Page 3 of His to Protect
“I am notClarkson.”
Of course he fucking was. But Kaeanever had the chance to call the man a liar before he knew nothingmore.
Chapter Three
“Ow.”
Kaea moaned as he raised a hand to hishead. It was so damn sore, he wanted to check it was actuallythere. When his fingers touched a bandage that seemed to encompasshis entire forehead he frowned. Perhaps he didn’t want to knowafter all.
A door creaked somewhere near him, andwhen he cracked his eyes to see who opened it, he cringed at theslash of pain the light in the room caused. “Jesus. Christ!” hewhisper-yelled. With a migraine that would knock an elephant on hisass, he didn’t think it would be a good idea to yell it like hewanted.
“Sorry, I’ll shut thecurtains.”
Kaea gasped at the voice. It wasunfamiliar to him. But despite the fact he couldn’t for the life ofhim conjure a face to go with it, he felt comforted by it. Howweird was that?
“Where am I?”
Kaea held himself completely stillwhen he felt the person sit down at his hip, the mattress beneathhim moving at the extra weight, and he could feel the warmth of theother person’s hip close to his own.
“I brought you back to mymotel room. I wasn’t sure if you wanted to go to a hospital or not,and I wasn’t keen to explain the bullet lodged in my shoulder.”Kaea gasped.” Not sure if you have that rifle of yours registered,love, or if you have a permit to shoot the damn thing either, butit’s not hunting season, and firing a weapon like that at a mancould get you into a whole shit ton of trouble.”
Kaea forced his eyes to open andblinked past the blurred vision and the pain that came with it.“Shit, I shot you? How did you get between me and thebear?”
There was an ominous silence that hadKaea’s heart thumping in his chest. He blinked rapidly a few moretimes, and his vision cleared. He looked up at the man who satbeside him in the muted light of the motel room andfroze.
Clarkson Gray. He was lying inClarkson Gray’s room, and the mere fact that he thought the man’svoice to be comforting didn’t just leave a bad taste in hismouth—he felt like he had somehow betrayed his Nanny-ma. His entirebody filled with rage, and with a snarl he lifted off the bed, andreached for the man’s throat.
Kaea caught the surprisethat flittered across Gray’s face for a moment, before he scowled.“Seriously?” Clarkson asked as he easily caught Kaea’s hands andpressed him back on the mattress. “You’rethatdetermined to kill me, and youdon’t even know who the fuck I am? What the hell?Enough!”
Kaea had tried to kick the covers offso he could potentially use his legs or feet against him, but Grayput a stop to that by laying his big body down over the top of him,and using his weight to hold Kaea still. Kaea snarled, as he liftedhis head rapidly, and silently cheered even as he groaned at loudwhen he actually made contact with Gray’s face.
“Fucking hell!” Graycursed as he pushed up to straddle him so that Kaea was completelypinned to the mattress. “Will you stop? I can’t hurt you, but withyou doing dumbass shit like that I don’t fucking have to! Now stop.Let me talk to you before you try to beat the shit out ofme.”
Kaea glared up at him,hoping his hatred and intent was clear in his expression. “What doyou think you have to say that I might want to hear, Gray? You’re amotherfucking murderer, and I will do anything, absolutelyanything, to see you payfor what you did.”
The man’s gaze narrowed, and hisexpression turned even harder. “Like I told you in the woods, I amnot Clarkson Gray.” Kaea struggled. “Stop! For Christ’s sake, willyou listen to me? I. Am not. Clarkson. Fucking. Gray!” Kaea stilledat the tone the man used. He almost sounded—sincere. “If you arehere to kill that prick, then please, let me be the one to helpyou. He took someone you love from you, right?” The man above himwaited until Kaea nodded warily. “Well, you and me can start a damnclub, because the bastard took someone from me, too.”
Kaea heard the pain in the man’svoice, and there was no faking that sound of utter despair. It wasone of pain and sorrow that was shared by anyone who’d ever had aloved one ripped from their lives as violently as hehad.
“What’s your name?” theman asked softly
“Kaea Hemopo.”
The man’s expression softened alittle, but that shadow of loss was still clearly visible in hisdark brown eyes. “My name is Xavier Mulligan.”
Recognition and understanding slammedthrough Kaea at the same time. “Your dad?”
Xavier nodded with a sad sigh. “Yeah.My dad was the Alpha of the Uwharrie Bear Clan until three monthsago.”
“When Clarkson Graychallenged him, and killed him, to take control of theclan.”
That wasn’t a question.Kaea knew that was what happened. He’d followed the residual trailof his grandmother’swairuato these woods, and as soon as he’d arrived andlearned how this shifter called Clarkson had called out and killedthe local bear Alpha, using a dominance and strength he had neverexhibited before, Kaea had a motive for why his grandmother hadbeen killed. A shifter who carried thewairuaof akuialike his Nanny-ma would beunbeatable. Stronger and faster than any other. He’d just beenfollowing the wrong person.
****
Xavier stared down at the trulystunning male he had beneath him, and willed his body to not react.Not that the fucking thing was listening to him. He was onlywearing a towel, and if he were to get up off the bed then Kaeawould know immediately what kind of physical reaction he had towardhim. Not that it was surprising really. He was his mate after all.Xavier had recognized him for who he was back in theforest.
He’d never allowed himself to thinkabout the man the fates would deem him worthy of. And when he diddream, his most vivid dreams, his hopes and wants could never havecome close to his reality. Kaea was gorgeous, with his mocha skinsoft, his cheekbones high, his dark eyes big and soulful, and hisshort black hair soft to the touch. His body was lean but strong,and although he was smaller than Xavier in build, they were almosteven in height.
