He followed her scent of pain through the office to the recovery room. He found her pacing back and forth, tears pouring down her cheeks.

“Why does everyone get to decide what’s best for me?” she yelled at him as soon as he closed the door behind him.

“They thought they were doing the right thing.”

“The right thing for who? I’m not stupid, I understand they were scared. But there are police, FBI, something! They did what he said. He said jump and they did.”

“He threatened their families. Imagine if someone threatened your family. What if he promised to torture and kill them if you didn’t do what he said? What would you do?”

“I know! I know! I would tear my own heart out for them. But it still fucking hurts, Anson. It sucks. That room held my future or what was supposed to be my future. And even if you catch this guy, I still don’t have a future! I have too much baggage for anyone to take me on. They don’t make men that brave,” she cried, throwing her hands in the air.

Anson reached for her without thinking. He pulled her into his arms and crushed her against his chest. “Stop, you’re amazing and any man would be lucky to have you.”

“Gawd, Anson, you’re smarter than that. I don’t need you to lie to me. I don’t need anything from you!” She beat a fist against his chest in anger but didn’t pull away.

Anson put a finger under her chin and tipped her tear-stained face up to him. “You do need something from me, you just won’t believe it.”

“What could I possibly need from you? I pay for what I get right now.”

Anson knew she was trying to be mean, but it came across as sad.

“There’s one thing you don’t pay me for,” he said softly. Anson brought his mouth down to hers hesitating at the last moment before his lips touched hers. He was giving her the chance to say no, to push him away, hell, to even bite him. The air between them, the millimeters that separated them snapped with electricity, the molecules of the universe filling the space between them before their bodies could touch.

She didn’t do any of those things. As soon as he paused, she came up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his.

Anson opened his mouth just as she did and he sealed their mouths together in a hot soft kiss. At the taste of her lips, he froze. A chorus of music filled his head. The taste of her rang through him, his cock hardening, his body locking in place. It was his mating call. The universe was singing for him and he’d never heard anything so amazing in his life. He could feel his body straining to shift and he resisted.

He deepened the kiss, trying to keep the electric feeling that was coursing over him. It was the most sensual experience of his life and it made him run through every emotion he had. Anson had known, it made so much sense now. He’d known. The universe had been trying to tell him she was right in front of him. His mate was the woman he couldn’t stop thinking about. The woman he thought about, wanted to spend all his time with, keep safe, and make happy.

Nothing in the world was as easy to believe as the truth of how much he loved this woman in his arms. He could feel his mate mark burning against his chest and he wanted her to touch it. He wanted her to touch all of him and his mind immediately went to her naked and waiting for him. That wasn’t just a dream, he was going to make that a reality.

Anson broke the kiss and brought his hands up to her face. Her eyes were closed and he waited until they slowly opened. “Piper?”

Her eyes blinked at him a few times and he watched shock and fear pass over her face before it settled on confusion.

“Your eyes are gold,” she whispered.

He could feel that he was barely holding on to his shift. Like his body wanted to experience the joy of finding his mate in both of his forms.

“I know, baby. They are. I can’t help it.”

“Just from a kiss?”

“No, Piper, not just from a kiss,” he could barely get the words out as he leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead, then both cheeks and once more on her soft lips. “You’re the one.”

“One what?”

“You’re mine, the one I’ve been looking for.”

“Huh?”

He almost laughed. “I heard the call, the mating call marking you as mine.”

She frowned at him. “No, you didn’t.”

“Yes, I did, Piper. I heard it and I can’t fucking believe it. It was beautiful and so big I can’t explain it. It makes sense, doesn’t it? How much I wanted to be with you? I just hadn’t kissed you. All this time and I didn’t kiss you.”

“Of course you didn’t, it wouldn’t be… appropriate.”

“Maybe not, but damn it I wish I done that sooner,” he said, pulling her into his arms. He rested his face against her head, breathing in that sweet floral scent of her.

“But I can’t be your mate. I’m… me?”

This time he did let out a laugh. “Exactly. You’re sexy, funny, creative, brave, and strong. You’ve just faced a room full of pain and you’re still standing. I know everything about you and I know that we will be happy for the rest of our lives.”

Piper shook her head before shoving him. “Stop it, it’s not funny!”

“I’m not joking. I’m dead serious. A Kindred would never joke about such a thing. We’d never say the words unless they were true. I can’t lie to you, Piper. I couldn’t hurt you. This is real.”

She started taking steps back from him and he followed her cautiously.

“It doesn’t work that way, Anson.”

“I know it doesn’t for you. How can I prove it?”

“There isn’t a way, is there? I’m just supposed to believe you?”

“Well, I could lock the door and make love to you. The mate mark you end up with should be proof enough.”

Piper’s hand came up to her chest and gripped the fabric over her heart.

“A mate mark?”

“Yes, It would only work if you’re my mate. You’d be mine, you’d be Fehu.”

“Clan? But I can’t be part of a Clan.”

“Baby, you already are.”

“You just want to rescue me,” she said with a sob.

“Piper, you just rescued me and you don’t even realize it,” he said as he stepped into her space and pressed his lips against hers. He didn’t hear music, but he could hear his heart pounding in his chest and his body felt exactly the same. Pure bliss.

Her mouth opened under his and he deepened the kiss. He tasted her and took everything she gave. Her body was getting to know him even as her mind wanted to push him away.

“Piper, it’s you, can’t you see that?” he whispered between kisses.

He heard her suck in a breath that sounded ragged. “Anson, you saw the disaster that is my life in the other room. I have too much trouble stamped on my forehead.”

“That wasn’t your life, baby. That was your past. I’m your future.”

There was a knock at the door and it swung open to Hudson poking his head in, “Hey…” he started before his eyes got big as Anson let out a roar that shook the walls.

“All right then, I’ll come back later,” Hudson said, closing the door.

“What the hell was that?” Piper asked, her eyes huge staring up at him.

“That was a gentle reminder for Hudson to not interrupt me with my mate. It also told him to keep his hands and eyes off you.”

“Really? Possessive much?”

“Piper, there is nothing more important to me in the world than you. Not another soul matters as much to me. Not even my own.”

“I still don’t get it. I was just in the other room having a really bad day, if you didn’t notice. I thought I’d feel better knowing there was a good reason for them to leave me. And it was a good reason, I’m not saying it wasn’t. I didn’t expect them to risk everyone else for me. But I’m still mad. I still feel shitty and rejected. I still feel that I can never be loved again.”

“Piper, do you ever think about me? When you’re alone in bed? Do you imagine what I’d look like naked?”

“W-what are you talking about?” she scoffed.

“I want to know if you dream about me fucking your brains out. Because I can tell you right now, you have been the only thing on my mind since I’ve met you. What your breasts might look like. How your nipples would feel under my tongue. I imagine your sweet pussy and how tongue-fucking you would be my version of heaven. I go to sleep imagining sinking my cock into you, making you scream my name. I want you tied up on my bed so I can make you come over and over again. That’s what I think about when I see you. That’s what I think about when I can’t see you. You were always on my mind before, and now that I know you’re my mate, it’s all I’ll think about.”

“Okay…”

“You don’t have to worry about someone finding you attractive or that they can handle your past because I already love you. I want you exactly the way you are. Every experience you’ve had has made you the person you are today. Those men may have loved you. You may have loved them too. But I will make you the center of my universe and nothing, no one, will ever break that. He can threaten everyone I know, you will still come first. I’ll put my entire Clan under protection if that’s what it takes. No one will scare me away from you. You are mine from this moment on. Mine.”