Dangerous Mating (A.L.F.A., #3)(32)
He wondered if this place could have any relation to human trafficking. Could the bad guys be hiding people down here until the time to go came? Or it could be that those who got away were kept here until they could escape further? It would explain why he hadn’t found any clues to where the ring was, who was part of it, and who had been taken.
While Kari gathered food, he pulled out several rugs to make a suitable place to lie down. It was late at night, or rather, early morning in Cloustien. Washington DC time was about bedtime. No wonder her human body was exhausted. But it was also aroused.
He debated telling her that she was his mate. Would this be a good time or not? His wolf wanted to tell her then bite her—within the next five minutes, please. That wasn’t happening unless they wanted to scare her off. Even though she was his mate, she had no idea what that meant to shifters. Mating meant for life. No changing your mind. No divorcing. It really was “till death do us part.”
But what if she rejected him? How could he be so close to her without having her? Holding a wooden bowl, Kari sat next to him on a rug, leaning against the wall.
Time to find out.
Chapter Twenty-two
She couldn’t believe this food was here in the middle of nowhere. And she was starving. The food and drink at the prince’s dinner were completely gone from her stomach.
A bowl of dried fruits in hand, she sat next to Bryon on rugs he’d moved around. With a sigh, she toed off her shoes and wiggled her toes. “I won’t be able to walk for a week without Band-Aids.”
“Guess I’ll have to carry you around for that time,” Bryon said. So gorgeous, so perfect.
“Uh, probably not,” she replied. “But we can work something out.” Whoa. What did she mean by that? Great. She was delirious now. Delirious with love? Good god, that was lame.
“Kari,” he said, “how much do you know about shifters?”
She halfway shrugged. “I’ve learned a few things besides what you’ve told me. You guys have super senses and your mates are forever.”
“You know about mates?” he asked, surprise in his voice.
“Not that much. Just that once you find your mate, your heart is theirs forever.” She hadn’t mentioned this to Director Lancaster, but she had known shifters existed before she’d decoded any messages. When she was eight years old, her mom worked two jobs for a while. During that time, the older neighbors, Tabi and her husband, Joe, would watch over her at night until her mother came home. Kari considered Tabi to be her grandmother since her real grandmothers were with the angels in heaven.
Even at her young age, she saw the intense love between Tabi and Joe. The couple was really old and had been together since they were in school. They always held hands when they sat on the swing on the front porch. Joe kissed Tabi every time he walked in or out of a room she was in. And they always ate dinner together at the table.
Kari had known the couple were shifters when one of the young grandkids accidentally shifted when she was there. It had become their little secret. When Kari once asked how they could be together so long without getting bored of each other, Tabi told her, when you find your true mate, your heart is theirs forever. Then Kari asked if that was for shifters only, or if she could find her own mate.
Tabi told her if she had a true mate waiting for her, then she would be cherished and loved by her mate unconditionally. But humans didn’t usually have shifter mates back then. Well, they did, but shifter law forbade the races to mix at the time.
One day, Joe was in an accident and died. Kari hadn’t grasped the concept of death except that the person went to heaven to be with angels, like her grandmothers. The next day, Tabi said she couldn’t take care of Kari any longer. She had to go where Joe, her mate, was because she loved him too much to be away from him.
Kari never saw Tabi after that, but as Kari grew older, she’d come to understand the meaning of all Tabi had shared with her. She never met another shifter, that she knew of, anyway.
She decided that was why she accepted Bryon so readily. She’d romanticized shifters into great lovers and heroes. And she had secretly prayed that one day she would meet her mate and have what the old couple had.
“You’re absolutely right about that. Mates are born to be together,” he responded. “Many times, our mates are human, too.”
“Really,” she said. Man, oh, man. What she would do to be the mate to the delectable man sitting next to her. She’d win the Powerball if that was true. Hot sex with shifter alpha 24/7. She’d never leave her bed. Hell, she’d never let him leave. She stuffed more fruit into her mouth to keep from drooling.
He rubbed the back of his hand on her arm. He was warm in the chilly air. Chills ran down to her fingers. She loved when he touched her. Loved when he stood so close. Loved his smell, loved his body. All right, she needed to cut it out. He’d catch her horny scent soon.
“What would you think if you were my mate?”
Her heart stumbled over itself, fell flat, then pumped overtime. “Was that a ‘let’s pretend I’m your mate’ or ‘You want me to be your mate, for real’?” She wasn’t hungry anymore. Her stomach was too busy being nervous.
Bryon slid closer on the thick rug, his eyes never leaving hers. “The question wasn’t rhetorical nor was it a hypothetical.”