What the hell was wrong with him?

Nothing’s wrong.  She’s our mate.

His inner leopard had been insisting this unpalatable fact from the moment he’d first laid eyes on Ariel de Winter, aka Ellie West, yesterday in the diner. Seeing her had struck him as though he’d been hit upside the head with a two-by-four while his leopard had gleefully shouted—It’s her! It’s her!—over and over again. His initial impression had been of masses of silken black hair, accentuated by the silver swatch running along one side of her face, and enormous gold eyes that seemed to look right into his soul. Probably the single most important introduction of his life, and he’d asked her what the dinner special was. And then ordered something else entirely.

He had no recollection of what he’d eaten or even if it had been any good. It had taken all his willpower not to stare at her throughout his meal. He’d hurried out of the diner without even formulating a plan of action. A cold shower and a long night of introspection put such foolish notions in their proper place. Today he was back and ready to do his job.

Doesn’t change the fact she’s our mate.

The temptation to find the nearest wall and slowly bang his head against it was strong. Never mind she was his mission for God’s sake, which meant she was off-limits for that reason alone, there was the simple matter of who she was and why he was there to collect her. No matter what his leopard thought.

She’s out of our league.

Only she didn’t seem like it. She was nothing like what he’d expected. Ever since he’d been assigned to the case, he’d spent enough time with the de Winter family and their ilk to recognize their type. Cursing silently to himself, he finished his pie. She should have been tall, blonde, and painfully thin with an elegant nose made entirely for looking down at other people. She should have been haughty and arrogant with a predilection for cruelty, wealth, and power. Okay, so maybe she hadn’t had the benefit of her family upbringing to turn her into an unlikeable person, but she looked nothing like a de Winter. If he hadn’t seen with his own eyes the silver streak in her hair before she’d dyed it, there would have been nothing about her to suggest her ancestry. Had he not heard her singing to herself, he’d never have guessed Ellie West was Ariel de Winter, the missing Princess of the House of Gyrfalcon.

Which was probably how she’d managed to stay hidden—and alive—all these years.

That voice. She’d been wiping down the table next to him after the evening rush, singing “Killing Me Softly” to herself. He smiled into his coffee, remembering the rich velvety power as she sang. Frowning suddenly, he set the heavy white mug down. It was no secret she was planning to travel to Charlotte next week. Everyone in the diner was talking about it. He couldn’t let her enter that contest. She obviously had no idea what she was capable of. To someone like him, the hint of her ability was there when she crooned to herself, a banked fire that only needed stoking to roar into flame. If she got on national television and opened up the vault to that soaring voice, every shifter on the planet would know who and what she was.

He had to prevent that at all costs.

But he hadn’t expected such a warm smile, nor the touch of magnolias in her accent, which reminded him of home. She was strong too—he’d seen the way she’d hefted a huge tray full of crockery to her shoulder and carried it back to the kitchen as though it were no big deal. It was unlikely any of her female relatives ever lifted anything heavier than a tiara, despite their inner shifter. But whereas the average de Winter moved with the precise elegance of a runway model, there was something sensual about Ellie that was ten times more attractive. She had the sultry presence of a torch singer from a 1940s nightclub. She didn’t emit the cold, hard glitter of diamonds; she burned with the hot fire of a priceless ruby.

But not for him. She belonged to someone else. Like it or not, it was his job to see her safely returned to her rightful place. The leopard in him lashed its tail and growled at the direction of his thoughts. It took every ounce of his self-control not to give into the rush of possessive anger that washed over him.

Mission. Concentrate on the mission.

One look at Ellie and he’d known it was impossible for him to lie to her about why he wanted her to come with him. Fortunately, he and his boss, Ryker, had discussed this: they’d decided once Jack was certain he’d found the right woman, it would be best to tell her the truth. But he got the strong impression Ellie had no idea of her heritage or abilities. There was no way he could simply spring that information on her without easing into it somehow. Chances were good she’d accept the news more readily once she knew her grandfather had been searching diligently for her ever since she went missing as a baby. Searching without success, until de Winter had hired the best shifter investigative and security firm in the business. Now that she’d been found, her grandfather wanted her escorted home without anyone being the wiser. Jack had been given a deadline: have her back in time to celebrate her birthday—which would double as her coronation. By the time the Nightingale auditions went live next week, Ellie would be back in Coreldon, the land of her birth. Barring unforeseen circumstances, that is.

So, regardless of the temptation, there was no way Jack would trifle with a princess from the House of Gyrfalcon. He couldn’t just throw her over his shoulder and haul her back to her home country without a word of explanation, either. Something told him that would be an extremely stupid thing to do, even if she wasn’t aware of her abilities just yet. Besides, as tough as this was going to be for him, he didn’t want to see her hurt in any way.

The contest was only a big deal because her life as a waitress sucked, right? Once she learned she was royalty, her dreams of being ‘discovered’ would evaporate. She had been discovered, just not in the way she’d expected. And as heir to the throne of Coreldon, her reality would soon supersede her wildest dreams.

So why did her parents hide her from her family all these years?

It was the one question he hadn’t been able to answer during his investigation. When he’d inherited the case six months ago, he’d expected Ellie’s grandfather would be forthcoming about it, giving Jack as much information as possible. That proved to be a mistake on his part. Easier to part a leopard from his kill than to get a de Winter to talk about family. Discovering the whereabouts of the long-lost princess had been hard enough without ferreting out the motives of a couple missing nearly twenty-five years. He wasn’t being paid to ask those kinds of questions, damn it.

After he’d lingered over his coffee as long as he possibly could, he picked up his receipt and walked to the register. Ellie met him without appearing to rush, as though she happened to arrive at the same time. Maybe it wasn’t just him. Maybe she was attracted too. That was going to make this both harder and easier.

Of course she’s attracted, you idiot. She’s our mate.

Some days, he wanted to punch his leopard in the snout. This time, he had to fight not to give in to his persistent shifter.

You forget she’s promised to another.

His inner panther sniffed in offense. She’s not wearing a ring yet.

She rang up his ticket with a small, self-conscious smile. He handed her his credit card, and when she gave him the receipt to sign, he added a generous tip that hopefully wasn’t too over-the-top. The last thing he wanted to do was appear like some creepy customer. Her smile widened as she took the diner’s copy and placed it in the register.

“Thank you.” She briefly pressed her lips together like a shy schoolgirl. “So, tomorrow then?”

“Around two. I’ll be here.” The little salute with his index finger was meant to be playful and fun. He was allowed to be flirty until he told her who she really was, right?

She glanced down at her hands, dropping her chin as she did so, only to look back up at him through the black silk of her eyelashes. An unconscious move on her part, it was all the more devastating for its innocence. He wished she’d lose the fake contacts, though. Her natural eye color was mesmerizing, the clear gold of her family’s kind. Did she have any idea how utterly amazing she was? He doubted it. There was a sense of insecurity about her that made his inner leopard lash its tail in anger. Who had been making his girl feel bad about herself? His clothes suddenly felt far too tight. His nostrils flared as he tamped his shifter down.

“Until then.” Her voice deepened, and he heard the raw power there. She must have too, or at least sensed it, because she cleared her throat and blushed furiously.

She’s not for us.

What would royalty have in common with a simple bodyguard? Because despite having lived, breathed, and hunted Ariel de Winter for months, that’s what he was. A bodyguard. It didn’t matter that he worked for the best agency in the business. He was still just the hired help.

The summer heat blasted him like a furnace as he stepped out of the air-conditioned diner. Jack took a deep breath before he headed in the direction of his motorcycle, still pissed with himself. He had no business letting personal feelings into a case. Just as he’d mounted the bike and was about to put on his helmet, the bold opening bars of “Ride of the Valkyries” rang out from his pocket. It was Ryker.

Shit. That was the last thing he needed right now. He took the call. “Ferris here.”

Ryker didn’t bother to introduce himself. Not entirely surprising. As long as Jack had known the man who’d taken him in off the streets, Ryker had only ever gone by the one name. Jack didn’t even know if it was his first or last name. Either way, the man had an uncanny way of knowing what was going on among his clan. “Everything going okay, Jack?”

If he sighed, Ryker would hear it. “Yeah. I couldn’t call in earlier, but I’ve made contact and formed a connection. We’re to meet privately tomorrow.”

Though the rumbling growl in Ryker’s voice was faint, it was audible to Jack just the same. “Cutting it mighty close, aren’t you?”

“I can hardly take her against her will. We talked about this. I’ll tell her tomorrow, I promise.”

“If you’re having second thoughts—”

The last thing Jack wanted was for someone else to be assigned to this case. “Are you saying you don’t trust me?” Even as he spoke, he knew the words were a mistake. Ryker was not only his boss, but his clan leader, and challenging him was stupid.

There was a long pause before Ryker answered, and when he did, Jack could hear the sheathed steel in his tone. “Are you giving me a reason not to?”

This time, Jack let his sigh be heard. “I’m sorry. You know how I feel about shifter politics. This one’s bugging me a bit, but I’ll get the job done.”

“Bugging you how?” That was the good thing about Ryker. He always listened. There were worse clan leaders. Hell, he’d grown up under poor leadership and had been grateful when Ryker had taken him on.

“It doesn’t feel right, sending her back. Her parents sacrificed a lot to keep her out of the mess that passes for Coreldon politics. She might be the Princess, but she’s not a de Winter, not really. They’ll eat her for breakfast.”

“Not our call.” There was a hint of regret on Ryker’s part, which made Jack feel a little bit better, until he heard his boss’s next words. “If you’d rather I assign someone else—”

“No.” Jack cut him off before he could go any further. “I said I could take care of it, and I will.” When it came to taking assignments, Redclaw Security could pick and choose among the applicants for their services. Ryker had been known to turn down missions before because he didn’t like the stench of the job. Unfortunately, Ryker didn’t always give his staff the same option.

“Look, I know you think we shouldn’t have touched this with a ten-foot pole.” Ryker eerily echoed his thoughts. “If it helps any, I said yes to the mission because I had my misgivings as well. At least this way, with my best man on the case, I know she’ll arrive at the ceremony alive.”

And what happened to her afterward wasn’t any of their concern. A smart man kept any bitter opinions to himself in situations like this.

Tell him she’s our mate!

She’s not ours.

It wasn’t the first time he’d gotten into a mental argument with his leopard and it wouldn’t be the last, but the effort of maintaining two conversations at once was irritating. He growled at his leopard to shut up. Grumbling, the panther within retreated into offended silence.

Aloud, Jack said, “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“It’s well-deserved.” Ryker’s voice was crisp as he continued. “So what’s the plan? After you tell her about her long-lost family, the two of you board a plane for the Coreldon stronghold? Because they’re champing at the bit to have her there as soon as possible so they can prepare for the ceremony.”

Jack’s lip curled in a silent snarl at the thought. Good thing Ryker couldn’t see his expression. “That’s the plan. If everything goes accordingly, we’ll catch a flight to New York tomorrow evening. Her grandfather will have a private plane waiting for us at JFK.” He sounded a hell of a lot more confident than he felt. Once word got out that the lost princess had been found, enemies of the House of Gyrfalcon would do everything in their power to prevent her from taking the throne. Just the idea of flying to the stronghold felt very much like they’d staked Ellie to a pole as a sacrificial goat.

Again, Ryker seemed to read his thoughts. “Do you want me to have your team meet up with you once that’s arranged? Someone took out her parents when she was just a baby and would have killed her too, if her folks hadn’t hidden her already. You’ll need back up.”

“I’ve been thinking about that. It might be best not to call any attention to ourselves. Aside from us, no one knows who she is at the moment. If we travel like a normal couple, and not bristling with armed bodyguards, there’s a better chance we’ll get her to her grandfather without an attempt on her life.”

“Possibly.” Ryker seemed to consider the suggestion. “But I think not. Once you have things arranged, contact me and we’ll send in the troops. I’d prefer a strong show of force as a deterrent. The sooner we get her safely delivered to her grandfather, the better.”

No. She’s ours.

Jack firmly squashed the inner voice that insisted she belonged to him. Because that was never going to happen. She was his mission. She was a princess. She was destined to marry someone else, not him. He’d only laid eyes on her for the first time yesterday, for pity’s sake. This sense of possession probably stemmed from how much time he’d invested in searching for her. He didn’t believe in all that ‘fated mates’ crap anyway. His mom might think it was real, but Jack had never seen any evidence of it among his friends and relatives. And if he brought any of this up with his boss, Ryker would be completely justified in pulling him from the case, regardless of what convention said about fated pairings taking precedence over everything else. Getting reassigned was the last thing he wanted.

Who can protect Ellie as well as we can anyway?

“Jack?”

His boss knew him too well. Well enough to know he wasn’t happy, at any rate. “I’m fine,” Jack growled. “I’ll report in after tomorrow’s meeting.”

He rang off without waiting to hear Ryker’s assent. He suspected he’d catch hell for that after the mission was over. All that mattered to him at the moment was how to keep himself occupied until Ellie got off work so he could tail her and make sure she got home safely.

Fortunately, he had his book to read. He’d hang out someplace nearby so he could keep an eye on her.

A passing police car slowed as it drove by, the cops within giving him a careful once-over, immediately pegging him as the type to cause trouble, even if they couldn’t exactly pin a violation on him. He snorted softly to himself. Probably best if he moved the bike as planned. He would take it over to the park and read until dark. After that, well, no one would see him unless he wanted them to.