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Kierwas one of those people. He’d die for this woman in a second. He could hardly breathe, watching her. The adrenaline shooting through him made him want to growl, made him want to surge forward. He could barely hold himself back, but restraint was key. He couldn’t take this away from Taylee. He had to let her do this on her own, no matter how hard it was to hold himself and his bear back.
“I realize how hard it must be to have nothing.” Tay’s voice changed, it was gentler. Emotion crept in and it sounded a lot like sympathy. Compassion. He could sense that this was genuine—she wasn’t just giving lip service to the words in order to get this man to talk. She truly empathized with him. Kier’s mouth dropped. “Even when I thought I had nothing, after the accident, even when everything was gone, I still had family. I had friends. I had so many people who loved me. I have my daughters. I have my mate. I might not have had my memories, but I had a full, rich life. It was never gone. It was just waiting for me to rediscover it. I refuse to let you take that joy from me. I refuse to let you steal the goodness in my life or my family’s lives or from anyone in my clan.”
Kier had never been prouder of this woman. Having the courage to save a life instead of wrecking a life was so much greater than anything anyone could imagine. Facing down the man who had haunted her and forgiving him, that was just… He didn’t have words for how incredible that was.
He wanted to get close to Taylee. He wanted to take her in his arms, bury his nose in her hair and breathe in her sweet, clean scent. He wanted his hands on her skin, her sighs as she leaned into him, letting him take her troubles. He still wanted to get in front of her and block out that creep’s horrible stare. He wanted to make sure that fuck could never look at his mate again. He wanted to let the bear out and rip the asshole apart.
But that’s not what Taylee wanted.
She wanted to forgive. She wanted life. She wanted them to be free instead of haunted or hunted.
He wanted to give Taylee everything, and so he forced himself to stand there and get his shit together and under control.
“You came to me because you wanted ten thousand dollars. That was the price of my happiness. That was what my life and all our lives were worth to you. That was the price of our secret.”
“No, that was only the price of the debt I needed to cover.” He didn’t seem sorry.
“And what would you say if we’d agree to cover it for you?”
Jem stiffened. He and Clay exchanged looks that said they’d rather wipe the floor with this guy’s dismembered body parts. They still didn’t understand what Taylee was doing, even though he did.
“We’ll help you. Because you’re a shifter. We already know. My brothers know everything about you. They know everything you’ve done. They know what you’ve done to stay alive. You’re not like bears. You don’t have anyone. Or if you did, they’re gone now. You either lost them or you pushed them away. I don’t know what you’ve lived through, but it must have been awful and painful. I don’t believe anyone is beyond redemption if they want help. Do you want help, Sebastian?’
A snarl came out of those twisted lips. Kier realized that even though the guy’s hair was jet black, his eyes were so pale blue they were almost silver. Unnatural, especially in the lamplight and shadows.
“We can give you money, but that won’t solve any of your problems. That’s just putting a bandage on a wound that’s festering. It’s ignoring a limb that needs to be cut off to keep from poisoning the whole body.”
“That’s what your brothers want to do. Tear me apart.”
“They do, but that’ll fade with time,” Taylee said evenly. “We’ve helped other members of our clan. People who the world would say were beyond redemption. Our clans have resources. We’re trying to find a way to help our shifters work through their issues.”
“Jesus Christ, I’d prefer it if you just killed me before we all sit around a campfire singing kumbaya. This is exhausting.”
Kier’s hand reached out silently and grasped what was left of the crumbling doorframe. He could have burst the thing apart with the pressure he applied. He needed to control his anger too. There was no place for that here, not when he needed to be rational.
“I don’t have any mommy or daddy issues. No one hurt me. I had a perfectly good childhood. I left all that behind. I do what I do because I enjoy it. Ilikehurting people.”
“Fuck, Tay, let us put this guy in the ground,” Clay growled. He cracked his neck from side to side and rolled his wrists like he wanted nothing more than to put one of his fists through Sebastian’s sneering face.
“Clay, stop.” Taylee didn’t move. She just tilted her head towards her brother. “He’s just trying to make you angry. I know he doesn’t believe that.”
“Oh, I’m being perfectly honest. I tricked you into falling in love with me back when we lived in Texas. I knew what you were. I’d heard from a friend some nonsense he was talking while he was drunk about bear shifters being real—we thought you guys were just a myth or extinct. He’d met someone one night who was absolutely wasted, and he talked, said there was a community living in the state. He believed it. I didn’t, because really? There’d been no grizzlies in Texas for over a hundred years and if there was a shifter clan around then surely there would have been some sightings. But then he started talking about this place outside the city, all tucked away. I went there, trying to get some video, because anything like that could be big money, and that’s when I saw you. I started watching you. When you went to the city alone, that’s when I bumped into you. Not by mistake. I stalked you. I planned you. I made you into a victim. You seemed so lonely. You had that starry-eyed innocent, sweet look about you. I knew it wouldn’t be hard to make you fall in love with me. Spill your secrets.”
Jem surged forward. “I’m going to—”
Clay slammed a hand into his brother’s chest, holding him back. Barely. He was barely holding himself back.
So was Kier. He was fighting a battle he was going to lose soon. He was going to throttle Sebastian. He wouldn’t kill him, but he’d do some serious damage. Tay would know he was there, and she’d be so disappointed that he’d done it.
Because out of everyone in that room, she was the only one not moving. She was the only one standing her ground and not losing her shit.
“Maybe that’s true, but what you felt was real.” She was so unnaturally calm. She angled to the side just a little and Kier could see her face, bathed in golden light. She looked like an angel. Like a supernatural being. Her eyes glistened. “I’ve always had this gift. I thought it was gone, but I get feelings about things. And I can feel your pain right now. Shifters have keen senses. I canscentit. You’re so used to talking around it to cover it up. So used to doing what you need to survive, but that’s not you. I did love you because I saw past that. I saw the person you never wanted anyone else to see. You couldn’t help yourself. You wanted a family, you wanted someone to seeyou. You wanted someone to know your soul.” She paused and looked at him. Sebastian’s eyes seemed to shine in the dim light. “That video you took of me shifting? You didn’t keep it all these years because you were waiting for the right moment to out us. You kept it because it was the only memory of me that you had left.” Kier saw something flash over the man, wolf or whatever it was sitting in the chair. However, his mate remained calm as she spoke. “If what you say is true and I made you a promise, then I’ll keep my word. I’ll honor it by protecting you now. I’ll honor it by saving your life. In our world of shifters, that indebts you to me forever. I’m offering our clan to you, as family. I’m offering Pinefall as a home. There isn’t a bit of me left that loved you and I don’t know why I stopped—but that was yearsago. I’ve found a life out here. Love. I have children. I want to be the kind of woman they’d be proud of. A woman who chooses mercy and goodness over hate and evil.”
“You can’t…” Jem’s voice trailed off. He struggled against Clay. “You can’t offer this trash a place in Pinefall! He’s a wolf! They’re our enemies.”
“I already talked to Clarence about it,” Taylee responded calmly. Her face was still glowing. She was soaking up all the light in the room and reflecting it back. That was the force of her spirit. The force of her own light. Kier was paralyzed by it. He was shocked, but he was so awed by his mate as well.
He wouldn’t have had the strength. But she did. She’d chosen forgiveness the entire time.
