“You’re not curious about my age or how our souls will be tied together?”

  A tic started under Jason’s eye. “I’m trying not to think about that. You’re blowing my mind, and I’m trying to focus on the positive.”

  “Nothing has to happen right away.” Dante eased his hands away from Jason’s hips. If his mate wanted to get up, Dante wouldn’t stop him. This was a lot to absorb, and maybe Jason needed some space to think about everything. His worst fear was that Jason would reject him. That was possible, but his mate had to feel the pull. Dante sure as hell did. A sensation in the middle of the chest, like an unseen hand pulled him toward his mate.

  “That’s a lot to digest.” Jason looked down at Dante’s chest. “I mean…I should be thrilled. I’ve been looking for Mr. Right for so long that I’ve been labeled a slut.” Jason’s eyes widened as he looked at Dante. “Fuck, I didn’t mean to say that.”

  “That’s one thing about mates. We don’t judge each other’s past.” Dante ran a hand down Jason’s back in hopes of soothing him. “I get what you were doing. The dating scene is a nightmare sometimes. Trust me when I tell you it hasn’t been easy for me, either.”

  Jason picked at Dante’s shirt, his gaze averted. “I was with Stephen for six months. When he dumped me, he told me that I’d known the score and that everyone at the club knew I was easy.”

  Dante clenched his jaw. “Stephen is an asshole.”

  Jason glanced at him before lowering his gaze again. “He pretty much offered me to his friends that night at Loose Lips. They were very raunchy about it, too. I guess Kevin took him seriously.” He waved at his face.

  Dante had to beat back his rage. He didn’t want Jason to see it. He didn’t want to scare his mate when Jason was being so open and honest with him. He cupped Jason’s cheek, careful of his injuries. “Look at me, sweetheart.”

  Jason’s blue gaze slid to Dante’s face.

  “I don’t give a shit how many guys you’ve been with. None of that matters to me. It’s not like I’m a fucking virgin. I’ve had my fair share of bed partners. I’m over two hundred years old, so trust me when I say I’ve had way more lovers than you. Stephen is an insecure jackass who made himself feel better by berating you. Don’t listen to him, Jason. His opinion means dick.”

  A wobbly smile appeared on Jason’s handsome face. “Honestly, I haven’t slept with that many guys. I’ve had four boyfriends in the past two years, and Stephen was the longest I’d dated someone.”

  “None of that matters anymore.” Dante placed a chaste kiss on Jason’s kiss-swollen lips, loving the knowledge that he’d done that to his mate. “You’re it for me, and vice versa. No more clubs. No more hookups. You need sex, you come to me.”

  Jason held up a hand. “I’m still trying to get past how old you are.” He eased off of Dante’s lap. “Let me…” He shook his head and gave a humorless laugh. “Let’s drop this for now.”

  No sooner had Jason said that than a knock sounded on the door. Dante got up. That had to be their food. Jason was right. Maybe they needed to change the subject to feel grounded again. Lighten the mood with a good movie, or a bad one, while eating. That would give his mate some time to take all of this in.

  At least he wasn’t trying to run or kick Dante out. That made Dante hopeful as he swung the door open, only it wasn’t their food delivery. It was Cal. He stood there in black jeans and a black hoodie, although it was still too warm for it. His face was crestfallen, tears in his eyes. His bottom lip quivered as he swallowed roughly.

  Dante saw the gun in his ex’s hand seconds before Cal fired, hitting him square in the gut. Dante snarled when Cal turned the gun toward Jason.

  “You cheating bastard!” he yelled at Dante as he fired again.

  Dante’s shock dissolved into pure rage, but before he could grab Cal, his ex fired the gun again before dropping it and racing away. Dante stared after him for a second then turned to make sure Jason hadn’t been injured with that second or third shot. That was his only thought as the room spun sideways and he crumpled. The pain in his gut was excruciating. Spots were already floating in his vision.

  “Dante!” Jason jumped forward, dropping to his knees. He whipped out his cell phone and called 911, telling the operator that Dante had been shot. He’d even used Dante’s official title, which would bring not only an ambulance but the police.

  Before Dante could tell him that he didn’t need an ambulance, he shifted and passed out.

  * * * *

  Jason’s jaw dropped when Dante turned into a cheetah. The large cat was lying on the floor right in front of him. Oh shit! What was he supposed to do now? Jason couldn’t let EMTs see Dante like this. How in the hell was he going to explain this to anyone?

  Worse, the cat wasn’t moving. It lay there as if dead. Now was the perfect time to freak out, but instead, Jason jumped to his feet, grabbed the gun off the floor outside his apartment, then slammed the door closed, locking it.

  Then he hung up with the dispatcher, even though he was told to stay on the line. “What the fuck am I going to do?” Jason was wigging out. How was he going to explain an exotic animal in his apartment? How was he going to salvage this when he’d told 911 that a man had been shot? When he’d said it was Deputy Dante Mykel? The EMTs were going to expect a guy. The police were going to show up expecting to see one of their own.

  Jason lowered to his knees again, setting aside the gun, then pressed his hand to the cheetah’s side. Relief flooded him when he felt the cheetah’s belly rising and falling. Dante wasn’t dead. That was the important thing. Now Jason had to think.

  His head snapped up when he heard the wail of the ambulance. Shit, shit, shit. He got to his feet and tried to drag the cat toward his bedroom, but Dante was too damn heavy. Jason kept falling on his ass every time he tugged. He ran behind the cheetah and tried to push, but Jason ended up falling on the animal.

  “Now would be a good time to have muscles.” He shoved again and again, only moving Dante a few inches. At this rate, he’d have Dante in his bedroom by tomorrow morning.

  Someone banged on Jason’s door. He thought the shooter had returned, so Jason went for the gun. If it was the shooter, Jason was going to put a hole in the bastard for shooting Dante.

  “Open up,” someone yelled. “It’s Deputy Mitch Lennox and Deputy Maynard Dario.”

  Jason looked at Dante then back at the door. What choice did he have but to open it? If he didn't, they were going to break it down. On unsteady feet, Jason moved toward his door. He took a few deep breaths then opened it.

  The shorter of the two cops unholstered his weapon and aimed it at Jason. “Drop the gun, now!”

  Jason had forgotten the damn thing was in his hand when he’d opened the door. He squeaked and dropped the gun, raising his hands. This was the second time in less than ten minutes that he’d had a gun pointed at him. The first time he’d jumped out of the way. This time his legs turned to wet noodles, but he managed to stay upright. “I didn’t shoot him!”

  The taller, more muscled, one moved past Jason as the shorter one grabbed the gun off the floor. Jason closed his eyes, still trying to figure out how he was going to explain a cheetah on his floor.

  “Dante?” The taller one knelt next to the cheetah. The shorter one moved inside the apartment, his gun still aimed at Jason. “Up against the wall.”

  “But I didn’t shoot him!” This was a complete nightmare. “Some guy knocked on my door, and when Dante answered it, the guy shot him. He shot at me, too, but I jumped out of the way.” Jason pointed toward the wall where two bullet holes could be seen.

  “Lower your weapon, Deputy Maynard,” the taller cop said.

  “Are you kidding me?” Deputy Maynard had yet to take his eyes off of Jason.

  Jason wasn’t sure what to make of the shorter cop. If Jason had seen him in street clothes, he would have thought the guy a harmless twink. He just didn’t look like a cop.

  “I’m Deputy Mitch Lennox,” the muscular one said. “Tell me what happened.”

  “I just told you.” Jason hated how high his voice had risen. He couldn’t help it when he had a gun pointed at his chest. One false move, one slip of the finger, and Deputy Twink would shoot him.

  “Did you get a look at the guy?” Deputy Lennox asked.

  “No. His hoodie blocked most of his face.” His brows furrowed. “Why aren’t you freaking out that I have a cheetah on my floor?”

  Deputy Lennox moved to the hallway when Jason heard banging outside his door. “All’s clear, guys.”

  Two EMTs appeared from the stairwell, a gurney in tow. They looked from Deputy Lennox to the apartment door.

  “It’s Dante,” Deputy Lennox said. “He just needs time to heal.”

  Jason was at a total loss when the EMTs left. They simply walked away with their gurney. “Wait, what about Dante?”

  “He’s already in his cheetah form. As you just heard me say, he simply needs time to heal.”

  Deputy Twink was still giving Jason the stink eye, as if he’d shoot Jason at any second just for being there.

  “How do you know Dante?” Deputy Lennox asked.

  “How do you know he’s a cheetah?” Jason countered. “It’s not every day that you see shit like this happening.”

  Deputy Lennox repeated his question, more firmly this time. He wasn’t going to answer Jason until Jason answered him. “We’re friends.”

  He could have told them what Dante had told him, about mates, but Jason didn’t know either of them. He’d seen Deputy Lennox around town, but that didn’t mean shit.

  “We’re shifters,” Deputy Lennox said with a sigh. “I take it Dante trusted you with his secret.”

  Jason nodded.

  “I’ll get him out of here.” Deputy Lennox bent to pick Dante up, but Jason didn’t want the deputy to take Dante away. A fear he couldn’t explain gripped him as he lunged forward, ready to tell Lennox that Dante could stay.

  “Back off!”

  Jason spun and saw Deputy Twink had his gun raised again. Honestly, Jason had forgotten the guy’s name.

  “For fuck’s sake,” Lennox groaned. “Holster your damn weapon. Do you honestly think this human is a threat? He’s the one who called this in.” Lennox looked at him. “What was your name?”

  “Jason Phelps. I’m Gem’s cousin.” Jason prayed this time his cousin’s name held some weight because he was sick and tired of Deputy Twink pointing a gun at him. “I was only coming near you to say Dante can stay here. I tried to get him to my bedroom, but he weighs a ton. That’s also a better option than my neighbors seeing you carry a cheetah out of here.”

  Lennox bent and scooped up Dante as if he weighed no more than a bag of sugar. He carried the cheetah effortlessly to Jason’s bedroom. Jason turned his gaze on the other cop. “Stop looking so trigger-happy. I’m not the fucking bad guy. If you want to shoot someone, find out who shot Dante and take your frustrations out on him.”

  “But you didn’t see who shot Deputy Mykel,” Deputy Twink said with a bit of attitude.

  What was this guy’s problem? Jason already made it clear that he wasn’t the shooter, and Deputy Lennox believed him. Why was this guy wound so damn uptight?

  Did Jason really care? Not in the least. He walked toward the bedroom, half expecting the deputy to raise his gun again. Dante was on his bed, his breathing labored.

  “Please explain to me why he didn’t need a doctor or vet,” Jason said. “He took a bullet to the gut. That’s a life-threatening situation.”

  “He’s a shifter. He’ll heal in this form. The bullet will work its way out of him, and whatever damage was done will repair itself.”

  Jason’s brows shot to his hairline. “Wow. So he’ll be okay once his body is done doing what it has to do?”

  Deputy Lennox nodded. “Are you sure you didn’t see the guy or hear Dante say a name? Could it have been the guy who assaulted you?”

  “No.” Jason curled his arms around his midsection, unable to tear his gaze away from the big cat taking up most of his bed. “I would have recognized Kevin’s voice.” Then Jason recalled the man saying something. “He said ‘you cheating bastard’ then shot Dante. I think he was referring to Dante, because I’m not dating anyone.”

  Did that mean Dante was really cheating on the guy? Was the cop already in a committed relationship? He didn’t seem the type to step out on his partner, but one never knew. If that were the case, why had Dante told Jason about mates and how they were meant to be together? Jason had no idea what to think.

  “He’s only been with the department for two months. We don’t really know that much about him. I’ll dig into this, Jason. Until then, I’m assigning Deputy Dario to watch your apartment."

  "No offense, but can you send someone else? The guy looks a little too eager to shoot someone.”

  Deputy Lennox chuckled. “He’s…intense. Yeah. I know, but he’ll make sure no one else shows up at your door that shouldn’t be here.”

  “Or shoot me for sneezing the wrong way,” Jason grumbled.

  “I’ll try to see if in can pick up the shooter’s scent then canvas the area.”

  Jason looked away from Dante long enough to stare at Lennox. “What are you?”

  “A black panther. Deputy Dario is an impala shifter.”

  Jason caught the laugh before it escaped. An impala? Those sweet-looking animals that were prey, not predators? Seriously? No wonder he was trigger-happy. The guy was trying to prove himself. The other deputies—Jason knew them all by sight—were alpha males. Deputy Twink probably felt inferior to them and wanted to prove he could be as tough as his coworkers. Jason just didn’t want the guy proving he had balls by shooting him.

  He narrowed his eyes. “If he guns me down, I’m coming back to haunt you.”

  Ten minutes later Jason was left alone. Well, not alone since Deputy Twink was in the living room. Jason sat on the side of his bed and ran his hand through Dante’s fur, anger filling him at what that psycho had done.

  Chapter Six

  Dante woke to something pressing into his back and heat that was making him sweat. He sniffed the air, and Jason’s scent wafted toward him. Honeysuckle, a little heady, with notes of jasmine and vanilla. That was what his mate smelled like, and it made Dante think of the first time he’d met Jason on Route 26.

  He turned over to find Jason lying next to him, sleeping with one hand tucked under his cheek, the other stretched out and resting against Dante.

  Cal. The memory came rushing back. The son of a bitch had shot him, had tried to shoot Jason. How in the fuck had his ex-boyfriend found him? Dante was states away from where he used to live. He rubbed his stomach, vowing that this time he wasn’t going to play nice. This time he wasn’t going to have a restraining order against Cal.

  This time he was going to kill the bastard. Cal had to have been following him to know where Jason lived. Then he recalled seeing that familiar car, and now it clicked into place.

  Cal’s sister owned a sedan just like the one he’d seen outside the grocery store. Cal must have borrowed it to drive to Willow Point. It was a way to stay under the radar, because Dante would have known if his ex had shown up in his white Escalade. That kind of vehicle would have stuck out, especially with vanity plates that read THE SHIT.

  That should have been a red flag when Dante started dating Cal. That and the fact that Cal had been so clingy. Over the few months that they’d been together, Cal had become more and more demanding, wanting an immediate response to his texts. He’d call Dante ten times a day while Dante was at work, and if he didn’t answer, Cal would show up at the station, accusing Dante of cheating on him because he was too busy fucking someone to answer his phone.

  Real nutjob. When Dante had finally said it was over, Cal had lost it and attacked him. Dante could have hurt Cal, easily, but he hadn’t. Instead, Dante had talked with his boss and explained what was going on, embarrassed as hell, and his boss had filed the report and asked a judge for the restraining order.

  That piece of paper hadn’t been a deterrent. Cal had stalked him, showing up outside Dante’s apartment, following him in his Escalade when Dante was on patrol. Texting and leaving voice messages that begged Dante to forgive him and take him back.

  Cal had made Dante’s life a living hell until he’d put in for a transfer and moved to Willow Point. He’d heard about this town from a friend of his, and it sounded like a great place to start over.

  Now Cal knew where he was, and it looked as if he’d slipped deeper into madness. Dante needed to call Sheriff Tate Weston and tell him what was going on. He still had a photo of Cal in his phone, not that Dante was pining over the guy. It was a precaution in case something like this happened. Dante could give his boss the photo so the police knew who to look for.

  He just never thought he’d have to use the picture.

  Jason’s eyes fluttered open. He stared at Dante, blinking several times. “Does this mean you’ve healed?”

  Dante patted his gut. “Not even a scar.”

  Tears filled Jason’s eyes. He wiped them away with his hand. “I thought for sure you were dead. Then I called 911, and you shifted. Then I really started to panic, because how was I going to explain a cheetah on my floor?”

  “The paramedics are shifters, Jason. So is everyone at the station. I’m sorry you had to go through that. I’m sorry my past is after me again and you got caught up in it.”

  He gathered Jason into his arms, holding him as his mate took a few deeps breaths. “I thought he was your boyfriend and thought you were cheating on him.”

  Dante eased Jason back and told him the whole sordid story. “It’s been over, but Cal refuses to accept that.”

  “Clearly.”

  Dante closed his eyes briefly. “I thought he’d gotten you with that second or third shot. I was panicking, but when my kind is wounded, we shift to heal. I couldn’t stop it from happening, no matter how badly I wanted to stay in my human form to protect you in case Cal came back.”