up.

His heart warmed a little, just looking at her. Hell, all she had to do to brighten up his day was just walk in the room.

Even Brock seemed to relax around her.

As she went to pour coffee, he said, “There’s packets of cocoa on the counter, if you want to make mocha.”

That delighted ‘You did this for me?’ smile spread over her face. “You remembered! You’re the best bear ever.”

It shouldn’t be such a big deal that someone remembered what she liked. It should happen so often she took it for granted.

And he definitely wasn’t the best bear ever. She was. He wished he could keep that smile on her face forever.

After breakfast Titan said, “I have to go up and feed Colt and Callie’s turtles. Want to come and meet them?”

He wanted her to come, and he also didn’t want to leave her alone with Brock until he was sure his friend’s animal was back to being civilized. Mari couldn’t protect herself like the others could.

That dimple flashed in her face. “I’ve never met a turtle before. I hope I’m wearing the right clothes.”

In his mind, the right clothes would be none, but he didn’t say that because she wasn’t his. He just led the way up to the third floor, to Colt and Callie’s suite.

“Colt’s the snow leopard, right?” she said as they climbed. “And Callie’s the lynx?”

“Officially, Colt’s a snow leopard and his brother Remy’s a snowy owl. But really, both of them can be both animals. That’s a secret, though.”

She nodded and mimed zipping her lips.

They went down the hallway and he opened the door to the suite. Her little gasp when she walked inside was almost inaudible, but his bear was alert to any sound she made.

“It’s lovely,” she said, looking around.

It was nice. There was a main room with a living and dining area, and a little kitchenette. All brand-new, some of it done by him personally. “We’ve been remodeling the whole house,” he explained. “You should have seen what it was like when we started. Falling down.”

But she was still looking around in wonder, and he busied himself getting lettuce out of the fridge and finding the turtle food, trying not to notice her trailing her fingers across the granite countertops, testing the pillows on the enormous squishy sofa.

Trying not to notice how different this was from his cabin. This was the kind of thing women liked, especially women like Mari, who were made for soft pillows, warmth and comfort.

Not tiny, shabby cabins with only room for one person. Or broken men with jagged edges, with fiery demons behind the not-so-closed doors of their minds. He knew now, she had enough demons of her own. She didn’t need to be saddled with his too.

He said, “The guest suites are just like this—only a little smaller. You could have one. While you’re here.” He stopped talking for a minute because of the aching in his chest when he said that. He forced out, “It would be nice for you.”