Ronan
“What happened?” Fee walks into the room.
“Thanks for knocking, fucker.”
“Answer the question,” he glares at me. The bear is tall and muscular: exactly the opposite of what I imagine a bear should look like. When I think of bears, I think of short and round and clumsy, but that’s not Fee at all.
“She left, okay? You obviously saw her leave. What do you want from me?” I reach for the whiskey, but Fee gets between me and my bottle. “Don’t push your luck,” I tell him. “This is really none of your business.”
“No? Whose name is on the deed to this house, Ronan Casa?”
I glare at him and push by, reaching for the alcohol. Once again, he steps in my way, and this time, I growl at him.
“That’s right, wolf. It’s my name. It’s my house and it’s my rules and right now, I’m telling you to fucking start talking.”
“She doesn’t want me, okay?” I spit out. The words are harsher than I like, harder to swallow than I want them to be. I’d like to say I found my mate and she immediately accepted me, but that’s not what happened, is it? I’d like to say I found the woman of my dreams and we’re going to live happily ever after, but that’s not our destiny.
Nope. Instead, I’m mated to a scaredy cat. I’m mated to someone too afraid of me to even try.
“Is that what she said to you?” Landon Fee isn’t the type of shifter to shy away from what he means to say. Nope. He calls people out and says exactly what he intends to, especially when he’s with his friends.
“No, that’s not exactly what she said. That’s what she meant, though.”
“When I was in here with you two, the sexual tension was so thick, you could slice it with a knife,” Landon says. He crosses his arms over his chest and looks me up and down. Landon Fee might be the only person in the world who can make me feel like a little cub again just by looking at me.
“Sexual tension is great, but it’s not what relationships are built on.”
“You’re a fucking idiot,” he says. “Sexual tension is exactly what relationships are built on.”
“No, dumbass. They’re built on mutual respect and trust and admiration. They’re built on common interests and communication.”
“And all of that stems from sexual tension,” Landon says with a curt nod. “Sexual tension is the core of any relationship. If you aren’t attracted to someone, you aren’t going to have a good relationship, no matter how much you both like to read romance novels.”
“I do not like to read romance novels,” I say, not wanting to let him get that dig in, but Fee just raises his eyebrow and glances nonchalantly toward my desk.
“Are you telling me that if I open that top drawer, there won’t be any books in it?”
“Of course I keep books in my desk. I’m a lawyer, in case you’ve forgotten. I need books to reference cases.”
Fee just chuckles and shakes his head.
“You’ve got it bad, buddy.”
“She’s my mate,” I whisper, defeated. Suddenly, the weight of the world is too much to bear and I just sit down in one of the chairs. I close my eyes and wonder what I should have done differently. I shouldn’t have let her walk out of the office. I shouldn’t have let her go. I should have tried harder, been better.
I should have done anything but what I did.
I should have been braver.
I should have been bolder.
“Then your time isn’t over,” Fee says, clapping me on the shoulder. “Look, brother, I know today was unexpected. I know it was difficult. It’s not the end, though. Think of it this way, all right? She’s human. She’s a sweet, adorable little human who just encountered her first big, bad wolf. That can’t be easy.”
“I’m not a big, bad wolf,” I protest.
“You aren’t going to devour her? Because it sure looked like you were eating her alive with your eyes.”
“That’s different. I wasn’t going to do anything bad to her. I just want her.”
“Of course you do. She’s your mate. You can’t let your first encounter be what determines whether you make it or not. So she isn’t quite ready to accept your destiny. That’s fine. Ease her into it, brother. Be patient. Use some of those courtroom skills you hold so dearly. I’m sure you can figure out a way to get her to see your side.”
“And if I can’t?”
“You can,” Fee nods. “Because even when you don’t believe in yourself, Ronan, I believe in you.” Then he leaves the office, closing the door behind him. Suddenly, I’m alone with myself, alone with my thoughts, alone with worries about my mate.
The truth is that I’ve always wanted a mate. I’ve always wanted someone I could call my own. I’ve always wanted someone to share my life with.
Oh, there are plenty of single shifters. There are plenty of wolves who never marry, who never find mates, and they’re perfectly happy.
I’m not one of them, though.
I remember how happy my parents were together. When I was a cub, they were always hugging and touching. They were always laughing together. They were always so content just to be together, and I always wanted that. Even as a kid, I knew that one day, I’d want a mate.
And now I’ve found her.
Landon is right. I can’t just give up because we got off to a bad start. I can’t just give up on the fact that Lara is supposed to be mine. She’s supposed to be my wife, my bride, my mate. I can feel it.
My inner wolf is howling, and I know I need to find her, need to talk to her. I need to find Lara and show her that I’ll protect her, that I’ll take care of her.
And even if she still rejects me, even if she says she isn’t interested in having an animal for a husband, I’ll still protect her.
I’ll start with solving her case.
Her neighbor sounds like a real prick, but I’m convinced we can build a case against him and turn his accusations around. He thinks he can sue Lara for harassment? We can file a counterclaim. We’ll go to court as planned and we’ll win because Lara is in the right, but even if she wasn’t, I’m a damn good lawyer.
And I’m going to win this one.
I’m going to win it for my mate.