Outside, Karri followed Noah, mentally preparing herself for what she expected would be a fight. The short distance between the cabins seemed to take longer than before, until finally they were far enough away from Sin’s place that they wouldn’t be overheard—or so she hoped. It didn’t matter because she needed to make things right with Noah before he went inside and back to work. “Noah, stop for a minute, please.”

“According to what you said in there, I’m the one who’s supposed to be giving the commands,” he snapped without turning to look at her. The anger in his voice didn’t surprise her but the pain his words caused in her chest did.

“That’s not what I meant. It came out wrong.” She let out a deep sigh and stepped back from him. “No, maybe it didn’t come out wrong; maybe I said what I thought I meant, but I was wrong.”

“How could you compare yourself to a stray dog? Do you really think you mean that little to me?” Anger and sorrow mixed into his tone.

“During my senior year of high school I had to put this project together and to add a personal aspect I decided to include some family photos. I was looking through an old photo album when my mother came home from work. This album was hidden behind some things and you could tell it was old from the yellowing on the page and the warn material that Mom used to cover it. Inside I found pictures of her and her family. She was smiling and happy. Do you know I can’t remember a single day when my mother looked as happy as she did in the photographs?”

“What does that have to do with now?”

She glanced around the grounds, taking in those who were around, especially the family gathered at the picnic table sharing lunch. Yet another thing she’d had never done with her folks. It wasn’t until she’d left home that she realized how unusual her family really was. “That’s how things were with my parents. He barked and she’d cower in fear or run off to do whatever would make him happy. For a long time, I thought it was normal and it took me nearly two years to realize it wasn’t. I don’t want that for myself.”

“Have I ever ordered you around? Forced you to do something you didn’t want to do? I didn’t even force you to come back here with me even though I knew it would be the safest place for you.”

“I know.” She turned back to him. “But sitting there having Jase tell me that you need to claim me made it seem like a demand. It seemed like either complete the mating or leave. It was a shock and I reacted without thinking. I don’t want to be stuck in a relationship like my mother was. She might love my father but no man is worth being a doormat for.”

“And you think I’ll treat you like one.” He leaned his hip against the handrail leading up the stairs to the porch of his cabin and watched her. There was no question in his statement, leaving her for a moment unsure of what to say.

“No.” She closed the distance between them to stand in front of him. “I’ll be honest and admit I’m concerned about this relationship. What can I contribute to it? I don’t want it to be something that developed because some lunatics are after me and I need your help to stay alive.”

“That’s not what’s happening here and if you thought about this for a minute, you’d know that.”

She already knew this of course but hadn’t wanted to accept it. This wasn’t what she’d thought it would be like. She always imagined they’d meet, date, and then have this connection. With Noah, the connection was instant and this attraction to him seems almost magical.

“What’s the problem, Karri? Is it that I’m a shifter?”

Glancing back up at him, she was met with his amber lion eyes, reminding her of the lion she’d petted days ago. If being a shifter had any impact on her feelings for him, it certainly wasn’t a negative one. She was intrigued by his second nature. Any holding back on her part was from her wanting a relationship where she was an equal and not something like her parents had. She wasn’t willing to settle for anything less. As she’d only known him a short time, she couldn’t yet accept that she wouldn’t end up in a situation that replicated her mother’s. He didn’t seem like that type of guy but if she didn’t take her time, she might find out she was wrong too late.

“No.” She brought her gaze to meet his as she tried to put her uncertainties into words. “You have to understand this idea of being claimed because you believe I’m your mate is new to me. Where I come from, it doesn’t happen like that. Upon meeting you, you told me I was your mate and I’ve been trying to adjust to that but it won’t happen overnight. What you’re talking about is a lifetime together because of this mating, but I barely know you. What if once we know each other better we find out that we don’t like each other? Then what? For shifter mates, there are no divorces, so does that mean we’re stuck together? Do you really want to live miserably for the rest of your life?”

“We’re a perfect match.”

“Who says?” Feeling overwhelmed, she took a step back from him. “Your lion?”

“Fate. What’s happening here is similar to what two humans would experience with love at first sight. The connection seems instant, like they’ve known each other their whole lives, and neither of them wants to spend a day apart from the other. Are you denying you feel that way?”

Part of her wanted to be able to tell him she didn’t, but it would be a lie. The connection was there and stronger than anything she’d felt before. Maybe that scared her the most. She wanted what he was offering but fear plagued her. Did she want him too badly? Since they’d met, she found herself constantly seeking him out. Whether it was a moment of his time as she brought him fresh coffee while he was working, or the cuddling on the sofa in the evenings, those meant everything to her. Even asleep, her subconscious put him in her dreams, as well as her nightmares. It didn’t matter if she was back in the woods surrounded by blood and gore, or there at Crimson Hollow—Noah was there, with her.

“I feel it,” she admitted. “I’m just scared.”

“Letting fear hold you back from what life has to offer is like going on a roller coaster and keeping your eyes closed the whole time. It’s the adventure you don’t want to miss—not how you got there. We have our whole lives to live and I want to do it with you.”

When he put it like that, it sounded amazing. She was a risk taker; otherwise she’d have never left home to make her own path in life. Why was she letting fear hold her back from something she wanted now? She didn’t know but her best guess would be all the unknowns. After her near death experience, she should be grabbing life with both hands.

“I know you’re right but…” Exhaling, she dragged her hand through her hair. “It’s hard to explain everything I’m thinking and feeling. Does that connection of yours do anything useful?”

“Such as?”

“I don’t know. I mean if you can know where I am, can’t you use it to feel my emotions? Maybe feeling them would allow you to better understand why I’m holding back.”

He straightened himself from where he was leaning on the porch railing and tipped his head toward the house. “Let’s go inside and finish this conversation.”

“Noah…” Unsure if going inside was the best move, she called after him. If they made it inside, would he be tempted to go up and sulk in his office? They needed to get through this before it brewed strong, causing hatred.

“Inside.” His tone held command, leaving no question that he expected her to follow. “There are too many people around to be having this conversation outdoors.” Without waiting for her, he went to the front door and held it open.

She glanced around her; more of the tribe members seemed to be milling about now. They hadn’t even registered to her; all she’d thought about was Noah and making things right between them. This tension between them was like a brick in her stomach. Was this because of the connection they shared or her own emotions? Not wanting to question this, she followed him. Whatever was happening between them would continue to happen. He had explained the mating connection would continue to grow until he claimed her and that would be the final piece needed to light the circuit between them completely. Once lit, it would never be extinguished, becoming a connection far beyond what humans shared.

Inside, she dropped down onto the chair and waited. She needed to see what he would do. Would he rush back to his office or would he stay and fight? There was something to be said about staying and fighting and while she expected he would, she knew he also had work waiting for him. The Saviors’ attack in the woods had been the first large scale attack against them but everyone suspected it wouldn’t be the last. Noah and the others were digging into every possible avenue and since Kat’s father was a part of the big picture, that meant tearing apart Kat’s family. How many others did she know who were part of this war on shifters?

* * *

Noah’s lion snarled at him, demanding he do something to convince Karri that this mating needed to happen. He wanted this, not for Jase’s reasons—the logical ones—but because his lion was growing restless. A week might not seem long to humans but for his lion, it had been an eternity. They had searched so long for a mate and now his beast was growing impatient with the need to make her his. The urge to carry her up to his bed to show her what a tease he could be ate at him. He wanted to make love to her until she cried out his name and then he’d officially claim her as his.

With a long night ahead of him, he snatched a beer out of the refrigerator and headed back to the living room where he had left her. “Want one?” He twisted the lid off the bottle.

“No, thanks.”

“The connection isn’t, let’s say, fully operational mode yet, so your emotions are hazy to me.” Hating that his mate’s emotions were obscure to him, he took a long drink from the beer bottle. “The lion within me can smell certain emotions but with you, it’s a knotted mess. The ball of emotions makes the cat in me want to tug at it and dissect it.”

“What about what you did to show me your lion? Would our touch make things more clear for you?”

“The touch connection allows me to see things clearer between us but it’s still like opening your eyes in murky water. Once you’re mine it will be clear but that doesn’t help this situation.” Chuckling, he came around the sofa to sit close to her. “For the first time in my life, I got a tiny slice of understanding as to what it would be like to be human.”

“We don’t go around knowing everyone’s emotions and, in a disaster, we can’t know for certainty where our loved one is. I guess that’s why there can be such a panic in those cases. Everyone trying to find their loved ones or at least get in touch with them to make sure they’re alive.” She reached down to unlace her boot when suddenly, she shot up straight. “Wait. Will this mating make me…”

“No, you won’t become a shifter. We’re born, not bitten. We cannot give our ability to someone else, not even our mate.” Carefully, he watched her, trying to determine if she was relieved.

“But how can I be human and still have the connection with you?”

“A number of things will change but essentially you’ll still be human.” He set his beer on the coffee table and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. “You’re not all of a sudden going to start changing into an animal. You will only have your abilities because of your connection with me.”

“This is a lot to take in but it would have been even more mind-blowing if I found out I’d shifted once the mating happened.”

“When both mates are shifters there’s no issue explaining the mating because each of them know instantly they were meant for each other. In most cases, we’ve searched so long for our mates that once we find each other, our beast is eager to make it official so we can start our lives together.”

“Is that what it’s like for you? Is your lion eager to claim me?”

The question held the warning of being a trap and the longer he thought about it, the more it seemed that either answer could have a negative impact. In the end, he decided to be truthful instead of holding back something she would feel for herself later. “My beast is on edge wanting to claim you. He’s growing impatient with the delay and wants his mate. Times are dangerous for my kind and the mating will make it easier for me to protect you. I can control my beast so you don’t have to be concerned that I’ll force this mating upon you.”

“I hadn’t considered that.” She tugged off her boots and looked at him. “I’m not sure how we got off topic. This wasn’t what we were discussing.”

“It is. We were discussing our mating.”

“Yes, but my hesitation to it, not anything else. I guess in a way it all ties together. I wish there was a way to explain my reluctance better. Until you came into my life, I hadn’t realized how much my parents’ relationship affected me.”

“We’ll get through it,” he assured her as he picked up his beer again. “I need to finish a few things upstairs but how about you give me an hour and then I’ll make dinner.”

“You’ll make dinner? I’ve been told that the last time you tried to cook you almost burned down the house.”

“I see Ginger has been around.” He chuckled at Liam’s mate and her extravagant stories. “It was just a small fire…”

“You admit it then?”

“Well…” Reluctantly, he nodded. “I’m a disaster in the kitchen but I can reheat. Camellia brought us a chicken and rice casserole this morning, I can manage to pop it in the oven without setting the place ablaze, I promise.”

“You go work. I’ll put the casserole in the oven and let you know when it’s done.” She ran her hands down her thigh and stood.

“I swear I can manage that much, but thanks. We’ll have a nice meal and tonight; instead of watching a movie, we’ll talk. Forget about me being a shifter, The Saviors, and everything else. We’ll get to know each other as if we were just two people out on a date.”

Before his beast could decide that he was unwilling to wait, he had to get himself out of there. Without wasting another moment, he polished off his beer and rose from the sofa. His office was the only safe place at the moment. There, he could dive into the research the tribe needed him to do and hopefully get his mind off wanting to claim Karri. Inside, his lion snarled at him, demanding his mate. Soon…