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SIMONE
Waking in Mischa’s embrace, his strong arms wrapped around her and the sound of his rhythmic heart beating in his chest was the best way to wake up. It was as if the universe was telling her all was right with the world.
“It will be all right, little wolf. They can do nothing to harm you,” he rumbled.
How did he know? Because he always knew.
“The link, sweetheart. It flows strong between us.”
“Yes, but I don’t think it’s fair when you start thinking about all the wicked, nasty, amazing things you want to do to me in the middle of dinner. It makes me all gooey inside.”
He chuckled, “But I like it when you’re gooey. You’re so tasty that way.”
She laughed, as she knew he’d wanted her to do. “You’re terrible. I don’t know why I love you so.”
“I don’t know either,” he said, disengaging himself from her arms, rolling out of bed, and then scooping her up to carry her towards their shower. “But let’s see if we can’t figure it out before going down to breakfast.”
Her laughter filled the room as he carried her into the shower.
* * *
Simone’s parents sat across the desk from them, looking very much like deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle. He rather imagined the fact that Simone was curled up in his lap in the desk chair with a nicely healing claiming bite didn’t help. He didn’t care.
“I don’t know that I appreciate being summoned to your office upon our arrival,” started Giuliano.
Mischa knew he was trying to wrangle some sort of control; he wasn’t going to get it.
“Given that you have been lying to my mate her entire life and sent her into a situation halfway across the world unprepared for the truth of who she used to be, you’re lucky I didn’t turn your plane back before it landed.”
Guiliano had been about to bluster but knowing that his daughter and her mate knew the truth made him hold his tongue. At his side, Martina began to sob.
Mischa could feel his mate’s resolve start to weaken until her dire wolf growled menacingly. He’d found Simone’s dire wolf to be a strong presence within her. Simone had explained that her she-wolf felt they’d been cheated out of being unified long before it happened. Simone indulged her with almost daily runs—most often with him or with Midori/Kitty. He smiled as the image of the great female dire wolf play-bowing to the elegant Eurasian lynx flitted across his mind.
“I am not goofy,” she whispered, admonishing him.
“You are, but in a completely fascinating and endearing way.”
She turned back to her parents, her resolve returning. “Why?”
“I don’t have to answer these questions,” said Giuliano, starting to rise.
“You do, or I will allow my mate to unleash her dire wolf. Trust me, that is not something you want me to do. The last time I did, we sent body pieces home to the Russians, who begged her forgiveness.”
“They weren’t begging; they were trying to bribe me, and although the caviar and vodka was really good, that’s beside the point. The fact is, you do owe me an explanation. I grew up believing there was something inherently wrong with me. Not only did you allow it, but you allowed it to fester. If Mischa hadn’t come along, would you ever have told me? Or would you have forced my dire wolf to hide in the shadows forever?”
“I have to tell you,” said Mischa, lazily, “I am far more inclined to try and understand than she is. To be honest, she’s pretty pissed about the whole thing.”
“I will not be subjected to this kind of treatment,” said Giuliano, starting to rise.
Martina put her hand on him. “You will. They deserve an explanation. Simone most of all, but you did try to delude Mischa. No one would blame him if he rejected Simone and chose to enforce the original agreement and took GiGi to mate.”
“That’s not happening,” said Mischa. “I have my fated mate, and nothing and no one will ever take her from me.”
“What happened?” asked Simone. “Kitty only knows part of it. She heard my birth mother being murdered, but she doesn’t know why other than what my birth mother told the Shadow Sisters when she asked for their help.”
“How could Kitty tell you anything?” asked Giuliano.
“In the same way you disguised my scent so no one would know I wasn’t a shifter, Kitty—or as we now call her, Midori—used a combination of pheromones and herbs to disguise that she was a shifter. She spent more than two decades trapped in her lynx self, only daring to shift when she had to in order to ensure I was safe and happy.”
