Savage didn’t like dressing up. But after his date with Zuri, he had to do something to make sure she realized he was willing to go the distance for her. He’d called her sister Sage and asked if he could come chat with her.

That led to being invited to dinner at the mother’s house. He growled at the tie he tried to put on and chose to disregard. No fucking way. That wasn’t him. Instead, he ran his fingers through his hair and pulled it back for a ponytail. He’d trimmed his beard and had clean clothes on. What else could they want?

His cell phone rang at that moment. “What do you want, Greer?”

“How could you, Sav? A human? You know I’ve been waiting for us to be mated.”

He growled. “You’re not the one for me, Greer. I’ve found my mate and I want nobody else but her.”

He heard what sounded like muffled crying. “I thought we’d be together.”

“I don’t know what gave you that idea since I broke things off with you months ago.”

A snarl sounded. “You think that pathetic human is better than me? She’s not.”

“Whatever you’re thinking, Greer, stop it,” he ordered in full Alpha mode. “That’s my mate. I will kill anybody that touches her. Do you understand me? Anybody!”

“You’re the one who’s going to understand to not take me for granted. You.” The line went dead and he was biting back the urge to rip his steering wheel to shreds. Instead, he took a deep breath and got out of the truck to knock on the front door of Zuri’s family’s house for the second time in a handful of days.

Sage opened the door. She grinned and motioned him in. “Hello, Savage. Or should I call you brother-in-law?”

Inside, Isaline and Mirabel were sitting on different sofa chairs, holding glasses of wine. Isaline picked up a cracker and cheese from the tray on the coffee table.

“Welcome back, Sav,” Isaline smiled. “Good to see you’re not backing off easily.”

He raised a questioning brow at Sage.

“What Isaline means is that Zuri has a tendency of scaring men away and until she went to the shifter gathering, she hadn’t been on a date since her divorce.”

He nodded. “How long has she been divorced?”

“Over a year,” Mirabel answered. “Please, come and sit. Let me offer you some wine or whiskey or coffee.”

“Coffee’s good,” he said and sat across from the other two women.

“So,” Sage smiled, her blue eyes filled with curiosity. “What did you want us to help you with?”

He gulped. He never asked anyone for help. Ever. He was a fucking leader of a bear clan with enough people to destroy a city, but here he was, looking for ways to make his next date with his mate a memorable one. “I want to take her out and I need some information on her likes and hobbies to be able to make a better decision.”

They all nodded. Mirabel brought another tray with coffee, cream, and sugar. “Well,” she started, “she’s always loved taking photos. She stopped when she got married because things were really hectic, and then after a while, she just didn’t get into it again.”

Isaline gave him a look. “Her ex was a douchebag. He was super needy and always wanted to be the center of her world. Everything was about him. So her hobbies went away.”

He had a hard time holding back the growl. The ex sounded like he needed to take classes on how to treat women.

“Yeah,” Mirabel sighed and set up her own coffee. “It was ever harder when he was going through chemo and stuff, because she felt so guilty.”

He frowned. “Why?”

“She was healthy. He wasn’t. He made comments about wishing she could understand how horrible the pain was.”

Sage’s cheeks turned red and her eyes flashed with anger. “He made her miserable, and even though she tried her best to support him, it was never enough for him.”

“Oh, I’m sure it’s horrible to go through any disease that painful,” Mirabel told him, “but when you have someone who’s supporting you and loving you. Someone who’s there for you 24/7 and who makes your needs their priority, and you overlook that because you’re angry life dealt you this hand? It’s a very sad relationship to be in.”

Isaline nodded, her cheeks full of crackers as she tried to swallow them down without choking. He was worried he would have to give her the Heimlich.

“So she gave up everything she loved to take care of him. Why did they break up?”

Did he really want to know? Yes. He needed to make sure he never made whatever stupid mistake her ex made so he never lost Zuri. She was his mate. His one and only.

The women glanced at each other.

“He left her to be with his nurse,” Isaline said. “He said he fell in love with her and couldn’t see spending whatever time he had left on earth with someone he didn’t love.”

The man was a complete dick. Who did that to someone who stood by you? Then again, humans didn’t know who their mates were. It was a game of chance with them.

“My husband died of cancer,” Mirabel said softly. “I stood by him through good and bad. But I can say one thing with certainty. He never said one unkind word to me. He appreciated my support. Some people don’t know that appreciation makes a big difference when you’re both going through something that big.”

Sage pressed her lips into a thin line. “Not that he was very nice before he got sick. He was so obsessed with being her center of attention we barely saw her.”

Isaline’s shoulders slumped. “She used to love going roller skating. All through my childhood and until she got married, she used to go to this skating rink in town. It shut down years ago, but I remember those days so well. She was so happy and carefree. She took chances and smiled a lot. Not like now, where she’s always questioning herself and looks lost.”

“Looked lost,” Sage smiled at Savage. “Until she met you. You’ve brought back that spark from the younger Zuri. The one we knew that loved roller skating or singing karaoke after too many drinks.”

Mirabel laughed. “Or loved going to carnivals and riding everything and eating tons of bad food because she loved having fun.”

Sage grinned. “I remember when we were kids, she used to beg Mom to take her to the boy band concerts. It was funny because I was never into it, but her excitement got to everyone. You couldn’t help smiling when you were around Zuri.” Her brows lowered and her look turned fiercely protective. “You’re bringing my sister back from that dark place she was in far too long. Whatever help you need, you can count on us.”