Standing there surrounded by Carleen’s scent relaxed muscles within Tex that he hadn’t even realized were tight. As she sat on the kitchen counter with her legs on either side of him, it felt more intimate than it was. Maybe that’s how things always were with mates. The reaction she had on him and his beast was enough to allow him to forget about his surroundings for a moment. So when Thorn returned, he was thrown off guard for a moment. It was a good thing Rhett was at the door and had entered a step behind him.

“What the fuck is going on here?” Thorn crossed the small living room and was in the kitchen, coming to them faster than he should have been able to. He was a weaker shifter, but more than that, his bulk should have slowed him down.

Tex spun around, giving Carleen his back, and using his body to block her. She was his sister but Thorn’s anger was out of control and his tiger was too close to the edge. There was no telling what he might do.

“Thorn, it’s nothing.”

“Don’t give me that shit! You’re bleeding.” He came around the counter, his fists balled. “I’m not going to stand here and allow it to happen again. Not again.”

“It’s not him.” She tried to get off the counter, but Tex reached back and held her there. “Let me…before this gets out of hand.”

“Go shift. Thorn and I will discuss this.” He tipped his head back toward the bedrooms.

“Go, Carleen. You don’t need to be here for this.” Thorn flexed his shoulders.

“Don’t be stupid, Thorn.” Rhett stood behind him, waiting for him to make a move. “Think this through. Attacking an Alpha will get you killed.”

“Fuck that. I’m taking him with me.” Thorn snarled.

“Damn it, Thorn.” Carleen jumped off the counter, but Tex moved with her, keeping his body in front of her as a shield. “I cut myself when I was cleaning up the glass. If you want to blame someone for my sliced palm, then place the blame where it belongs—on you. You threw the bottle and left.”

“What I walked in on seemed like more than that.” He wasn’t even looking at her, instead keeping his attention focused on Tex—just how Tex wanted it.

“You know how I am. He stopped by to question me and was kind enough to get the glass out of my palm.” She took a deep breath and placed her hand on Tex’s back. “It’s not like you think. Don’t ruin your chances because you’re jumping to conclusions. Please…”

“Why don’t we sit and talk while Carleen shifts and heals?” Noticing the change in the lingering tension, Tex hoped to gain control before things could get out of the hand. “I think it’s safe to say that she’s not going to leave until she knows you’re not going to do something stupid, so we can either take this down a few notches or let me bind her hand to stop the bleeding.”

“Fuck it.” Thorn looked past him to his sister. “Go shift. I’ll keep my temper in check until you’re back. But if you’re lying to me, I’ll kill him.”

“Threatening an Alpha—” Tex glanced at Rhett, cutting him off.

“He’s protecting his sister and while normally I’d say it’s an uncalled-for threat, knowing their history with Lee, it’s understandable. Bear in mind understandable is not the same thing as acceptable. If you commit yourself to me, you should know I won’t stand for outbursts like this, especially not from my guards. Voicing your opinion is one thing, but threats against any member of the clan is intolerable, especially an Elder. The last thing we need to do is bring problems into the clan. Once this is settled, you’re going to need to prove to me that you can keep your temper in check. Otherwise…” He knew what he had to say and what would have to happen, but the realization of those words hit him full force and he fought the urge to turn back to Carleen. “Otherwise, I’m not going to be able to offer you a spot with the clan.”

“Don’t dangle an opportunity in front of my face just to get me to look away. I’d give up the chance of having any Elder accept me into their clan if it means keeping Carleen safe.”

“Holy Hell, Thorn, can’t you ever stop.” She slammed her hand onto the countertop and blood seeped from the wound. “I told you this is different. I told you what was happening, and yet you continue to go down the same path. You’re going to ruin your chance if you don’t shut up.” As if feeling the moisture building under her palm she glanced down, the blood draining from her face.

“Here.” Tex grabbed the rag, careful to keep the blood stain out of view and wrapped it around her hand. “It’s nothing. Don’t think about it.”

“Go shift and get your damn hand healed,” her brother snapped.

Tex’s gaze went to her face as he felt her stiffen under his touch. Was she scared of him? Her expression was shielded and even touching her, he wasn’t sure what she was thinking. He needed to get her alone, so he could find out not only more about the relationship she had with her brother, but more about her in general. She was to be his mate, and while Thorn was on more questionable ground, he hoped they’d both join him in Texas. In what capacity Thorn would be joining them was still up for debate. While she would be his mate and that would influence some of his decision, it would do nothing to influence Rhett. As their main Elder Guard, Rhett was giving him input on the situation and the guards they brought into the clan.

“Go on, it’s fine,” he assured her as he brought her other hand over her injured one, to keep the towel secure. “Keep this on there until you shift.”

“Thanks.” She glanced over his shoulder toward Thorn before looking back at him and mouthed the word “sorry” before scurrying away.

Knowing she was about to get naked and shift into her tigress form made him want to go back and join her. It might be a quick shift, but the opportunity to see her in her beast form brought his tiger closer. Instead, he bent down and began to gather up the remaining glass that still littered the floor.

“What were you doing here?” Thorn stepped back up to the end of the counter but when Rhett moved closer, he stopped.

“If you hadn’t considered the fact that I would need to question her before considering you for a position within my clan, you’re not as clever as I thought you were.” He placed the glass shards in the bag and rose, bringing it to the counter. “You come as a package deal, but I must determine this is what she wants and that she’ll be loyal. When I arrived, she was already bleeding. Thinking the worst, I came inside. I startled her and a piece of the glass got stuck in her hand.”

“Thinking the worst? What does that mean? You thought I was killing her?”

“No.” He continued to clean up the rest of the beer bottle before grabbing paper towels to wipe up the blood on the counter. Even with Thorn’s anger, the counter would be clean by the time Carleen rejoined them.

“The compound is safe, but after everything the clan has gone through, Tex and many of us expect the worst,” Rhett explained. “He reacted as if she was in danger and went to protect her. You should be thankful for that, especially considering she was cleaning up your mess. What if she had been alone? How long would she have been passed out on the floor from the sight of her own blood before you came back?” Rhett shook his head. “I watched you running around the compound. You should have sensed her blood, but you did nothing.”

“I was…” Thorn shook his head, his anger deflating.

“When we arrived, I could sense no one else around but my instinct was to react, so that’s what I did.” He tossed the last of the bloody paper towels into the bag and turned to Thorn. “It was an accident and she’ll be fine, but I didn’t know that when I rushed in. We have a tigress that relieves her stress by cutting herself. She’s getting the help she needs, but it’s been a dangerous road with too many close calls. The scent of Carleen’s blood brought that to the forefront of my thoughts and I reacted.”

“It’s likely that Tex picked up on my emotions.” Rhett pulled out the bar stool and sank down onto it. “The tigress is my sister and as my tiger caught hold of the scent of blood, it was a reminder to the last time I smelled it. Images of her curled in a ball on the bathroom floor, her will gone…”

“We almost lost her.” Tex’s attention was on Rhett, but his words were directed at Thorn. “Carleen’s fear of blood and the helplessness to stop it mimicked the scent of our tigress’s fear of dying. I won’t apologize for barging in here or for helping her, but I will agree the move could be seen as an overreaction.”

“If you wouldn’t have thrown the beer bottle and then took off, none of this would have happened.” Carleen’s scent drifted toward Tex before he could see her, but a moment later, she was standing in the short hallway, watching them. “I’m fine now, so can we just drop it?”

“No.” Thorn crossed his arms over his chest. “There’s more to this then what you’re telling me.”

“Thorn…” There was a twinge of annoyance in her voice, forcing her to pause and take a deep breath. “It’s not like what happened with Lucy, so can you please give this a rest? Let Tex and Rhett do what they came here to do and then we can talk.”

“Sir.” Rhett held up his watch, letting him know they were running out of time.

“We’re going to have to continue this later. I have another meeting.” He glanced at Thorn and then back to her. “Carleen, I’d like you to join me for dinner. It will give us a chance to have our chat.”

“I’d like that.” She kept her attention on him, refusing to look at her brother, as if she expected him to be angry. “What time?”

“Give me an hour and I’ll come for you.” He tipped his head to Rhett, motioning for him to head toward the door, and came around the counter to stand in front of her. “You’ll be okay now?” He kept his voice low, hoping she understood the double meaning in his question, without alerting Thorn.

“Fine.” She brushed her hand along his forearm, careful to keep the touch hidden from her brother. She clearly didn’t want to upset him, but she couldn’t stop herself from touching Tex one last time. “I’ll see you then.”

After seeing the fear in her eyes earlier, he didn’t like leaving her alone, but there wasn’t much he could do right then. He had to meet with Ty, while Rhett needed to dig into their background further. Something wasn’t in the file that Ty had given them, and he needed to know what it was before any decisions could be made. If they were a danger to his clan, he couldn’t take them back to Texas, no matter the personal cost to him.

* * *

Standing next to her dresser as she prepared for dinner with Tex, Carleen could feel the silence hanging over her. Silence was something she normally treasured. In Mississippi, there never seemed to be enough of those quiet alone moments. Now she cursed it. She wanted Tex to return, giving her something else to focus on. She was tired of thinking about the situation with her brother.

The tension between her and Thorn had never been as bad as it had been the last several weeks. Until he arrived to find Tex between her legs while she sat on the counter, she wasn’t sure things could get worse between them. Now she realized they could. Convincing him that he was reading the situation wrong was impossible. He was angry, mostly with himself for messing up during the training session earlier, and now she was the one who had to deal with it. Thorn always had his moody times, but it wasn’t until the mess with Lucy that things became unbearable and he began to take his moods out on those around him, particularly her.

He was her best friend, the one person who would always have her back. Lately the relationship seemed one-sided. She was there for him, but when she needed his support, he had nothing for her. Thorn was the last person she could confide in when it came to the situation with Tex. She wasn’t sure how he would react, but if he got a position with the Texas Tigers, he’d never feel as though he’d done it himself. In his mind, it would always be his connection to her that secured him the position. It wouldn’t matter what the truth was, or that he was good enough to make the team without her influence.

“Damn you, Thorn.” Sliding the tube of lip gloss over her lips as she stood before the mirror, she cursed him for throwing the beer bottle. If she hadn’t been cleaning up after him, she wouldn’t have cut herself. Maybe one slight change in their brief encounter would have been enough to hold off discovering they were mates for just a bit longer, allowing Thorn to be chosen for one of the positions on his own.

She tugged her hair from the ponytail she’d pulled it into earlier and let the strands fall around her shoulders. The deep red color looked like spun rubies and had always been one of her favorite features about herself. The way it shined brought out her eyes, though lately all it seemed to do was bring attention to her pale skin, making her look worse than before. Running her hands through her hair, she tried to fluff it the best she could.

Since Thorn left for the celebration with the other guards who had auditioned, she had spent the time changing from one outfit to another, trying to find something perfect. On some level, her tigress wanted to impress Tex because he was her mate, yet she barely even knew him. Would their mating be like her parents, unhappy and bitter, or would it be something special like she always dreamed it would be?

With the kindness in his touch and the way he took care of her wound, she wanted to believe it would be different than what she had witnessed her whole life. Still, she couldn’t get her hopes up. She needed to be prepared for whatever the future held. More than that, she’d have to put on a show just as her mother had all those years. If the mating with Tex became an unhappy union, she wouldn’t just have to convince Thorn that things were fine, but the whole clan. They had to believe she was happy or not only her life, but also Tex’s would be in danger. Am I up for that task?

A light rap on the front door forced her to stop messing with her hair and take one final look in the mirror. Staring at her reflection, she second-guessed her decision to wear the black slacks and emerald green sweater. Maybe she should have kept it relaxed with jeans. Did she appear as if she was trying too hard?

As the knocking grew louder, she forced herself to forget about her appearance and go to the door. This connection between them wasn’t based on looks or even personality. He was an attractive man and she found herself drawn to him in the gym. Maybe on some level, her tigress already recognized him and it was pushing them together. She wasn’t sure, but she had to remember that what was happening was based on their beasts, nothing more.

In the living room, she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She needed to stay friendly and keep an open mind. Worrying she’d end up in an unhappy mating would do nothing to stop the inevitable; it would just cause her undue stress. She pulled open the door to find Tex standing on the porch looking better than he did an hour ago. Like her, he had also changed. He was still in jeans but his t-shirt had been replaced with a V-neck sweater, allowing her the briefest glimpse of his toned chest. The tanned skin of his chest and the curves of his muscles under the sweater made her want to see more of him naked.

“Ready?”

“Yeah, sure. Where are we going?” She glanced past him, expecting to see Rhett, but no one was around.

“My cabin.” He pointed a few buildings over. “It will give us more privacy, and I managed to snag dinner from the ladies.”

“Which ladies?” She stepped onto the porch and pulled the door shut behind her. “You know, I could have cooked.”

“Kallie’s mates, Taber and Thorben, smoked the fresh salmon they caught this morning. While Milo, Jayden, and Drew manned the grill with steaks and burgers. Kallie, Robin, Harmony, and some of the other clan females brought a ton of different side dishes. Tabitha assured me there was a little of everything waiting for us at the cabin.” He led the way toward his cabin.

“You should be there.” Sidestepping to avoid a slick pile of snow, her shoulder brushed along his, sending currents tingling through her.

He reached out to take hold of her arm under the pretense of making sure she was steady on her feet, but from the way his gray eyes sparkled, it was clear there was more to the touch. Had he wanted to touch her ever since she opened the door?

“I’d rather be with you, but if you’d like to go…”

“No.” Her answer was too quick, causing his eyebrows to arch together as his gaze narrowed down on her. “I mean…Thorn said you were only here for a couple days. Don’t you want to spend time with your friends?”

“There will be other times.” With his hand on the small of her back, he led her inside his temporary living quarters. “I expected Thorn to still be pissed off when I returned.”

“He’s out with the other guards, having a celebration. With all the time they’ve spent together, they’ve grown close and after tomorrow, they’ll be separated. For them, tonight is about letting off some steam. Plus, to be honest, I needed the break from him as much as he needed to go out with the guys. He’s in such a…” She let her words trail off as they stepped inside. She felt comfortable enough around him to discuss the situation, but talking about Thorn like that might cost him an opportunity. She couldn’t risk it.

“Thorn’s temperament is not lost on me, so there’s no reason to censor yourself.” He closed the door and turned back to her. “Are you afraid of him?”

“What? No.” She stared at him in disbelief. “Why would you say that?”

“Your eyes.” His hand slipped over hers, interlocking their fingers so his palm was against the back of her hand. “When you looked at Thorn earlier, there was fear in your eyes. I wanted to pull you aside and find out why.”

“I wondered why you were asking me if I’d be fine. I knew you didn’t mean about the blood since I was healed, but I wasn’t sure why you were concerned.” She closed her hand, cupping his fingers to her palm. “Thorn would never hurt me. He’s my best friend and my protector. He’s become a little more protective lately, but after what happened with Lucy, I understand.”

“I’m going to need to know what happened. The whole story, not the two short notes that are in his file.” He brought his free hand up to her face and let his index finger trail down the curve of her jaw before bringing it to her lips. “You smell like peaches.”

“Peaches, huh? Do you like peaches?”

“My favorite when they’re fresh, but even then, they have nothing on you.” He ran his finger over her lips, teasing lightly along the bottom before going over the top. “Do you know how bad I want to fucking kiss you?”

The heat of his breath tingled along her skin, enticing her tigress. “Go ahead.” She wasn’t sure if it was the moment, or her beast urging her forward, but she was ready to go with the flow because she wanted it, too.

He guided her backward until her back was pressed against the wall and his chest brushed against hers. Leaning his head down toward her, she thought he was going to do it. Excitement and nervousness rushed through her, heightening her senses. His lips hovered over hers and she debated closing the distance.

“Tempting.”

“Huh?” She wasn’t sure what he meant by that. He acted like he was going to kiss her, so why didn’t he?

“You.” He leaned back just enough that he wasn’t pressed against her. “You’re tempting, but we need to talk first. Otherwise, we’ll never get to that part.”

“You just want my story so you can figure out what to do about Thorn. Otherwise you wouldn’t have stopped.” She pulled her hand from his and slipped out from between him and the wall. Moments ago, she wanted to put distance between them, to get her thoughts together and stop the mating desire from influencing her. Now that they were no longer touching, she missed it. The inner struggle between her human side and her beast never seemed as strong as it did at that moment.

Her beast wanted to jump his bones while the human side of her wanted to know the man she was about to sleep with. The alternative to denying a mate was going rogue. To most, that was a choice worse than death. To her, it might be a lesser evil. She needed to know him before she committed her body and soul to him. Yet, when he was near, those thoughts disappeared and her tigress gained control. It had only been a few hours since they discovered they were mates and already she was losing the battle against her beast’s natural instincts. How bad would it get before she had no choice but to give in to him?

“Sure, I need to know about Lucy and Thorn’s moodiness, but I really want to know you. Just as I’m sure there are things you want to know about me.” He strolled past her and headed toward the kitchen. “Let’s eat. We don’t have to rush this.”

Rush? Was that what they were doing? It felt natural, but she was taken aback by his words. Maybe her tigress was taking more control when it came to the connection between them. Even though she had promised to fight it until she knew more about him, she was failing. Even knowing that, she was disappointed it had ended so quickly. She wanted to feel his lips on hers, even if it was only a light touch. Soon…