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“Don’t try, man,
” Marcus warned the guy. “He’s marked her. I’m guessing he’ll rip your throat out if you even try, and I’m not going to stop him. He’s in his rights.”
Shae’s eyes widened. Were they serious?
“She’s not his mate,” was the snapped reply. “She’s fair game.”
“Fair game to fight for,” Marcus corrected. He turned back to Eiji. “That reminds me. I wanted to say I’m sorry about your cousin.”
Eiji’s hands closed into fists at his sides, and a vein pulsed in his right temple. “Did he kill her?”
“Not like you think.” Marcus sighed and sat straighter. He pushed the girls away, and they stood with reluctance. The man was going to enjoy being alpha too much. She hoped he’d make better decisions than the bastard who’d bit her. From what she saw, Marcus’s head had already begun to swell. “She claimed to be a part of a pack where she came from. We are somewhat new in the area, so we didn’t know for sure. Darryl didn’t see a man around her, so he figured she was fair game. She said she’d fight him for the right to stay free.”
Shae’s mouth fell open. This was what Eiji had been telling her all along. A woman couldn’t be a rogue, or she would find men coming at her constantly trying to make her submit. She ground her teeth in anger, and from the expression on Eiji’s face, he didn’t appreciate how Darryl had gone after her either.
“He accepted this?” Eiji asked.
“Yeah, he did. She wanted to fight him. He let her. He knew he would win, and when he had her down, she should have given up and let him take her.”
“The hell she should!”
All eyes turned to Shae at her outburst. She folded her arms over her chest and dared them to challenge her. No one seemed to care one way or another about what she thought, even the women. The two men who’d eyed her earlier still did.
“She pushed him until he hurt her too much. She could have recovered with his help, but Darryl didn’t want to. He commanded us to stay out of it.”
Shae hated every one of them. “And y’all obeyed, even with a woman dying right before your eyes.” If she had the weapons now, she’d kill them without a second thought. “I don’t care if I am a shifter. I’ll never understand your ways. Ever!”
“There are methods to help you understand.”
Marcus’s mild reply sent shivers of dread racing up and down her back. She knew she couldn’t stay in this area without protection. Either her family would find and kill her or these people would. She’d be reduced to fighting for her life just like Izumi. The sad thing was, the woman must have thought herself safe with no shifters in the area, at least none who wanted to dominate her. Then Darryl and his crew rolled into town. She wondered, with her training and her new ability to smell a person coming, would she have an edge? Could she go wherever she wanted? Maybe not without learning more about being what she was now.
Eiji cut across her thoughts. “I can’t join your pack. I’m staying with Shae to protect her.”
He’d said as much already, but hearing it again, seeing him admit before these men who viewed women as lesser than themselves that he wouldn’t force her to be his mate, blew her mind. The women looked up at Eiji, and Shae thought she saw a flash of longing in their eyes before they masked it.
“She’s got you whipped, man,” one of the guys called out laughing.
“Thank you for your help. We are leaving.” Eiji gave a slight bow. Anyone observing such a solid build, the stoic expression, and calm self-assurance would not classify Eiji as weak, and she loved him all the more.
No one barred him from taking her hand and leading her out of the house. They approached the car, and Shae climbed across the driver seat to the other side while Eiji tried repairing the damage he’d done earlier. She was tired, and she guessed he was too, but staying would be dangerous.
He settled behind the steering wheel. “Where do you want to go?”
She peered across at him. “Really?”
“I said I won’t leave you, and I won’t.”
She chewed her lip. Admitting how she felt would take a huge leap of faith. “Let’s go somewhere we can clean up and rest. Is that okay?”
“Hai.”
* * * *
Shae dropped the dress from her shoulders and let it slide down her frame until it crumpled on the floor in a soft pile. She stepped out of it and bent to fling the offending material onto a chair. She’d had enough of that dress and couldn’t wait to shower and slip into the new things Eiji had bought.
While she stood in front of the mirror, he stepped up behind her, his hungry gaze on her breasts. A shimmer of a voice in her head whispered, “Ours,” but she couldn’t determine if her inner wolf had said the words or Eiji’s. Could they even speak into each other’s minds anymore, or was that a skill only for her first change? Since the woods, she’d heard nothing of Eiji in her head, and for such a short-lived thing, her mind felt empty without him.
His hands settled at her waist, and a shiver of need sank from the center of her belly to between her legs. Her pussy moistened. Eiji’s reflected image breathed deep, and his dark eyes paled. If she were even planning on telling him they would just be companions and nothing more on her journey to learning this new way of life, it wouldn’t work.
