I hadn’t planned on telling her like this, but I was out of options. How else could I explain what she had seen? The woman, Marianna, she was a refugee of sorts. She’d arrived on our doorstep wearing her fur, having run for miles and miles without stopping. I hadn’t been able to refuse her when she’d looked at me, her spirit broken and battered, but still fighting. Freedom. That’s all she’d wanted. A place to feel safe. When she’d said the word safe, her eyes had shuttered, her hands clenching and shoulders hunching, as if expecting a blow that never came.

She’d been one of us, her parents defected when she was a child, moving to Raul’s pack. They were dead now. So, now, she was mine. Ours. And we welcomed her home, like we would do any brother or sister. When she’d dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her face, her thoughts hadn’t been anything other than showing respect to her alpha, seeking the comfort of a pack. She didn’t see me as a man, but she had needed to feel my reassurance. It was a wolf thing, rubbing fur against fur, taking comfort in scent.

If she’d seen me as a man, she wouldn’t have been able to touch me. Marianna was the worst kind of broken.

But that’s not how it would have looked to Tahlia.

Fuck!

“What do you mean exactly?” She was eyeing me like I was crazy, but at least she hadn’t backed away.

There was only one thing for it. The truth. “Will you promise to hear me out?” She nodded, but I pressed her further. “What I’m about to tell you may sound strange and delusional, but I promise it’s the truth.” Taking her hands, I tugged her to me. “I will always tell you the truth, whether you like it or not. I vow it.”

This time, there was a flicker of appreciation in her eyes. Whoever had hurt her, and there was no doubt in my mind that some bastard had, he had done a number on her.

And I would hunt him down and make him pay.

“Just tell me. I’m kind of freaking out here—”

“I’m not human, Tahlia.”

She blinked. “Of course you are.”

“No, I’m a shifter.” She tried to pull her hands away, but I held them tight.

“Nick, whatever it is that you’re—”

“I can change into a wolf.”

She glared at me, shaking her head and sending her ponytail bobbing. “That’s not funny.”

I lowered my voice to a husky growl, allowing my wolf to edge to the surface. His light shone in my eyes as I stared at my mate, willing her to believe me. “We’re all shifters, even Alex, and I’m their alpha.”

She scoffed, then hesitated. “You’re their king.”

“Alpha. Shifters tend follow the old ways, such as monarchies. It fits the pack structure.”

“Pack?” Her voice came out a squeak.

“My people. They’re my family.”

“And that’s why that woman was naked and on her knees?” She sounded completely reasonable. Too reasonable.

“Yes. She was looking for comfort from her alpha, that’s all. She wouldn’t dare to touch me like that, not knowing…”

She tugged my hand. “Knowing what?”

“Knowing that I was already taken. That I had already found my mate.”

She gave me a look as if to say ‘who, me?’ And I chuckled.

“Stories tell us that shifters were created by a goddess who took a man, or a woman, and paired them with the soul of a beast. But two souls inside one body was too much for the body to handle, so she split the combined souls in half again and placed them in another, creating mates for her children.” I cupped the side of her face, tracing the edge of her lips with my thumb. “You have the other half of my soul, min älskling, I knew it the second I laid eyes on you. Recognized you from first touch, can feel the bond inside my heart, where it will connect us together.”

“But, I’m not a wolf. It doesn’t make sense. I’m one hundred percent home grown human. American grown, actually, and you’re a king—sorry, alpha wolf, shifter thingy—from Switzerland. What? Did she have an airplane?” She took a breath and I nearly managed to get a word in. Nearly. “Or did she just randomly scatter her children all over the world, so we could play a sadistic game of tag?”

“Sometimes the souls divided unequally, some fated mates are human. I don’t know quite how it works,” I admitted, dodging her rant about geography.

“Well … that sucks.” She chuffed, shaking her head … again. “So, we’ve got a bond, right?”

“Yes.” I touched my chest, bringing her hand up with me and laying it over my heart. “I can feel you here, but it’s only faint. When we finally join together, I’ll be able to feel you always.” Damn, she was taking this way better than I’d expected. I eyed her carefully, watching emotions rush over her face, but was unable to get a clear read on her.

“Do you know what I’m feeling?”

However, it turned out she could read me like a goddamn book. “Not yet.”

She sucked on her lip, then patted me on the chest. “Because this is the biggest pile of bullshit I’ve ever heard!” she screamed, yanking away from me and running around the bed. “I listened and waited for you to tell me this truth that you talk highly about, but…” Her mouth flapped open, her hands waving in the air. “Seriously? You could have just said she was drunk. Or trying to come onto you. Or a long lost sister! Or … something other than being a goddamn werewolf!”

“It’s the truth,” I ground out, taking a step and cutting off her escape route.

She held up a hand. “Uh huh. Stop right there Mr. Werewolf Psycho.” Her words delivered a punch, but tears were welling in her eyes. Furiously, she sniffed them back, scrubbing at her cheek with her free hand, the other she kept held out in front of her, like an invisible shield. “I thought you were different,” she finally whispered, her bottom lip trembling.

Her words tore at my heart, but it was her tears that left a gaping wound inside my chest. “I’ll show you.” I hadn’t wanted to go this far, hadn’t wanted to scare her, but if this was the only way.

Her mouth firmed and then dropped open as the change rippled over me, stretching my muscles and snapping bones, my body reshaping and fur flowing. Ducking my head, I dropped to the floor, the final tingles of the shift rippling through me. Strength flooded my limbs, my ears twitching and snout lifting to scent the air. Through the eyes of my wolf, I viewed the woman in front of me. She wasn’t moving. Or blinking. Or even breathing. Letting out a huff, I sank down onto my haunches, lowering my head to the floor.

We didn’t move. Her hand drifted back to her side. We still didn’t move, staring at each other. I could see a million questions flitting across her face, but she didn’t speak.

So, I did what any self-respecting male wolf would do. I rolled onto my back and showed my belly, stretching my head back so I could still see her and rolled my eyes in a silent plea.

“You want me to rub your stomach?” she blurted out and I huffed at her.

No, I certainly did not. But when she moved closer, I bit back the growl of displeasure at the thought of being treated like a dog. My mate could do whatever she wanted, so long as she didn’t walk away from me.

She crouched down, shuffling forward inch by inch, then her hand came down on the tufts of my ears, her fingers sifting through the fur on the top of my head. “This is real, isn’t it?” She gave me a look, as if expecting me to answer, and I whined. I fucking whined. I never whined. Didn’t even know I could make the damn noise. At least she wasn’t tickling my belly. Her hand was gentle, almost reverent, and it was gone too soon. Rolling back over onto my front, I succeeded in startling her, and she jerked back.

“Sorry, you’re just a very big…” she winced. “Boy.”

I pulled the change to me, my body reflowing and reforming back into human shape, until I was crouched before her. “Tahlia—”

She stood up and shook her head. Again! “I need time, Nick. Lots of time.” She nodded at the door, crossing her hands over her chest.

Taking the hint, I made to leave, but paused in the doorway, waiting for her eyes to meet mine. “I’m still the same man, min älskling. Shifters mate for life and we love completely. We don’t cheat; we can’t. So, you see, I meant it when I said you’re it for me.” Without waiting for a reaction, I left.

* * *

“Alpha, King Raul is nearly here! The scouts have sent word.” One of the packmembers, Dimitri, skidded to a stop, then fell into step beside me when I didn’t pause, following me all the way to my office. Closing the door, I caught the pants that Zara threw at me, pulling them on.

I stormed around my desk and sat down. “What do you mean he’s nearly here? He’s not meant to arrive until tomorrow.” I’d spent days in England, chasing down old contacts for information, but I still had nothing concrete to connect Raul to my brother and his mate’s assassination. I needed more time.

Dimitri flinched at my snarl, but stood his ground. “It has to be about Marianna.”

Zara snorted. “Of course it is. A woman dared to leave him. His male pride will be wounded.”

“Marianna is Raul’s mate?” That I didn’t know.

“No, one of his…” she curled her lip in disgust. “Concubines? Mistresses?” She’d obviously spent some time with Marianna when I’d chased after Tahlia.

“Is Marianna being looked after?”

Dimitri answered, taking a step forward, “She’s been given a room and we’ve posted backup outside her door. Samantha is with her.” Samantha was one of the older women, she would treat Marianna like she treated her own daughters.

I nodded at the ex-soldier. Dimitri was one of the palace guards and, like many of us, had spent some of his youth exploring the world and gaining experience. “Good.” Turning to Zara, I narrowed my eyes, thinking hard. “How soon can we have the basement set up to receive him?”

She arched an eyebrow. “The basement?” Then her mouth curved up into a grin as she thought it through. “Just a regular night, right?”

Inclining my head, I matched her grin with one of my own. “He can’t expect us to be ready to receive another alpha without any notice.”

I turned my attention back to Dimitri, but he anticipated my question, “He’ll be here within three hours.”

“Then let’s get ready. Zara, I need you to go to Tahlia and convince her to stay in her room. She knows about us now and is finding it a little … unsettling, so be gentle with her.”

Already on the move, Zara froze, turning back to me. “Wait, she knows about us?”

Rubbing a hand over my chin, I fought the urge to sigh. “I shifted in front of her. It was the only way to explain why Marianna was naked and on her knees in front of me.”

“And rubbing her cheek dangerously near your—”

I cut her off, “Exactly. I don’t think she wants to see me right now, okay?” I frowned. “Where’s Alex?”

“With Samantha and Marianna,” she called over her shoulder.

“Good. Dimitri, gather everyone else. We’ve got a party to put on.”