Page 76 of Blood Bearon
“You’re my mate, Rachel,” he said, the statement filling the car, like it had some power of its own.
“Your mate,” she echoed after several long moments.
“Yes. Fate has drawn us together. Literally.” He blinked and looked away for a second, then his gaze returned. “Shifters only mate with one person. One, Rachel.”
She didn’t follow. “You mean I took your virginity? I find that hard to believe. You were…good. To be mild.”
Despite the gravity of the moment, they both snickered and shared a laugh.
“No, not that kind of mate. A life-mate. One person to be with for the rest of my life. One person I will know better than any other, with whom I will connect on an instinctual level, without even understanding it.” His eyes bore deep into her. “That person is you.”
“Me.” She was skeptical.
“Yes.That’swhy I can’t risk letting you go alone. I…I need you Rach. I need you close by. I need you with me.”
Rachel let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “I had no idea.”
“It sounds crazy, I know,” Khove started to say, but she waved him off.
“Khove, I’ve seen you do things no human can do. I’ve watched you turn into a giant bear, and today I saw a guy hover in mid-air and throw what looked like energy around at random. Trust me, after all that, you claiming we’re meant to be together is actually pretty rational.”
He smiled, and she let herself share in it. “I’ll admit something exists between us. I’m not naïve, I can feel it. And I’m touched by your attempt to find another way to resolve this conflict. But I can’t get behind your need to kill Korred. I don’t understand that. And until that’s resolved, I…I don’t know.”
Khove nodded and kept driving, returning his attention to the road. Rachel watched him drive, and she started thinking.
Could we truly be meant for each other?
The only answer she could come up with, wasmaybe.
36
No attack had come by the time they reached the Manor, and the first thing Khove did was sound the alarm. Everything was as ready as it was going to be, and a third of the Manor went immediately to Alert status, manning the outer defenses and scouting the walls, while the others tried to rest.
Everything else came to a grinding halt, except for food and medical divisions. Those continued to operate normally. Otherwise, the shifters of High House Ursa ceased their normal daily activities and hunkered down, waiting for the assault they knew was to come.
“Shouldn’t you be out there?” Rachel asked as he followed her into his quarters.
“My priorities are you, and my Queen,” he said. “Once we’ve rested, we shall join her.”
“Rested. Right. Um, how do you expect me to be able to sleep, knowing that at any second Korred and his army could come blasting through the walls?”
“He can’t do that. The Magi has activated the magical defenses. The entire property is surrounded by wards preventing him from using magic. Until those come down, he has to come at us the normal way. Over the walls.” Khove shuddered at the thought of what that would cost, both for him, and for the Fae that had been enthralled by the evil mage’s spells.
After all, it wasn’t as if the Faeries were here by choice. They were as much victims as Khove and his House. The only way to sever that link was for Korred to cut it himself, or to kill him. Then, and only then, would they be released and able to return home.
Khove had no love for Faeries. They were far from good on their own, but even he did not wish for them to be used as cattle fodder to protect Korred as he tried to destroy Ursidae Manor. Nobody deserved to be used against their will.
“Right. Because that makes me feel so much better about all this,” Rachel said, sighing. “Sorry. I know his actions aren’t your fault. I just wish I didn’t feel so impotent. I’m not in Plymouth Falls protecting the people, but I’m just as useless here.”
Taking a chance, Khove walked over to Rachel and stood behind her.
“What are you…oh,” she said, voice dying in a satisfied burble as his fingers found the tense muscles of her shoulders and dug in. “Khove, should we really be doing this?” she asked cautiously. “Is this the best time?”
“We might never have another time,” he countered, leaning in and kissing just behind her ear.
Rachel shivered in his hands, tilting her head slightly to the side, opening her neck to him. “You don’t seriously think that, do you?”
“No. I have faith we will win. But it will be dangerous no matter what.” He kissed a little lower.
