Page 7 of Midnight Rain

He would have thought that Paloma was wearing body spray, but the smell was coming from Austin. It wasn’t body spray, though. Not when Cormac fell an undeniable pull toward the guy and his cheetah started going ape-shit.

Cormac stilled, wondering why he hadn’t smelled Austin’s scent this morning or why his cheetah hadn’t reacted that way when they’d been in the café.

Austin was his mate.

The human held up his hand, palm out. “I don’t need you telling me about keeping her on a leash or the responsibility of being a pet parent. You already gave me that lecture this morning.”

“You lectured him?” Orion asked.

“It’s Cormac,” Duncan said. “Why are you surprised?”

Beckett reached out, ready to take Lila from Austin, but the dog tried to bite his hand. “That’s not very nice.”

“I’m so sorry.” Austin glanced at everyone. “I have no idea why she’s acting this way.”

“Our cats,” Hayden said.

“You have cats?” Paloma asked. “I love cats.”

Izel smirked. “Mind if I take her off your hands?”

Austin looked hesitant. “I don’t want her biting you. She doesn’t seem to be herself.”

“I can handle her.” Izel took the dog when Austin handed her over. Just like when Ajax had her, Lila calmed down. Izel brushed his hand over her fur, crooning to her.

“Wow,” Paloma said. “You have a way with animals.”

“Maybe you should put her inside,” Austin suggested. “I don’t want her misbehaving at the table.”

With a nod, Izel got up and crossed the yard, placing Lila inside the house and then returning.

“Let’s eat!” Milly said.

When everyone headed toward the table, Cormac made sure to sit right next to Austin, who looked perturbed with Cormac as he sat.

“Look, we got off on the wrong foot.”

“Is that a joke referring to what Lila did to your boot?” Austin asked.

Cormac could see now that Austin was defensive, but he wasn’t sure how to fix this. He was extending an olive branch, but that was hard to do when his mate wasn’t letting his walls down.

With a sigh, Cormac stood. He fixed a plate and went inside. If he wasn’t at the table, maybe Austin would relax and enjoy himself. He sat in the living room, grabbing the remote while balancing his overloaded plate on his lap.

Tiny Terror came around the couch and eyed him before she started barking.

“You have nothing to be afraid of,” Cormac said. “I’m not going to hurt you, so just chill.”

She stopped barking and then growled at him.

Setting aside his plate, Cormac got on his hands and knees to face her. He folded his arms in front of himself in case she lunged for his face. “Okay, we’re almost at eyelevel. You’re clearly intimidated by my cheetah, but I promise you you’re safe here.”

Lila inched closer, sniffing at him. Cormac didn’t move, allowing her to scent him. One way or another, he was going to become her friend since her owner was his mate.

Tiny dogs usually had big-dog attitudes, but if Cormac could at least get her to stop trying to bite him, maybe she would calm down around him.

“What are you doing?”

Cormac glanced up to see Austin standing there, his dark brows furrowed.

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