Page 9 of The Alpha's Bounty
“Good.Sit.”I point at the table.“I’ll put something together.”
“Cyrus.”My name in her mouth shakes something deep inside my soul.“I don’t—I can help.”
“Youwillhelp,” I say lightly as I move into the kitchen.“Later.After you eat and drink water and remember what it feels like not to run.”
Water first.Food after.It’s an old rule my dad taught me.I fill a glass and set it in front of her.She watches me like she’s waiting for the catch.Then she drinks.The tendons in her throat work as she swallows.I stand there like an idiot, admiring the way the fading sunlight threads through the strands of her dark hair and how her shoulders drop half an inch as the water quenches her thirst.
“I can make soup.”I open the fridge.“Or I have stew, but that’s heavy.A sandwich will be faster.Tell me if you can’t do bread.Or tomatoes.Or?—”
“A sandwich is fine.”A pause.“Thank you.”
I nod and get to work.As I slice, layer, and plate, I talk steadily about the weather and the creek that sometimes floods after heavy spring rains.I tell her about the elk that come down from the ridge when the first snow hits, and how my mother always sang when she baked.
I set the plate down with the turkey and cheese sandwich, a crisp apple on the side, and mustard I make myself because I hate the store-bought kind.Mina stares at it like no one has ever handed her a meal without strings.Maybe no one has.
My bear and I hate that thought.
“I don’t have… money,” she murmurs.
“Okay.”I lift my eyebrows.“Eat.”
She eats.Not like a person familiar with abundance, but someone used to rationing.As if she’s worried it will be taken away from her.Halfway through, a switch flips.Her shoulders ease another inch, and the color in her cheeks warms from a frosty white to a rosy pink.
I make myself sit rather than hover, drinking coffee because my hands need something to do.The kitchen clock ticks.The house settles.My bear relaxes.
Mina wipes her fingers on the napkin and looks at me.“You said you’d help me fix the court thing.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I’ll start by calling Rhodes and the others.”I grimace, already hearing Camden’s voice in the back of my head as he says,You didwhat?“They’ll need to know I’m not bringing you in.”
Her eyes flutter.“Will that… cause trouble for you?”
“Probably.”I don’t sugarcoat.She deserves the truth.“They won’t be thrilled, but they’ll understand once I explain.They know what finding my mate means.”
The word lands again, soft and heavy.
She frowns.“You keep saying that like it’s a fact I should already be on board with.”
My lips twist.“It’s a fact whether you like it or not.”
She watches me for a long moment before saying, “Earlier… in the woods.Your eyes—” She stops and shakes her head as if she’s unsure about what she saw.“They looked different.”
“Mmm.”I sip my coffee.“There are things you don’t know about this place, Mina.About me.”
“I figured that out when you kissed me instead of slapping cuffs on me.”
There’s that dry humor again.I love it.
My pulse kicks as I stand.This is the part where I try to explain the line between the world she knows and the world I was born into.If I do it badly, I could take something from her that I can never give back.Do it well, and I’ll put the truth in her hands, but risk her running again.
“You asked me what fated mates are, but it won’t make sense until you see the rest.”
“The rest?”Her fingers curl on the table.“There’s more?”
“Yes.”I consider how to do this, then decide to do it quickly.No half-measures.“I’m a shifter.”
