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Okay,so that was the best fucking kiss of his life.
His tiger was ready to claim her and wanted him to toss her over his shoulder and race home. But instead, he took her hand and led her toward his home at a reasonable pace. He lived only a few doors down from Midas’s.
He searched his feelings. She was telling the truth, but notallof it. His quick perusal of the website showed articles about shifters with her byline, but there was something artificial about the whole thing. He couldn’t really put his finger on it, but he was certain that she was telling him a version of the truth that wasn’t quite real.
He didn’t like that his truemate was lying to him, which was why he wanted to get her into his place and spend some time with her in a more controlled environment. Plus, it was cold and she was human. He didn’t want her freezing.
He opened the door to his home and she walked inside. He led her through the hallway to the great room, taking her coat and hanging it over one of the stools at the island.
“Are you hungry or thirsty? I could make coffee if you’re cold.”
She rubbed her hands together and shook her head. “I’m okay, thanks.”
He grabbed the remote and turned on the electric fireplace, setting the blower to high and turning up the temperature to help warm up the room.
They sat on the couch, and he resisted the urge to pull her into his lap and kiss her some more. He didn’t think he’d ever been so affected by a kiss.
“Tell me everything, Ashley.”
“I did.”
She turned to the side to face him, and he angled his body so he was facing her too. “You’re not telling me everything, I can feel it. You hid your scent with chemicals, and then you panicked and ran away. Now you’re back because you can’t stop thinking about me. So tell me the truth. All of it.”
She exhaled through pursed lips, her eyes widening a little.
“Is the way you feel about lying, like in your gut? The way I might get a bad feeling about someone or something?”
“I suppose so. It’s part of being a shifter. My nature allows me to pick up on cues that wouldn’t be readily available to humans, like a bitter scent when someone is lying.”
She sniffed, her nose wrinkling. “I smell bitter?”
“No, you smell amazing,” he said. Then he grimaced and shook his head. “I can just feel that you’re not telling me everything.”
She sighed and rested her head on the back of the couch.
“I was tasked with finding a shifter group to watch, and wolves were out of the question.”
“Why?”
“Because a wolf killed my sister.”
“What? From the Northern Ohio pack?”
“No, I’m from Los Angeles. A wolf killed my sister when she was walking home from work one night.”
“Why would you work for a website that tasks you with researching shifters?”
“I wanted to know why he did what he did.”
“So research wolves.”
The scent of her fear wrapped around him like wet rags. She inhaled sharply, her eyes going wide and her heart beating faster. “No,” she said vehemently.
He reached for her hand and the moment they touched, tension seeped from her. “I’m sorry your sister was killed. What did they tell you?”
“That she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The police couldn’t do anything to the guy. They wouldn’t even arrest him.” Her voice got hard. “His alpha said he’d punish him, but the wolf didn’t even apologize, his alpha did. My parents accepted his apology, but I didn’t. I wouldn’t. It wasn’t fair.” She let go of his hand and crossed her arms, her posture showing she was still angry, still grieving.
“I’m sorry, Ashley, that’s awful. Unfortunately, human authority doesn’t go too far into shifter groups, although a death would be something they should have had some jurisdiction in, even in California.”
