Hunter's Heart (Alpha Pack #4)(37)

I don't know if I can.

"It's not nearly as hard as shifting for the first time, and it isn't as painful from now on. Go ahead and try."

On her first attempt, her wolf remained stubbornly in the forefront, not pleased at all about being forced into submission again. It was out, and Ryon sensed that she wanted to run, play, and explore. Now wasn't the time, though.

The second attempt was a success. In seconds Daria was sitting on the ground, naked. Drawing her knees up to her chest, she glared at him, making him flinch.

"You deserve the whole truth," he began.

"Nice of you to think so." Her lips thinned.

"I want you to try to remember that ever since you woke up in our infirmary, you've had a lot to deal with. There was no way I was going to spring all of this on you at once."

She hesitated; then her posture relaxed a fraction. "I'll give you that. But I want the whole story now, not just what you believe I can handle. I'm tougher than I look."

"Fair enough." Jesus, this wasn't going to go well. "Yes, when I bit you, I knew that most likely you would turn into a shifter. Like me and my team."

"And you did it to save my life." A statement, not a question. She was working through it all in her head.

"Yes. As well as my own."

She tensed again. "What do you mean?"

"Remember when I said you could mind-speak with me, but only with me?"

"I remember."

He fumbled for a way to explain that wouldn't shock her too badly. "Well, only certain pairs of wolf shifters can do that who aren't Telepaths. Non-Telepaths can only talk in each other's heads if they are . . . mated. Or if you're a powerful born shifter, like Nick. He communicates with me really well. The others have to push their thoughts back at me if I talk to them first."

"Mated." She stared at him blankly, latching on to that word. "You mean mated, as in animals in the wild who pair off with their special other half? That kind of mated?"

"Or shifters who find their other half, yes." Hope rose at her calm questioning. It quickly crashed as understanding began to dawn, and a slow burn of anger simmered through their bond.

"When you bit me, you mated with me?" she asked, voice rising. "Like, married me, in a way?"

"Sort of," he said evenly. "I had no-"

"You had no choice? No other option but to let me die?"

"That's the absolute truth, I swear it."

"And it had nothing to do with your wolf half simply taking what he wanted? Excuse me if I don't believe that," she said flatly.

"I can't deny he wanted to claim you-we both did-but I wouldn't lie to you. I honestly could not have done anything differently. Not unless I-"

"Save it." Her voice was cold as a winter's day. "Tell me about this bond I feel. It's not my imagination, is it? Now your possessive Neanderthal side when we were discussing Ben makes sense."

"No, it's not your imagination. We're bonded for life," he said, heart aching. "We won't be able to stand being apart for long. We can each feel the other's emotions, physical pain. I felt yours when you shifted, and that's how I knew to turn back. The white wolf led me to you."

She ignored the last bit of information. "That's just great, mate. I'm bound to a man I barely know. I didn't get a say. Maybe I would have chosen you, but now we'll never know."

"We won't?" Fear seized his chest. "Daria-"

"I can't handle this right now. I thought I could take about anything after what I've seen, after almost being killed and then recovering at warp speed." She laughed without humor. "But this? I don't know anything except I need for you to stay away from me right now."

Faster than he would've believed possible, she began to shift. It still took far longer than it would after she'd gained more experience, but she did an impressive job. It broke his heart that she was using her new skills to get away from him as fast as possible.

His mate turned and began to walk away. Her steps were a bit drunken as she figured out the use of her legs, but she did an admirable job.

"Daria!" he called "Please? I had to do it! I would have . . ." But she wasn't listening, or stopping.

Remaining on the ground, he sat with his head bowed for the longest time. Stared at the ground with his soul bleeding out.

"I would have died," he said to no one.

But he could fix that, sooner or later. There was always one more monster to fight. If his mate left him . . .

He'd just have to make damned sure he didn't win the next fight.

Chapter Eight

Daria walked back to the compound, anger and confusion riding her hard.

Sadness, too. Ryon's as well as her own. Every harsh word she'd spoken to him had hit his soul like a hammer blow and reverberated in her own chest. When she had walked away, she had left him devastated.

He had no choice but to bite her. She knew in her heart that was the truth, but that didn't make it any easier to deal with the fact that her life had changed forever.

Would that be so bad?

No. Contrary to what he or his friends might think, she wasn't angry about the actual mating itself-she could think of worse things than to be tied to the blond god of her dreams-or the fact that she'd been turned into a shifter. The crux of her frustration was that she didn't get a say in her own destiny. It had been served up without her consent, and presented after the fact with a big bow.