Ten days later, Cinda was feeling anything but fortunate.

Okay, so she knew that was her hormones and her bitch of a She Bear talking because any human female would feel loved and cherished at what was happening, but Cinda was a Shifter.

A Shifter who had denied herself her mate for decades. The whole point of coming home again, of disclosing the truth of what she was to him, was to put the brakes on the whole denial thing.

Problem was, her mate seemed to be on a different page. Screw that, more like a whole different chapter.

Slamming her hands against her desk, she tried to refrain from growling at her computer screen but it didn’t work.

His head popped around the door at the sound. “Everything okay?”

She glowered at him, then, when he just looked confused, could do nothing less than sigh. “I’m fine,” she grumbled. His nostrils flared at her, but he nodded then backed off.

What the hell was that about?

Had he been scenting her?

Confused, she pushed her seat back from the desk and got to her feet. Her apartment was in no way near how she’d like it, but she had a bed, a functioning kitchen, a sofa, and the most important room—her study—was just as she’d left it. A large desk with her laptop that overlooked her condo building’s pretty yard. That was all she needed.

Never let it be said that Cinda was high maintenance. Well, if Jarvis ever did say that, she’d slaughter him.

Hell, she might do that anyway if her suspicions were correct. Before she could stalk after him, find out what that whole ‘nostril flaring’ thing had been about, her cell phone buzzed.

Tempted to ignore it, she didn’t because she recognized the ringtone.

Answering the call, she murmured “Didn’t think I’d be hearing from you again, Rizzoli.”

Jane Piccolino snorted. “How many times with the Rizzoli shit? You’re the only one old enough to have watched that when it was being streamed. You know, not on reruns?”

Cinda took the hit with little less than a hiss. “That used to be one of my favorite shows, bitch.”

Jane laughed. “Used to, being the operative words there.”

“Can I help it you look like Angie Harmon?”

“No.”

“You should be grateful. She was a supermodel. I’m giving you a compliment.”

“You never give compliments, Cinda. This I have learned.”

Cinda grunted. “Is this ‘let’s piss Cinda off’ day or something?”

“I don’t know. I’ve only been on the line with you for less than a minute. I haven’t had much of a shot at ruining your day.”

“Nice to know you’ll volunteer for the next special event.” Cinda rolled her eyes. “What do you want anyway?”

“Thought I’d let you know. Kinder’s appeal fell through. The SOB is going to be fried.”

Satisfaction more than flooded her. It whizzed through her system like coke through a newbie’s blood. “You shitting me?”

“As if I’d do something so cruel to you.”

There was still that teasing tone to Jane’s voice, but Cinda knew she was deadly serious. The breath she let out was a little shaky with relief. “I thought they’d grant him it, you know?”

“Nah. Not with those charges. I knew it was in the bag, but you went too close on this one, Cinda,” Jane said, and this time, she heard the reprimand in the detective’s voice. “When you go to close, you get burned. You got burned and then some.”

“It didn’t leave scars,” Cinda discounted.

“Maybe not visible ones, but they’re not the dangerous scars. It’s the mental ones that fuck you up. You gotta be careful. Be kind to yourself for a little while.”

“Thanks for the advice, Mrs. Psychiatrist.” She rolled her eyes at the wall in a stupid attempt at shrugging it off—stupid because Jane couldn’t even fucking see her do it—but the advice hit home.

The scars were there and they were buried deep. She’d only told Jarvis the half of what had happened. She had no desire to tell him anymore, but if it came down to it and the nightmares returned, she’d have no choice but to admit to the source.

Truth was, she was okay. Which she knew made her sound crazy, but she’d needed to trap Kinder. Had needed to make sure that the SOB could hurt no one else. Because of that, her She Bear felt nothing but satisfaction at what had happened. Even though it had almost led to their demise.

If she had dreams about anything, it was about the women who’d died at his hands. Her friend from work had been one of them. Loretta never said boo to a goose because she’d been so soft. What had happened to Loretta, and what Kinder had almost done to Cinda, was something she’d never discuss with anyone. Not even Jane who’d worked the case and knew the grizzly details.

Cinda was too ebullient to let anything drag her down for long. She’d worked in war zones, had gone undercover on the streets, she’d done too much, seen too much to let this situation with Kinder stop her from living her life. It just hurt because this time, it came too close to home.

Although she’d helped catch the son of a bitch, it wouldn’t bring Loretta back. And that hurt.

With a sigh, she said, “Thanks for letting me know, Jane. I appreciate it.”

“Hell, you could have Googled it, but I figured it was best for me to tell you. You know, considering we were in this mess together.”

“Like I said, I appreciate it.” And she did.

“It’s weird without you around here. How’s Houston treating you?”

Jane was one of the few people in Philly who’d known she was a Shifter. That alone was the reason she’d helped her trap Kinder—figuring that the Bear would keep her safe.

Well, she hadn’t been wrong. But neither had she been wholly right.

Clearing her throat, and knowing the other woman knew of her background and heritage, she admitted, “I found my mate.”

Silence fell down the line. Then, a burst of laughter came.

“What the hell are you giggling about?” she demanded on a huff.

“You. I’m just trying to imagine the poor bastard who’s going to have to try to live with you.”

“Hey, I’m not so bad. Dear Goddess, you make me sound like Hannibal fucking Lector.”

“Jeez, you and your vintage cultural references,” Jane huffed. “I miss that, actually. Having to Google every fucking thing you say became part and parcel of my working day.”

“I’m just grateful I put the taxpayer’s dollars to work.”

Another snort. “Seriously though, that’s great news about your finding your mate.”

A satisfied smirk tried and failed to settle on her chops. “It would be if he’d fucking Claim me.”

“Whoa, that’s disappointing,” Jane remarked. “I figured you’d be fucking like bunny rabbits. That’s how it always is in the books.”

Cinda’s eyes widened, then, she spluttered, “You read paranormal romances?”

Jane groaned. “Shit.”

Cinda burst out laughing, only her roars of laughter were ten times stronger than Jane’s had been for her admission. “You read paranormal romance. Oh. My. Goddess.”

“Fuck off,” Jane roused. “I read them when I was younger.”

“What? Yesterday? You were younger then, honey,” Cinda teased, her Texan twang coming out to party as she finally, after so many years, had something to tease Jane about.

“Screw you,” Jane said without much heat. She knew Cinda had her by the balls.

A faint motion in her peripheral vision had Cinda jerking upright and seeing her mate, standing there watching her laugh, a smile on his own lips that had her grinning back at him. She held up a finger, silently indicating she’d be a minute, then told Jane, “Anyway, I’d best be going. Thanks for the heads up, Rizzoli.”

The detective snorted. “Is he there? Tell him from me that I’m disappointed as fuck to learn that Claimings aren’t the fuckfest I’ve always read about.”

“Oh, I’ll be sure to tell him. Every single word. You get back to your books, sweet pea. But if you  decide you want a real Shifter, I’m sure I could arrange for you to meet a couple hundred of them.”

Jane chuckled. “Bitch.”

“Speak later,” Cinda retorted smoothly, grinning as she cut the call.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you laugh like that,” Jarvis remarked as he folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the doorjamb.

She took the opportunity to perch her ass on the back of her desk and clasp the edges with her fingers. “No? Well, Jane always makes me laugh.”

“I’d ask if I knew her, but let’s face it, I don’t know anyone in your life.”

Sadness shimmered over his face and it hurt her to see it. Desperate to take it away, she murmured, “You remember I told you about the detective who helped me catch that rapist?” When he nodded, fire flashing in his eyes in remembered ire at her putting herself in danger. “Well, that was her. We were good friends.”

“She knows you’re a Shifter?”

“Yeah. That’s why I was laughing. I told her we were mated, and she let slip she reads paranormal romance novels.”

Jarvis’s lips twitched. “I can see why you laughed.”

She hooted. “If you knew her, you’d understand even more. Goddess, the woman makes a brick shithouse look wimpy. She’s like Wonder Woman, except she’s stacked with muscles.”

Jarvis pulled a face. “Now I’m shaking in my boots.”

Cinda snorted. “You totally would if you saw her.” She grinned. “Anyway, she called me with good news. The SOB, the rapist, he was trying to appeal his death row sentence. He lost.” She did a happy dance—one of many she’d undertaken in front of him.

The sight never failed to have him chuckling. “I’d happy dance too because that’s fantastic news, but it might ruin my street cred.”

“What street cred?” she demanded, a teasing glint in her eyes that had him grunting at her.

“You do know I’ve been given permission by Mundo to spank you?”

She snorted. “I’d like to see you try.”

“Is that a dare?” His eyes flashed, this time not with fire but with the hint of a challenge.

“I’d say it is but I feel like you’d make me eat my words, so I’ll back the fuck off this conversation.”

He smirked. “Wise decision.” He pursed his lips as he studied her a second. “I know you’re confused, Cinda.”

“Confused? About what?” she tried and failed to sound unconcerned.

“About why I haven’t Claimed you.”

She bit her lip. “I’m trying to be patient.”

“I know you are. But I know that’s not being helped because you don’t understand my reasoning.

“I wanted to Claim you that first night. Then, I realized you hadn’t been eating and you needed to get your strength back--”

Before he could continue, she hurled at him, “My strength back? Goddess, Jarvis, look at me now. I’m back to my proper weight!”

“Yeah, I know, and that’s because I’ve made it my goal for that to be so.”

She folded her arms across her chest, mimicking his stubborn posture. “So, what? Now I’m back to my weight, that mean you’re going to Claim me now?”

He grinned. “It should mean that, but I’m liking getting to know you, Cinda.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Bullshit. You’re punishing me.”

“I’m not doing anything of the kind,” he retorted.

“No? You’re not making me wait like I made you wait? But dammit, Jarvis, you weren’t suffering!”

“And you are?” He cocked a brow. “You horny, baby?”

She groaned. “Yes. Fuck. I am.”

His grin widened. “But, are you nervous around me still?”

His question had her staring at him. “What do you mean?”

“You flinched.” Those two words seemed to choke him.

“I don’t understand.”

“At the restaurant, that first night, you flinched when I leaned over to kiss you when I paid the bill.”

Her eyes widened and her memory scanned back to that moment. She remembered him putting his arm around her as he stacked bills on top of the check, then he’d leaned down to nuzzle her throat and she’d…

Dear Goddess.

She’d flinched.

But the server had come to take payment and she’d ducked to grab the doggy bag of food the server had brought with her.

Had she forgotten? Or had she purposely pushed it from her mind?

She gulped. “I swear, I didn’t realize.”

“I know. You didn’t act awkwardly around me. It was only then I realized it was more subconscious than anything else.”

Her hands were shaking as she unfolded her arms from her chest. With trembling fingers, she ran a hand through her bob, disheveling the neat cut. “I’m sorry, Jarvis.”

He shook his head. “There’s no need to be sorry. I’m not saying it for you to apologize, doofus,” he teased gently. “I’m explaining why I’ve been acting the way I’ve been acting.”

“You’ve been protecting me,” she said on a long exhalation.

He smiled. “Exactly. Look, you might think you’re ready to be Claimed, and never doubt that I’m not ready to do the Claiming, but I want you to be wholly ready.”

“That might not be for the best, Jarvis,” she said softly. “I haven’t even realized that I’ve been pulling away. If I don’t realize it, how can I react to it? How can I stop it if I don’t even know I’m doing it?”

He sighed. “Then I’ll make you aware of it.”

“That will just put me on the defensive.” She grimaced. “Dammit. I just want you to Claim me. Why do things always have to be so complicated?”

He cocked a brow at her. “Do you really want me to answer that?”

She felt her cheeks flush with heat. It wasn’t beyond her understanding that she was the one doing the complaining when he had the right to be bitter. She’d denied him the mate bond all these years. He was the one who should be ready for the Claiming.

“I know, I know. If I’d never gone off and done what I had to do, this would never have happened.”

He pursed his lips. “To a certain extent.”

“Thank you for not rubbing it in my face.”

“I have something else I can rub in your face later.”

She burst out laughing. “Eww.”

He winked, then, his smile turned a little serious. “I have a task for you if you’re up for it.”

“What kind of task?”

“Toni called me earlier. I was debating on whether to involve you or not.”

She frowned. “I’m not sure I like the sound of that. Is it to do with Harry and Leah?”

“No. It’s about Martinez.” He’d explained how the vengeful Cartel leader, who was behind bars thanks to the MC, had tried to trap The Nomads by planting dirty weapons and drugs on them.

Having managed to send Sammy to jail, they’d manipulated Spyder into contacting the MC. He’d been charged with the task of getting The Nomads to take a package and transport it for them.

Two things had stopped the plan from working… a plan that would ultimately have resulted in some of the brothers going to jail as well as starting a war between The Nomads and Spider’s Venom, Spyder’s old MC.

One, Spyder had tried to use Mars’s daughter Ava as leverage. When that had failed, the second saving grace had been Spyder coming to learn that he was mated to Jessie.

As a result of those two happenstances, the MCs had worked together to bust Sammy out of jail, freeing him from Martinez’s influence in prison, and foiling Martinez by stealing a huge chunk of funds he used to care for his family.

“What’s he done now?” she asked cautiously. “Has he threatened someone else?”

He shook his head. “No. When we had to get a message to Martinez, to warn him to back off, we used his cell mate. Turns out Spyder knew him, and we promised we’d help not only him, but his daughter too.”

“Why’d you promise that?” she asked, curiosity prompting her to lean forward. If that was her singular failing, it was that she’d been born curious to a fault.

“Well, he was a Shifter, but he’d never admitted to it in human court.”

“That was stupid. If his actions were exacerbated by being a Shifter, he’d have gone to a different jail and had a different sentence.”

He nodded. “I know. Ava’s been working on trying to get him a hearing. So far, so good, but basically, Joe went to jail for protecting his daughter. She was being abused by his ex’s boyfriend.”

“Joe killed him?”

Jarvis grimaced. “And the girlfriend.”

“Dear Goddess.”

“Exactly. The last place a little girl needs to be is in the welfare system.”

“Damn straight,” she bit off. “What’s the situation?”

“We thought getting Toni and Justiss to be the adoptive parents would ease things with welfare. After all, Justiss is rich as Croesus, and Toni is not only a doctor in the human world, but she’s trained as a healer to boot.”

“What went wrong?”

“Though it’s a pretty guarded secret, welfare found out about Graver.”

“Shit. And because human society is so fucking backward, they don’t approve of a triad.”

He grimaced. “Exactly. Ava found this out on the down low, but she changed all details to fit mine. And now, because we’re mated, you’re on the files now.”

Cinda gawked at him, then shook her head to clear it. “Ava just changed the files. Like that?” She clicked her fingers, gawking at him when he nodded.

“She’s a hacker, Cinda. She does whatever the hell she pleases. How do you think we put a muzzle on Martinez? She hacked into his bank account and transferred the funds out for us. She’s doing it all illegally.”

“Goddesses.”

He grimaced. “Tell me about it. She had the girl moved from the foster home she was in to another, changed the social worker dealing with the case, and altered all the documents referring to Toni, so it looks like everything’s starting from scratch.” He grunted. “I have no idea how she manages to keep everything in order. The woman’s either a mad genius or just loopy.”

Cinda snorted. “I’m sure she’d appreciate both descriptions.”

“Oh, I’ve called her that to her face. She just winks. She thinks we’re weird because we’re old.”

“We are in comparison to her.”

“You’re a baby in comparison to me,” he retorted.

“Either way, we’re geriatrics where she’s concerned.” She blew out a breath. “So we’re going to have to look after the kid?”

Jarvis pursed his lips. “Yes, and no. Once things are in place, she’ll live with Toni, Graver, and Justiss.”

“But social welfare runs spot checks.”

He shrugged. “We’ll deal with that as it comes. As head of the biggest Clan around, Mars has a lot of weight with the associations that liaise with us and the human government. He can pull strings, Ava can hack them, and we just have to be the faces the drones deal with.”

“I can do that.”

He smirked. “You’re afraid of kids, aren’t you?”

She blinked at him, trying to portray a look of ‘butter wouldn’t melt’. “No. Of course not.”

“Bull. I remember when Jessie was a kid. You were terrified of her.”

“I was not.”

“Even though you still lived in Houston back then, we barely saw you until she turned twelve.”

“She was safe then. It wasn’t likely she’d barf on me or something.”

He snorted. “Because kids do that every day. I’ve been around them since my bros started popping them out, and not once, not a single time, have any of them barfed on me.”

“That’s because you’re lucky.”

“Luck has nothing to do with it.”

She cocked a brow. “I’d prefer not to test fate.”

“You’ll have to eventually. We can put off cubs for a while but we both know your She Bear will urge you on.”

“Let me deal with her. I’d prefer to handle the Claiming first. Let’s not walk before we can run.”

He conceded that with a nod. “I figured that this might be what we need.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think you’ll only relax once you get to know me better. We can do that as we work to secure Savannah’s place in the Clan.”

She bit her lip. “I think that’s a smart choice.”

“Good.” He smiled. “I’ll let Toni know we’re on board.”

“What kind of Shifter is she?”

“Wolf.”

Cinda’s eyes widened. “Doesn’t the local Pack want her?”

“There’s not much of a Wolf presence in this area.” He shrugged. “Plus, her father is unaffiliated. They’re under no obligation to take her in.”

“Nothing save a moral one, dammit,” she scowled. “That’s so wrong. It could fuck her up being around a Clan and not a Pack. You know we do shit differently.”

“Better the devil you know, Cinda. What’s better for her? To be in a Clan that gives a damn, or a Pack that’s disinterested in her and has no connection to her whatsoever? Don’t forget, her dad knew Spyder, so at least he’s a familiar face. And whatever happens, better that she be out of human welfare. You know they can’t cater to a pup’s needs.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“Let’s focus on what we can change. If she doesn’t settle in well, we can approach the Pack. The Council already decided that. But she’s been through enough, and Ava’s been messing around with her life trying to get her out so she’s bound to have whiplash from all the changes.” He sighed. “It can’t be helped, but we’ll all have to pull together to get her back on track.”

She stared at him, then slowly shook her head. “I can’t believe how wrong I was about you.”

His brows rose. “Really? In what way?”

She shrugged. “Most ways. I can’t believe how much you care. I saw it with the shelter, and see it every day when we go there, but you just keep hammering it home.”

“I’m glad you don’t have a problem with me working at the shelter. I know we’re supposed to be taking the time to get to know one another…”

She held up a hand to cut him off. “Don’t be crazy. It’s your passion and I understand that. Totally. I want to help. You know that.”

“I do.”

“Have you ever thought about helping Shifter runaways?”

“If they come in, sure. Not much I can do to encourage them to step in though.”

“No. I guess not.” She pursed her lips. “I wonder how many kids are like Savannah, though. Hidden in human welfare when they’re Shifters.” She shuddered. “I hate the very idea of it, especially with the boys. The first Shift is always shaky, but when they’re in that kind of environment? Plus, having to hide it from the others? That’s a bomb just waiting to go off.”

“Don’t forget the girls. You know what those places are like. Abuse is rife.”

“Not always,” she argued. “There are some good people in the system too.”

He pursed his lips. “You forget, I deal with the by-products of that system,” he argued. “Most of the kids are at the shelter because they ran away from foster homes or orphanages.”

“I know, but we can’t tar everyone with the same brush.”

“Can’t we?”

She snorted. “No.”

He rolled his eyes. “Regardless of whether there are good guys there or not, if a female shifts because they’re being abused… they could kill.” His joviality disappeared as his thoughts overwhelmed him. “We need to do something about this, Cinda. Dear Goddess, I don’t know why I never thought of it before.”

“Why would you? It’s not like Savannah’s situation is common.”

“How do we know? Not all Shifters are bagged and tagged.” By that, he was referring to the database the humans had on Shifters. Each new birth was listed and given a separate social security number to the ones humans received at birth.

“Do you like the idea of it, though? I know I don’t.” She pursed her lips. “Maybe we should look into it. See if there’s something we could do.”

He grimaced. “If we’re being totally honest here, Cinda, I wouldn’t have a damn clue about how to start something like that. I mean, I’ve spent most of the years the shelter’s been open hiding what I am. I know for a fact the human government would have issues with a Shifter running that kind of establishment for human kids.”

She snorted. “Like that should matter.”

He shrugged. “You know what they’re like. Prejudiced against us.”

“Only because they fear us. We scare them.”

“You can’t blame them. What we’re capable of is more than they can handle.” He pulled a face. “We just have to deal with the repercussions of that.”

She nodded, but still, turned inward as she processed what he’d just said—he had no idea how to start up something like a database of missing or lost Shifter kids.

Did she know someone who could help?

She frowned. “I don’t know any hackers.”

“Sure you do. Like I told you, Ava’s one.”

“Yeah, but she has enough on her plate without us adding to it.”

Jarvis hunched a shoulder. “I think she likes it. It keeps her out of trouble.”

“Spoken like a true male,” Cinda retorted, rolling her eyes at him. “She’s newly mated, Jarvis. I’m sure the last thing she wants to be doing is working. Especially after their rough start.”

“You can always ask. She might get offended if you don’t involve her. She’s surprisingly possessive over the club’s activities.”

“It’s been her whole life for so long. It makes sense.” She pursed her lips. “I will ask her, but only because she’s so good. But I’ll make sure she knows she doesn’t have to help.”

“Not like you can do much more. But why do you need her gifts?”

“If she could hack into the ‘bag and tag’ database, where most Shifter kids are listed, then we could cross reference those details with the police database on missing kids.”

“That would require her hacking into each state’s police department.” His eyes widened. “Dear Goddess, she’d probably kiss you for the challenge.”

“She might even have to hack into the federal database too if she wants to get the full scoop.”

“You’d be talking dirty to her.”

Cinda wrinkled her nose but couldn’t stop from grinning at him. “That’s gross.”

He just winked, then growing somber, murmured, “Only trouble is, kids like Savannah aren’t bagged and tagged. Jeez, not even her father is.”

“I know. But that’s another side to the battle.” She shivered a little. “This sounds stupid but whenever I’m about to hit a big story, like one that’s going to change shit, I get this really spooky feeling.”

“You’re getting it now?” he asked, watching as she rubbed her arms with trembling hands.

“Yeah. I am.”

“Did you get them before you wrote the articles that won a Pulitzer?”

She nodded.

He whistled out a breath. “Goddesses.”

“I know. I feel like we’re onto something big here, Jarvis. I don’t know why, I just do. And it’s not even like I’d write a story about this, but that feeling’s there.”

He frowned at her, but stepped away from the door and headed toward her, not stopping until he was directly in front of her and could wrap his arms about her. She fell into his embrace with a deep shudder that had him scowling with concern.

“Are you okay, baby?”

“No. Not really. I don’t like this.”

“No. Me neither. But we’ll work through it together. I’m damn certain Ava will want to help, and the rest of the Clan will, too. It’s bad enough having lost kids roaming around the streets that are humans, but ones that are Shifters too? It puts our entire society in danger, but more than that, shows we’re as fucking bad as humans where it comes to kids.” He sighed. “I always felt kind of smug, you know? Felt like there’s no way in hell a cub would ever walk through my door because family is too important to our kind. But look at Savannah? She’s one of us, and because her dad avoided the database like most of us have, she’s lost.”

She nuzzled into him. “We can do this. We can help.”

He pressed his lips to her temple. “We sure can, sweetness.”

She rubbed her forehead against his chest. “I want you, Jarvis. I know you don’t think I’m ready, but I need you more than I want you, and that’s saying something.”

He sighed. “You’re not ready. And we have to go over to the estate. We need to make one of the spare houses look like our home for when welfare comes to visit.”

“What time are they due to come around?”

“Early this evening. Around 6.”

“So late?”

He nodded. “Toni arranged it. She needed to make time, considering we didn’t know if you might not agree to it.”

“I know I’m a bitch and I’m an isolationist, but I’m not that big a bitch,” she huffed, her face still pressed against his shirt, hiding her hurt from him.

He pressed the crown of her head again. “I know. But she doesn’t know you. All she knows is what Mundo let slip.”

“I guess that makes sense. I doubt he’s ever painted me in a positive picture. The jerk.”

Jarvis snorted.

“It’s only 11,” she whispered softly, then peeked up at him, her eyes pleading with him for something her body desperately needed. “I can make a house a home in less than an hour. But I need you, Jarvis. I know you say I’m nervous, and I am. But not the way you think. I’m nervous because this is my first time. It has nothing to do with anything else.

“What happened that first night, my flinching, was subconscious. That’s because the last guy to touch me that way was Kinder. I don’t want it to be that way. My She Bear needs to eradicate his scent and replace it with yours.” She closed her eyes a second as she sucked in a deep breath. “Please, Jarvis. I need you to make me yours.”

He stared down at her and she wanted to drown in those ocean blue eyes of his. He studied her like she was a textbook he needed to memorize the day before an exam. And she let him. Let him look deep into her eyes, let him find whatever it was he was seeking.

She blew out a breath when he nodded, slowly.

“But we take it gently,” he cautioned. “If you want to back out, at any moment, you let me know, okay? I don’t want you or the Sow becoming frightened of me.” He cleared his throat. “Cinda, it would kill me if that happened, okay? You have to protect both our feelings here. Don’t push for what you’re not ready to accept.”

Because she felt his sincerity, Cinda wanted to melt at that.

The idea of her hating him, of her being scared, frightened or revolted by him, was as large a hang up for him as eradicating Kinder’s scent from her memory banks was to her.

She could understand his needs, understand his desperation, and nodded. “Of course. But it won’t be a problem. My She Bear is getting so antsy at having you close and not being yours wholly. She’ll feel so much better once you’ve made her yours.”

She’d have been totally insensitive if she’d failed to notice his reaction to her words. She smiled a little, but not smugly. She hadn’t said what she’d said to get a rise from him—although one part of his body was certainly making its presence felt against her lower belly—she’d said it because it was the truth.

She needed him. And Cinda had made it a point to never need anyone. Ever. This was a turning point in her life, but it didn’t frighten her.

How could it?

This was her male. He’d been born to be hers, and she’d avoided the rightful Claim he had over her because of stupid beliefs she’d had. She’d been young, scared.

But no more.

Now she was a mature female. She was ready to be his, ready to be Claimed.

Ready to become a woman in every sense of the word.

Maybe he sensed that because he bent down, grabbed her calves, then hoisted her up in the air. She let out a squeak that had him laughing, as he directed her calves around his hips.

With their sexes connecting and jostling against one another as he strode away, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight. His scent overwhelmed her at that moment. And she felt sure it was because Jarvis’s Bear was fully aware of what was about to happen and had risen to the surface.

She loved that. Her own Sow came out to play and Jarvis staggered in the hallway, a few steps away from her bedroom, and just took a second to breathe deeply.

“You smell like sin and fucking heaven combined,” he grated out.

“I smell like yours,” she whispered shyly. “Because that’s what I am.”

He shuddered and she realized then that he was hanging on to his control by the skin of his teeth.

She loved that though. It didn’t frighten her. Maybe it should have done. The last time she’d come face to face with another man’s lust, it had been a sadistic, twisted kind of lust. The man had wanted her body and her blood. He’d wanted her dead as much as he’d wanted to fuck her. He’d wanted her to struggle, for her to scream as he took her.

But this? This was the opposite.

Even as those memories surfaced in response to the first sexual touch she’d had since her abduction, they were batted away by her Sow. Because the She Bear was refusing to let the female be confused.

This was her male. This was the male the Goddesses had granted her at birth. He was perfect for her. He would become everything she needed.

But more than that.

He was pure.

Oh, not of body and not of mind, but he was pure for her. He wiped away the filth that that bastard had left behind and replaced it with him. The Sow reveled in Jarvis’s scent, his essence, taking great big gulps of air loaded with the smell of him to cleanse her senses, and to stamp him onto every part of her.

The woman could do nothing less than smile at her She Bear’s reaction, smile and embrace it. Then, she let the beast and her mate take over.

They both knew what needed to be done. Cinda allowed herself to flutter away, to abandon herself to what was about to happen.

She was about to become Jarvis’s in every way known to Shifters.

And fuck, she couldn’t wait.