Clan Boudreaux territory, Louisiana

By the time Justin turned off the last bit of pavement, onto a dirt road overhung with Spanish moss and with bayous on each side, he had come to terms with his loss.

Sort of. His mind had worked it out. 

One day his heart would find a way to understand.

He would never get over Eli and it would hurt to see that she’d chosen a mate. For her, though, he would always show respect.

But the Clan Boudreaux alpha could bite Justin’s boot.

As he peered ahead at the familiar territory, he knew Boudreaux’s tight security had already announced Justin’s presence to their boss.

He had no beef with this clan. 

The ones who’d been the worst and treated him like shit had been his mother and the alpha. 

A few clan members had persecuted him horribly, the way bullies tended to do. The rest had mostly ignored him. 

Becoming a Gallize had given him the first real family he’d ever had, but he’d lose even them in a few short years.

Without a bonded mate, he and Herc would have to face the Guardian when the infamous mating curse took over.  Gallize shifters had to mate, and that was that. If not, their animals took over and eventually the shifter lost his humanity.

Justin thought back on Eli’s vision about Adrian saving a person who would be important to all of them, even the Guardian. His Guardian had supposedly had a mate at one time, but she was dead and he didn’t speak of it.

Just a crapshoot to find a female Gallize.

As if Justin cared anymore? 

In truth, he did. There was no point in his friends not having mates, if possible.  He would always help them, but he doubted he’d be of any use in tracking down mates after this epic failure.

Herc rumbled in anger, but he’d said little more than Mishka’s name since Eli had left.

Nico snored softly, like his sister.

Justin smiled, surprised to realize his face could still move those muscles.  The kid was worn out. He didn’t think Nico had slept since the Guardian sent someone to retrieve him.

And that kid could talk. Justin had enjoyed Nico’s stories about Eli and her silly bear. Wait until Nico saw Mishka again.  The child would likely recognize a stronger bear and Eli would guide Nico into building a strong bond with his polar bear.

As Justin neared the wrought-iron gates to Clan Boudreaux, which had the name scripted in gold on a black plaque, he noted the armed guards in towers above each side of the entrance.

They would definitely stop or kill an unauthorized intruder, but those guards were more a show of force for visitors unfamiliar with Rey Boudreaux.

This clan protected its borders with claws and fangs, as much as tight security.

Only shifters were trained for their army.

That qualification had left Justin out when he’d lived here.

Now his bear would stand over the tallest one shifted, but this bunch would never know the truth about Justin. 

Passing through the gates as they opened for him, Justin pulled up to the first building and parked. He left the truck running with the air on.

When he stepped out into heavy heat pulsing with humidity, someone said, “Cut the engine, dickhead.”

Taking his time to turn, he faced a line of warriors decked out in their native gear for hunting and fishing the bayous.  They looked like a bunch ready to sign up for Duck Dynasty.

No, a couple of them had clean faces. 

Wonder why those two shaved?

Then he realized it was probably so they could make the best impression to court Eli. 

You screwed up, guys. She’d liked Justin’s scruff.

Cut it out, he told himself.  Stop bringing up those times.

“I said to kill the engine, dickhead,” the heavy one in the middle ordered. Damn if that wasn’t Durand, a mean one who used to toss Justin into the swamp to see if he could outswim a gator.

Justin powered up his Gallize presence. Yes, it was an ego move, but who could blame him?

Durand’s snarky, dark look faded to worry. All of them took a step back and stared at Justin with wary expressions.

Justin said, “A child is asleep in this vehicle. I need to talk to the alpha, who is expecting this child. If anything happens to this little boy, you won’t get a chance to plead for mercy.”

“He scarin’ ya boys? Ya guard that truck with ya life, ya hear?” called out from the building.

“Yes, Alpha,” rolled off every set of lips and all heads dipped in deference. 

Justin prepared to face the man he’d told to kiss his ass the day he walked out of this place.  Sucking it up for Team Gallize, he turned to face Rey Boudreaux. 

Rey had to be pushing a hundred and ten. He’d aged well and appeared to be only in his forties. 

Showing that he had returned a confident man, Justin said, “Hello, Rey.”

“Welcome back to Clan Boudreaux.”

“This isn’t my clan,” Justin made very clear.

His terse words bounced off the alpha. Rey stuck his hand out.

Justin looked at it with contempt, but as the face of the Gallize, he accepted the hand for a brief shake.

Crossing his arms, Justin said, “I’m here to deliver Nico.”

“I told ya boss I want let’s talk some.”

“About what?”

Grasping his beard in a thoughtful way, Rey said, “Walk wi’ me.”

“Don’t have all day.”

“Won’t take all day.”

A muscle twitched in Justin’s jaw.  “Fine.  Walk.”  With the alpha’s orders in place for his men to guard the truck, Nico would be safer alone in that cab than he would in a padded bunker.

As Rey led them between buildings where Justin recalled his school years, then on past floating structures that housed private homes belonging to his clan, he started talking.

“I owe ya apology, son.”

Justin kept from sniping back that he wasn’t Rey’s son, but he was going to prove he was the bigger man in all this.  He refused to look at Rey, lest the man think Justin acknowledged his apology.

Too little, way too late.

“But I’d do it again,” Rey admitted.

Justin stopped. That was over the top. “How can you apologize and say you’d do it again? Do you not see the contradiction?”

“I do.” Rey continued walking, which meant Justin had to follow him for any hope of being done here today.

He caught up as Rey said, “I know ya think I treat ya bad as a child.”

“Think?  I lived it.”

“I did want ya as my second,” Rey admitted.

Justin refused to be swayed by anything at this stage, so he replied, “As if you wanted someone who had no animal to be your second.”

“I did. I couldn’t tho’. I would have if I hadn’t thought someone would kill ya in yer sleep.”

“Trust me. They wouldn’t try that today.”

“No, yer boss done told me how ya got a monster bear.”

Okay, Justin forgave the Guardian a little bit for that plug, but this whole trip still sucked.

When they were crossing a long wooden walkway covered in trees and away from any buildings, Rey put his hand on Justin’s arm. “A minute, please.”

Pulling his arm away, Justin leaned back against the wooden railing on one side. He glanced around for any hungry gators.

None at the moment.

Taking a spot opposite him, Rey said, “I could not treat ya like one of the shifters or they’d have hurt ya in trainin’. I could not treat ya special or they’d have killed ya in trainin’ or when ya slept.  I pushed ya away to keep ya safe. In fact, I asked yer mama to take ya to live with humans and she refused.”

Justin had never known that and wasn’t sure how he felt about it. He quipped, “She wouldn’t leave the clan where her brother is alpha.”

“No, she wouldn’t, but I do miss her.”

In this one moment, Justin almost missed her too, but only to a point. He’d lived with a constant internal battle over his feelings about her for years until she died. She’d been embarrassed by his lack of ability to shift.  A boy needed mom in his corner. Every kid did.

Damn, he hated the nostalgic feelings rising from seeing a place where he’d been happy at one time, but only as a very small child. Once he’d reached the age when even the late-bloomer bears should have shifted, it all went to hell.

His mother would never leave the security of her brother’s clan. She had to have someone taking care of her all the time.

That had been Justin’s full-time job even as she scowled at him for failing to shift into a bear.

His mother was nothing like Eli, who would brave anything to care for her family and would love any cub no matter what.

Justin wanted to punch his brain and make it stop defaulting to her. He had to find a way to make the constant thoughts of Eli stop.  “So what do you want, Rey?”

“I’d like to be friends.”

“Man, you don’t ask for much, do you?”

Smiling, Rey said, “Ya always had more heart than all my males put together. I would like to see ya again.”

So. Not. Fucking. Happening.  “Well, there are things I’d like to have happen that will never happen, so welcome to the world of disappointment. I need to hand Nico off and get going.” Justin would rather not sound like an asshole, but the longer he stayed here, the more that side was bound to show up.

Letting out a long sigh, Rey said, “Let’s find the princess first.”

Before Justin could snap at him that she hated being called a princess, Rey had taken off at his fast walk again. The man might talk as if he’d climbed out of the bayou last week, but he was dumb like a fox and a vicious fighter. 

Justin could give credit where it was due, but that didn’t change how he felt about being dragged here to witness Eli with her mate.

Follow that crazy alpha, or go back to get Nico?

Justin needed to know where to take Nico, right?

Herc snorted. Big lie. Find mate.

His bear was right. Justin itched to see Eli.

Find Mishka. Herc said that with anticipation that hit Justin in the solar plexus.

He wasn’t sure he could do this. The end result would be more disappointment for him and his bear.

When he caught up to the alpha, Justin started to ask Rey to just point him in Eli’s direction.

But then he heard her voice. 

He followed Rey around the next bend until the alpha paused at a corner of the wooden building where Justin had lived when he’d been a member of this clan. He slipped up to the corner where Rey hid and was clearly eavesdropping.

Hearing Eli’s voice, Justin could admit that he was not above listening in either. 

“Well, I guess I win the lot’ry, Miss Princess,” a male said. 

Justin frowned.  Was Eli still interviewing potential mates?  If she hadn’t committed to someone, why was Nico here and why hadn’t the Guardian shared that information? 

No way could Justin stay around and watch men fawn over her, but like rubberneckers determined to see a highway wreck, he couldn’t turn away. 

Able to look over Rey’s head, Justin whispered, “Jasper? You would offer Jasper as a mate to the Romanov’s daughter?”

Rey very quietly said, “Watch.”

Jasper, who worked deep in the swamp for weeks at a time, who had never been seen without a beard to the middle of his chest, and who rarely bathed, stood with his arms crossed, grinning. 

He was a decent guy, but not real quick when it came to women.  Most of the females in the clan used to literally hit him over the head to make him leave them alone.

A male shifter stood on each side of Eli, fanning her with honest-to-God palm leaves.

What was up? 

Clan Boudreaux had never fanned any woman, not even his mother, who had been a full-fledged prima donna. 

Eli reclined in a chair that had been put up on stacks of wooden pallets. Had they made her a freaking throne?

She wore a long, shiny, silver dress with no sleeves, had her hair piled in a fancy ’do and a pair of strappy silver sandals on her feet.

Another male shifter painted her toenails.

Justin had to push his mouth closed. 

“Well, Miss Princess?” Jasper asked.

“What is lot’ry?”

“Huh?”  Jasper looked to one of the guys and said, “She don’t understand our language?”

The shifter waving the palm leaf on the left told Eli, “Jasper is talking about a lottery, which is a game you play to win money.”

“Oh.  How to win?” she asked, sipping on what appeared to be iced tea.

“Uh, well, uh ... ” Jasper said, and looked at the other men. “Can you tell her?”

“Hell, no,” the shifter fan-slave on the right side said. “Last time I talked to her, I lost a bet to do this. By the way, I pass on courting her. You can have her.  In fact, none of us want her.”

That riled Justin.

Herc grumbled, Kill all.

Sighing, Justin said, We can’t do that, Herc. We owe it to Eli to show we’re honorable.

Herc miss Mishka.

I know, buddy, but if you talk to her please don’t make this difficult for Mishka and Eli.

Herc huffed a noise of frustration.

Justin understood. While he wanted Eli for himself, he still didn’t want anyone to say she was unworthy of being a mate.  Why couldn’t she be won in a battle?

Justin would unleash Herc and win their mate.

Rey lifted a hand, maybe to stall Justin from breaking out a bear this bunch had never seen. The alpha had always been intuitive about some things, but it still surprised Justin for this man to possibly be sensing Justin’s fury.

Eli turned to the man who had complained and said, “You owe more hours.  Four.”

“Why?”

“You curse.  No curse.”

“Shit.”

She added, “Eight.”

Jasper looked at the other two guys.  “You lose to her, too?”

“Yep.”

“How?”

The guys smiled at each other then one told Jasper, “Just keep talking and you’ll end up washing her clothes.”

“Ain’t doin’ washin’ for no woman,” Jasper argued.

Eli looked down her nose with loads of arrogance. “You want princess. Think princess free?”

“That a trick question, boys?” Jasper asked in a conspiratorial voice.

They all nodded.

Justin grinned. 

When the alpha turned to Justin, he said, “What I gonna do with that one?”

Instant smile kill.  “Stop calling her princess for one thing.”

“Justin!”

At Eli’s shout, he stepped out into the open. 

She pushed people away, pulled her dress up to her thighs and flew down from her perch, running to him. 

He barely caught her when she launched into his arms, but his arms would always be open for her.  His insides shuddered at the feel of Eli again.

This had been a mistake.

He couldn’t live knowing he’d never have this. 

She wrapped her legs around him and laid a kiss on him that brought Monty to attention. He didn’t give a damn who it pissed off.

When she pulled her head back, she asked in an excited voice, “Why late?”

“You were expecting me?”

Her mouth drooped.  “Yes. Every day I wait.”

Sighing heavily, he said, “I wanted to be here, babe, believe me I wanted to, but I couldn’t come until now.”

The alpha cleared his throat.

Justin tried to put Eli down and she held on tighter. “No.”

He never thought he’d be glad to hear that word again, but it was music to his bruised heart.  “You have to, babe. You still have an agreement to fulfill.”

“All males try. Jaxter last one.”

“Jasper,” he gently corrected.

“Okay, yes. Him.” 

“That means you still have a suitor.” Justin hated saying those words, but he was proving himself worthy of the Guardian’s trust. 

Eli yelled over her shoulder, “Jasper?”

“Yeah?”

“You want mate?”

“Not if I have to do yer laundry.”

“Laundry, cook, clean. Princess must not break nail.”

“Nah, I’m out.  Sorry, Miss Princess. You ain’t suited to be a mate.”

A round of agreement followed from the pedicure and palm-fanning team. 

She spun her head to Rey.  “More mates?”

“No, ma’am.  You done gone through ever one of ’em I have faster’n Sherman through Atlanta.”

Justin had expected her next question to be who was Sherman, but she surprised him and got down to business with Rey.

Holding Justin’s gaze, she asked Rey, “What about deal?”

The old alpha got a twinkle in his eye and said, “Actually, I do have one potential male left. If he’ll take you off our hands, he can have you.”

Justin snapped, “Who?”

Rey said, “You’re the only Boudreaux shifter I have left.”

Eli grinned as wide as her pretty mouth would go. “I take.  He is mine!”

Justin finally closed his mouth, then argued around his heart trying to strangle his words.  “I left Clan Boudreaux a long time ago. I don’t want Alexandre claiming a breach later on.”

“Ya may a left us, son, but we didn’t leave you. Yer still Clan Boudreaux, if you want to be.”

Keep mate! Keep mate! Herc chimed in. Mishka mine!

Justin’s insides shook with hope. He held everything he’d ever want in his arms.

To have this, all he had to do was accept that he was still Clan Boudreaux. Now he understood why the Guardian had been tight-lipped. His boss had no way of knowing whether Justin could overcome his past or not.

The Guardian had actually given him one more chance at winning this mate.

If Justin had to let go of the past to accept the future, he could do that for her, for them. He could do anything for her, and she had clearly fought her own battle for him.

“I accept,” he told Rey. To be honest, Justin felt a weight lift that he hadn’t realized he’d been carrying all these years.

Eli screamed in delight and kissed him again.

“You left me,” a small voice accused from behind. 

Hell, Justin had forgotten his delivery.  He put Eli down just as Nico came running up to them. 

She opened her arms. “Nico, Nico, Nico! My sweet Nico.”

She picked him up and swung him around, kissing his face and hair.  He giggled and kissed her back.

Justin watched his family in quiet amazement.

His family.

This was just the start. 

They’d have beautiful cubs with coats in all shades.  He didn’t care as long as they had a bunch of them.

When she calmed from seeing Nico and turned to Justin, tears poured down her face around her smile. “Thank you for my Nico.”

“Anything for you, Eli, babe.”

“Make me mate.”

He couldn’t wait.  He had to figure out things like where they could live and how to keep this grolar treasure safe from ruthless kidnappers, but he could do that with her and Nico at his side.

“Stay for some gumbo, son.  I want a look at those bears you two have.”

Justin asked Eli, “You haven’t shown them your bear?”

“Last ace. Save in hole.”

He gave her a confused look. “What?”

Rey said, “The males who gave up courtin’ her been tryin’ to teach her cards.  She’s sayin’ shiftin’ to her bear was the last ace she had up her sleeve.  Now why would she say that?”

Justin chuckled when he realized Rey was actually translating for him.

Pulling Eli to him with Nico between them, Justin said, “Because you’re never going to see another bear like hers and it’ll blow your mind, but she’s all mine now.”

Eli hugged him and even Nico had a grip on Justin, physically and emotionally. 

But by the time these Clan Boudreaux yahoos saw her bear, she’d be Justin’s mate.

Eli said, “Mine. Only mine.”

“Always, Eli, babe.”

“Yes, okay.”

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The End

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Thank you for reading my new League of Gallize Shifters series.

I hope you enjoyed it and would appreciate a review wherever you buy books.