Page 48 of Stray Cat

If she truly didn’t want to accept, no matter what Tiger said, then Xav would make a clean break and walk away for good, which would mean avoiding Shiftertown as much as possible.

He’d never be able to be around the other half of his whole without feeling the wound of being torn from it.

Graham and his Lupines were right, Xav realized. Xav and Lindsay needed to fuse together or be completely apart. No in-between about it.

* * *

Lindsay had never beenmate-claimed before. She hadn’t been prepared for her wildcat’s surge of triumph when Xav had said the words, the howl of glee that had wanted to escape her lips.

If she’d been in lynx form, she’d have dragged him off and made this mating official, in the most basic way.

As it was, with everyone standing in Eric’s living room watching her, Lindsay’s mouth had gone dry, and no words would come to her. Her conflicting emotions were all over the place, rendering her mute.

Fears had poured at her. First, she expected a bunch of Graham’s Lupines to charge in and wait for her to accept so they could make the Challenge. She wasn’t sure saying yes was the best thing for Xav’s health right now.

Eric and Xav both were focused on this mission, so no mating ceremony would happen until it was over. Graham apparently was holding off his wolves for now, but Lindsay wanted to make sure the window between accepting and the mating ceremony would be small.

Also, Lindsay was still terrified the mating would not mean to Xav what it meant to her. She’d seen, in her previous Shiftertown, what had happened to a Shifter couple when one of the pair formed the mate bond and the other did not. It had been tragic and frightening.

The one who hadn’t formed the mate bond spent a lot of time reassuring his mate that it didn’t matter. Then he’d met a female Shifter hedidform the mate bond with—both of them had—and he’d instantly gone off with her.

No one blamed him, including his mate, because mate bonds were sacrosanct, but the woman he’d left had folded in on herself. She’d gone back to her family, trying to carry on with her life, but she’d been broken. Lindsay had kept in touch with her clan when she’d moved to Las Vegas, and she’d learned the woman had found another mate, but no one mentioned whether that mate bond had ever formed.

Both had been Shifters in that case. There was no telling what would happen between a Shifter and a human, the humans in this room who’d formed the mate bond notwithstanding.

Even if the mate bond was not in question, Lindsay refusing Xav would keep him from Graham’s bullying Lupines. If she rejected Xav, they’d have no reason to Challenge.

Either choice might break Lindsay’s heart, but a rejection would at least keep Xav safe.

As Lindsay had dithered, speechless for once, Neal had noticed her hesitancy and reminded everyone that this was her choice, that she needed time to answer. He seemed to understand the problem more than the others, but then, he’d been gazing at Keira, the once-feral wolf Shifter, with bleakness in his eyes for a while now.

Not that Iona, Cassidy, or Carly had backed off. They’d pulled Lindsay into the kitchen for a celebratory beer and relived, in hilarious detail, how they’d reacted whentheirguys had mate-claimed them.

“Eric told me the mate-claim was necessary,” Iona said, ice-blue eyes full of merriment. “For my own protection, of course. Nothing more.Sure, sweetie.”

“Everyone was so scared of Tiger,” Carly recalled with a fond sigh. “They couldn’t see how vulnerable he was. How gentle. Not that I raced to accept the mate-claim—I had no idea what the hell he was talking about.” She laughed.

These ladies exuded happiness. They might have been startled or bewildered when they’d been mate-claimed, but they’d done what they’d needed to in order to be with the one they loved. Didn’t matter if that one was Shifter or human, fierce leader or terrifying tiger.

Shifter rules and rituals had been incidental. The mate bond had not.

Lindsay shivered. The warmth in her heart had only grown since she’d first noted it, spiking high when Xav had announced his mate-claim.Itknew what she should do.

Once the rest of her could get her shit together, she’d know as well.

Diego popped into the kitchen. “Time to roll. Coming, Linds?”

“See,Diegolets me make my own choice,” Lindsay said as she took up her backpack. “He doesn’t go all command-y and protective-y.”

“I amnotgetting in the middle of this.” Diego moved to Cassidy, dropping a kiss to her mouth that promised passion when he returned.

Cassidy rested her head on Diego’s shoulder. “Be careful, love,” she whispered.

“Always.” He slid his hand down to rest on Cassidy’s abdomen. “Nothing will keep me from you,querida.”

Lindsay realized she was staring at them, the Shifter in her drinking in their deep affection for each other. Carly and Iona had already retreated—Lindsay heard them in the living room having similar conversations with Tiger and Eric.

Lindsay closed her mouth, deliberately turned her back, and let her best friend have this moment alone with her mate.

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