He nodded, and we were back to awkward silence. It was as if he knew I was planning to leave or something, but then again, I remembered how he’d come to my side when Beatrix threatened me and how he’d reacted when I stepped out of the bathroom.

  I was more than confused on how to read Roman, but hopefully it wouldn’t be something I had to worry about for much longer.

  A few minutes later, after I’d already begun counting the wood slats in the ceiling, he spoke up again. “Do you want to go down to the creek?”

  “Sure, why not.” Roman didn’t have a TV in the cabin, and I didn’t see any books, so anything else was better than sitting there. I should have grabbed my phone so I could read, but reading the next few scenes with Roman near probably wasn’t a great idea either.

  We walked the hundred-or-so feet to the creek, and I watched Roman as he picked up a flat rock and skipped it across the slow-moving surface.

  “I used to do that all the time as a kid,” I said, remembering my mom teaching me how. She took her role as both mother and father very seriously, something that I did my best to never take for granted.

  Roman tossed a rock at me and grinned. “Let’s see what you got.”

  I wasn’t one to back down, so I moved closer to the water’s edge and frowned when my rock sunk into the water without skipping. Apparently, rock skipping was a talent that one lost if they didn’t keep up with it.

  “Come on. I’ll help you try again.” Roman handed me another rock but didn’t let go of my hand once I had hold of it.

  He moved around behind me and drew my arm back. All the while, his chest was pressed firmly against my back and his other hand was loosely holding on to my hip. This felt too intimate, but I couldn’t deny the closeness made my heart race in a good way.

  “Hold the rock only with your thumb and index finger at the two ends, then guide your index finger along the edge. Turn it at a bit of an angle like this.” His grip on my hip tightened as he guided me. “Keep your hand below your shoulder and concentrate on throwing fast, but not hard.”

  Oh, something was definitely hard.

  My face blushed, and I was thankful he was behind me. Taking a deep breath, I steadied myself and tried to forget Roman was holding me so close. I pulled my arm further back and released the stone.

  Watching the water’s surface, I clapped when the rock made it halfway across the creek with two skips. “It worked!”

  He turned me around, his hands cupping my jawline, and I sucked in a breath. Jesus, my restraints were no match for this kind of sex appeal.

  “Cait, I need to…” His sentence trailed off as he lowered his head.

  I had plenty of time to stop him. I knew I should. I almost did. I was so close to saying the words.

  Yet, I didn’t.

  Selfishly, I accepted his movements and kissed him back, taking whatever he had to offer for the moment. Roman sucked on my lower lip, opening my mouth before gliding his tongue in, sliding one hand around the base of my neck and the other to my lower back.

  I was locked against him and gripped his shirt as I let his mouth devour mine. Our tongues fought for control as I moaned against him. My skin heated, and my heart raced, but none of that was as strong as the sexual build-up.

  My legs pressed together as he pushed me closer, and I tried to fight the growing ache. My hands flattened on his chest, and I pushed back. “Roman,” I murmured.

  He trailed kisses down my jaw and focused on my neck. “Hmmm.”

  Damn, he was not making this easy. I was either the biggest idiot in the world, or the strongest woman alive.

  “Please, stop.”

  My words had the desired effect, except when Roman moved back, I instantly missed his warmth and hated that.

  “You don’t want this?” he asked.

  “This shouldn’t happen,” I said instead of answering.

  He raised an eyebrow. “And why is that?”

  “Because I don’t want it to.”

  He grunted with a smirk. “That’s not what it felt like to me.”

  “Roman, don’t make this harder than it needs to be. I’m not a wolf. I shouldn’t be your mate.”

  “But you’re mine.”

  “No, I’m not. I’m my own person. I don’t belong to anyone,” I replied, beginning to get annoyed, which was better than my previous feelings.

  He stepped closer, lifting my wrist. “The moment this mark appeared, life as you knew it was over, Cait. I’m not trying to be an asshole, but you need to accept that you’re not human anymore or things are only going to get more difficult.”

  I pushed away from him once again, this time with more force as my energy began to swirl. “Oh, yeah? For who? Me? Or are you only worried about you?”

  “That’s not what I meant. I can protect you here. I can give you as normal of a life as possible within this pack, but out in the world, nothing will be the same as it was before, no matter how much you want it to be.”

  I crossed my arms and inched further away. “And how can you possibly know that?”

  He sighed, clearly annoyed with me. “Because you’re not human. How many times do we have to tell you that? You’re marked in a shifter world, and unable to properly protect yourself right now. You’re unclaimed and unattached. Naturally, other supernaturals will be curious, and that type of interest isn’t likely to be a good thing.”

  His words had their desired effect. Fear slammed into me as the truth of them hit me like a truck, but I still refused to be controlled. I needed more time.

  “I can’t do this right now, Roman. I need to focus on one thing at a time, and you’re not number one on my list of priorities right now. I am. And what this mark means for me.”

  My mother had always taught me to be brave and independent. I was going to show her she had succeeded.

  Roman growled and turned away from me as he ran his fingers through his hair. I took the moment to walk away as well, but I wasn’t going to stay close. I didn’t care what Beatrix said. My time with Roman was up, and I was going to find wherever Serene lived. There had to be something she could tell me.

  Knowing Roman wouldn’t let me get far, I began to run. My legs were stiff. Sprinting wasn’t something I’d done since high school, but the longer my strides got, the easier the pacing became. I was running faster than ever before, but not like Roman did.

  I was so intrigued by this new ability that I wasn’t paying close attention to what was in front of me and slammed into a hard force. I landed on my ass with an audible thud and barely stopped my head from slamming into the dirt ground.

  A man stood over me and reached his hand out. “Sorry, miss. I didn’t see you there.”

  I took his offered help, but as soon as his fingers wrapped around my palm, an uneasiness settled within my stomach. I acted like I had to brush myself off and took a few steps back to get a look at him.

  I was certain I’d never seen him before. He had obsidian hair, cropped short, with russet eyes and a sharp chin. He was tall, but not much over six feet.

  “Are you okay?” he asked while appraising me.

  “Yep. I just needed the reminder to slow down and pay attention. Reminder received,” I said and started to walk away.

  The guy moved into my path. “What’s your name? I haven’t seen you around here before.”

  “If you don’t already know who I am, then you probably don’t need to,” I replied without thinking twice about the repercussion. Assuming this dude was a shifter, I probably shouldn’t antagonize him. “I’m sorry. I really need to go.”

  “Oh, come on. I’m Kyle.” He reached a hand to me, but I ignored it this time.

  “I really need to go,” I repeated with more force behind my words as I moved to sidestep him, but he grabbed on to my wrist, squeezing tight.

  “Now you’re just being rude. Tell me your name,” he seethed as his grip strengthened.

  The power I’d been working to control was there, but something told me I was better off kneeing this guy in the balls than showing him what I was capable of.

  “Let her go,” Roman’s voice bellowed from behind.

  Kyle did just that, but didn’t move away. “Calm down, dear cousin. I was just trying to meet your new pack member. Interesting that you haven’t registered her on the pack list.”

  “She and my pack are none of your damned business. Now, what do you want?”

  I moved closer to Roman as they traded words, curious to know where this guy was from, considering he’d called Roman his cousin.

  “I just came here for a little chat, but I can see you’re busy. I’ll go make myself comfortable in the main house. Maybe find my auntie.”

  The way “auntie” rolled off his tongue made my stomach churn. Whoever he was to the pack and Roman’s family, I instinctively knew he was bad news and hoped he didn’t stick around long.

  “We can all walk back together,” Roman said through gritted teeth.

  “Or perhaps run? The female is quite fast.” Kyle licked his lips as he took another close look at me.

  Roman didn’t do anything to defend me, which surprised the hell out of me. Maybe I’d finally gotten my point across.

  “Running it is. After you,” Roman said to Kyle, who smirked at each of us before taking off.

  Roman said nothing to me as we followed. Kyle was almost out of eyesight. My pace was not keeping up with the wolf’s, but Roman stayed with me. For that, I was thankful.

  By the time we got back to the pack house, Kyle was likely already inside, and Embry was waiting for me.

  She wrapped me in her arms. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  “Why wouldn’t I be?” I asked.

  “We’ll talk about it later. Come on.” She pulled on my hand and nodded at Roman as he stomped toward the pack house without giving me another glance.

  21

  Cait

  Just as we began to walk away, Kyle whistled, getting our attention from across the driveway. “Bring the girl. I’d like to get to know her better.”

  Roman snarled. “She doesn’t have any business in a meeting between our packs.”

  Kyle grinned. “Oh, something tells me otherwise, cousin.”

  Roman calmed himself and shrugged. “Whatever. She isn’t mine to control and doesn’t mean anything to me. Just don’t touch my pack members. You know the rules.”

  “Without their permission, of course.” Kyle licked his lips, and I vomited a little in my mouth.

  Roman saying that I didn’t mean anything to him stung more than I expected, considering I wanted to be left alone. I ignored the feeling and headed toward the pack house instead of Embry’s.

  She was right at my side, grabbing my arm. “Don’t say anything and keep your arms at your sides.”

  “Two for one? My lucky day,” Kyle said when we approached the steps.

  “If you want a meeting, show some damn respect before I kick you off my land,” Roman said. His gaze avoided mine but met Embry’s on several occasions.

  Roman led the way to one of the offices I’d seen on my previous tour. It was the biggest one with a table meant for a dozen people. Embry stood at the wall with me at her side until Kyle sat. Then, we took the furthest seats from him.

  I kept my arms under the table, and Embry let go of me. “It’s been a while, Kyle. How are things on the west side?” Embry asked casually.

  “If you’re so curious, you should come back with me and I can show you,” he replied.

  This guy was ridiculous. It was hard to believe he was somehow related to Roman.

  “What do you want?” Roman asked, settling his hands on the tabletop a little harder than necessary.

  “Well, that changes by the moment, but Cohen sent me here to ask about the Tuttle acreage. We’d like to use it, given it hasn’t been touched in decades and borders our property line. He’s willing to pay,” Kyle said.

  Roman scoffed. “Not a chance in hell. You didn’t honestly come here for that. He would have already known the answer. We don’t need money, so the offer to buy means nothing to us. Cohen must be losing his wit in his old age.”

  “Don’t disrespect family, Roman. It isn’t polite,” Kyle said.

  “Family? Cohen hasn’t ever been that to me. The only ones I consider family live within my pack.” Roman stared Kyle down, waiting for a reaction that never came.

  “Good to know. I’ll remind you of that when your way of thinking bites you in the ass. Grandfather hoped that maybe you’d be smarter than your father, but I can see that’s not the case,” Kyle said.

  “You’d do well to remember where you are. Insult my father and I will do more than kick you off my land,” Roman replied, his hand tightening into a fist.

  Kyle turned his gaze toward me. “What are you?” he asked.

  I glanced at Embry and Roman, having no idea how to respond. They’d both said people would sense the magic within, so I couldn’t say I was human.

  Embry saved me by answering first. “She’s a guest of mine and none of your business.”

  Kyle sniffed the air, leaning closer across the table. “I bet your part fae. Don’t see them too much around here. I’d loved to know what the other half of you is.”

  “She’s human and fae. Nothing worth writing home about. Embry befriended her, and she’s only here a short time. You’re welcome to question her, but someone wiped her memory, so good luck,” Roman said in a monotone voice.

  My cheeks flushed with mixed emotions, and I kept my mouth shut. I might not want to stay here, but I trusted Embry and she trusted Roman. Whatever they were saying was fine with me.

  “Interesting. Where will you go after this?” Kyle asked, staring at me.

  “I like to travel. So, who knows? Could be anywhere,” I answered honestly, because at the moment, that was my plan. When lying, I’d learned it was best to stick as close to the truth as possible.

  “Hmm. Pity,” Kyle said and stood up. “Given you’re being just as obstinate as your father, I guess I’ll be going now.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn’t going to take Roman up on his offer and question me. Embry stayed seated and I did, too, but my relief was short-lived. Kyle approached us and held his hand out. “It was nice to meet you. Oh, wait. I didn’t catch your name.”

  Embry shook his hand. “Her name is Julie.”

  “Julie. Rolls off the tongue nicely,” he said as Embry pulled her hand back, but he waited for me to do the same. The mark was on my left wrist so I was safe to shake with my regular hand, but before I could give him a firm grip, he took my fingers and brought my hand close to his lips.

  “I hope we meet again, Julie.”

  I smiled at him, but it probably came out as more of a sneer as he kissed my skin.

  Embry stood, making more noise than necessary as she did so. “Well, safe travels back, Kyle.”

  He released his hold on me. “It’s a pity I’ll be doing it alone.”

  Neither of us replied to that comment, and I didn’t realize until he and Roman disappeared into the hallway that I was shaking.

  As soon as we were alone, the mark flared, and I pulled my other arm out.

  “Calm down, Cait. He needs to be off pack land before you lose control,” Embry warned.

  I wasn’t trying to lose control, but the mark seemed to have a mind of its own. I focused on breathing and clearing my thoughts. Kyle was leaving. I was safe. Everything was fine.

  “Good job. Now, let’s go,” Embry said.

  We both got up and went toward the kitchen, using the back door to exit the house. I assumed we were headed to her house, but she walked toward Vaughn’s.

  Still, we didn’t stop there and continued on past, walking at a near run. “Is everything okay, Em?”

  “We need to get you back to Serene and Beatrix. Serene has been calling for you since we got back to the pack house, but we couldn’t just walk out of the meeting. Kyle would have pushed for information. Unfortunately, the fact that he didn’t means he saw what he was looking for, but I have no idea what that was.”

  “Why couldn’t Roman have just told him I was off limits?” I asked.

  “Because if we made any big deal about you or being around him, he would have been even more curious, and that’s not good for anyone. We’re just lucky Kyle found you alone and not with Roman. You’re not ready for the public to know you’re his mate,” she said.

  “And why is that?” I knew why I didn’t, but assumed it wasn’t the same as her thoughts.

  “When a powerful alpha with a large territory claims a mate, people take notice. They want to know if it’s a true mate, how the bonding might shift power control, and whether the mate is worthy. This is an old school way of thinking, and most packs don’t give a shit, but there are some that do, like the one next door and a few others.”

  I didn’t really want the answer to my next question, but I needed to know. “And what if people don’t find me worthy?”

  “Then, you might be threatened or Roman could be challenged for the pack’s control,” Embry answered.

  “What about if we never mate?” I asked, because I’d already read that a bond wasn’t complete until the shifters had sex, regardless if they were true mates. I still had the opportunity to walk away with my sanity intact.

  “Roman would have to get over the fact that he would never be with his true mate and then find someone else. Most shifters don’t go actively looking for love, but as alpha, if he knows a true mate isn’t an option, he’ll need to find someone worthy enough. Otherwise, he still faces risk of being challenged for the pack’s control. Did Roman tell you why Cohen was so pissed Ramona mated with Jack?” she asked.

  “No, just that it wasn’t an easy time for them,” I said.

  “Cohen had gotten himself into some trouble with another pack. To save his own ass, he promised Ramona to their alpha. When Jack turned out to be her true mate, the other alpha left Ramona alone but still went after Cohen. The west territory has never recovered from those consequences. The shifters not mated or deeply rooted in the land left, which were mostly women. Their pack is slowly dying out, and Cohen has been trying to take over our territory ever since. Jack ruined Cohen’s standing within the wolf community, and Cohen has been fighting—and failing—to get back to the top ever since.”