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He didn’t say anything at first. She wasn’t sure if he considered whether he wanted to go on protecting his secret from her or if he weighed whether he should force her to talk about Darryl.
“Many years ago, during the Edo period in my country, wolves were viewed as being evil. Because of this, they were hunted and killed until they were near extinction. Some believe this is why my ancestors sought to become shifters—to hide among humans.”
Shae twisted around to look at him. “Are you serious? You think you’re originally from animals?”
“Am I wrong to say you are taught here that humans evolved from monkeys?”
“Please, don’t even get me started with a religious debate. Anyway, that doesn’t explain why only the women become shifters in your family.”
“You may not know, but there are many types of shifters in the world.”
She didn’t bother correcting him in his assumption.
“Families carry the shifter gene, but not all members become shifters. Some are limited to a few or skip generations. Wolf shifters do not follow all the rules of the others.”
She clenched her hands into fists on her lap. “So I’ve learned.”
“More or fewer rules can surface among families. M
ine is not all women, just mostly women. Over generations, a male can arise.”
“You?”
He pressed his lips together. She wished she knew more, but he was so reticent, and she was scared to learn something she never wanted to know. Shae sat back and thought of his situation to avoid thinking about her own.
“Is your brother jealous of you for being something he’s not?”
Eiji started and looked down at her.
“Am I wrong? Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“You have not.”
“Why didn’t your mom or great-grandmother just make all the men like her? She could have bitten them all.” She might have spoken the words with a calm tone, but the moment the words left her lips, a pain started in her neck. The spot Darryl bit throbbed, and she shivered with cold and fear. Eiji encircled her in his arms and drew her back to his strong chest. She nuzzled her face in his neck. What would she do when the sickness passed? Where would she go? She reached up to touch the mark, but Eiji caught her fingers and pulled them away. He’d bandaged the spot, and she hadn’t seen it.
“The weight of being what I am is heavy, an honor for only those who are born this way,” he advised her and frowned. “This man is dishonorable for turning you.”
“This man. You mean Darryl. You can tell it was him?”
“I know his scent from the first night.”
She licked her lips and swallowed. “Eiji, what’s going to happen to me?”
“You will live.”
“I mean beyond that. Am I going to…We don’t know a lot about the wolves, funny enough. They run in packs and are considered more dangerous than the others.” He looked at her, and she spun away to face the street. “I know a thing or two about shifters, but just in case you’re wondering, I did not want this! Darryl attacked me, and the first chance I get, I’m going to kill him.”
“You won’t.”
“I will! How are you going to tell me?”
He sighed. “You will come with me to Japan.”
“Excuse me?” She wriggled in his arms, and after a bit of struggle, he let her go. She stumbled, and he guided her to the chair he’d occupied while he stood up. She panted like she’d just run a marathon. When would it end?
Eiji stood in front of her, arms folded over a powerful chest, legs apart and firm. “You will become my mate and come with me to Japan to live there from now on.”
Shae took her time looking him over from foot to head and down again. She let a slow grin spread over her face, and the bigger it became, the tighter his eyebrows gathered over his dark eyes. His full lips had thinned into a straight line, and his nostrils couldn’t flare any more than they had. Still, the sex appeal rolled off him in tidal waves. Rather than let the anger at his words make the top of her head explode, she laughed. The humor felt good after days of pain and terror.
