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For a second, she was tempted to turn the car around and go back to him, back to Mars. She wanted to apologize.
She wanted him to know that she understood.
But then Rhiannon thought about the innocent women that he had paid to help them. Rhiannon had spent her entire adult life fighting men who paid women to do dangerous things for them. That scared her. That Mars had enough money that he could disregard someone’s life.
She knew he was fundamentally a good person. But Rhiannon couldn’t forgive him for this.
Rhiannon dried her face and turned the key in the ignition.
TWENTY-ONE
MARS
The bear growled so fiercely inside Mars that it hurt his chest. He had only been at odds with the bear inside him a few times in his life.
But the bear had never violently rebelled against his commands before.
But as Mars listened to Rhi leave, the bear was almost forcing him to shift. The most feral, animalistic side of him wanted to come out. It wanted to bare its teeth at Rhiannon and force her to stay.
Mars walked swiftly to the wide windows in the kitchen. He gripped the windowsill as he watched Rhiannon speed away from the cabin.
When he looked down, razor-sharp claws were growing from his fingers, and dark fur was bursting from his skin.
He gritted his teeth, and a low rumble escaped him as the bear tried to force its way out.
Eventually, the urge to shift passed. Mars exhaled with relief. He could still hear the small, sleek sports car driving away from the cabin. He allowed his shifter senses to take over, and he listened as she drove farther and farther away from the cabin.
Away from him.
You went too far, a testy voice in his head said.
“You think I don’t know that?” he murmured, running a hand through his short hair.
He had gone too far. And he had driven Rhiannon away in the process. Instead of acting rationally, Mars had allowed the alpha shifter inside him to dominate his emotions.
He had wanted to go after Rhiannon, but he knew he would have just said something to incense her more.
“Sir, would you like anything?” Mars turned at the sound of Anita’s voice. Her soft, gentle voice comforted him. He smiled ruefully at her. Anita was a shifter too. She would have heard the entire argument with Rhiannon.
“I’m going to tidy up here and will probably go back to the city at some point soon too.”
Anita inclined her head graciously. She turned to leave but hesitated in the doorframe. Mars was never one to turn down advice from Anita. He waited patiently while she decided whether it was proper to give advice to her employer.
“Mr. Casey, sir, give the young woman time. She is your fated mate. She won’t stay away too long.”
Anita smiled at him, her eyes crinkling up at the edges. Mars nodded his gratitude, and she left. Her low heels clicked as she walked, and in the silence, that was all that Mars heard.
Suddenly a lone, errant crack of thunder boomed overhead. The bear inside Mars growled and huffed, but Mars again swallowed the urge to shift.
A summer storm raced across the sky. There’d be heavy showers for a few hours. Mars took a deep breath as the heavens broke and drops burst from the sky. At least everything would be cleansed.
Mars didn’t like that Rhi had left him to go back to town. But he also knew there was no longer any excuse to keep her hidden away in the cabin.
His team of shifters had caught the attacker in time. And they had gotten all the information they needed from him.
I think it is time that you also go back to town,Mars told himself.
It was time to deal with some dirt.
