Chapter 21

"You are such a cheater!" I cried.

Tak couldn't hide his impish grin, nor did he try. "How can I cheat at dice?"

"That's your third Yahtzee."

"The spirits of my ancestors are watching over me." He penciled in his score. "I like this game. Ours are competitive and not left to chance."

"This is competitive," I argued.

"Yes, but no one loses a finger rolling dice like they do on an axe blade. Is this what people like to play in the city?"

"I don't know what other people do, but we like to have game night. I prefer word games, but I wanted to give you a fair chance, so I picked this one."

I leaned against the couch, my left arm on the cushion. After dinner, we'd moved the coffee table and made ourselves comfortable on the floor with pillows. Tak wanted to stretch out after eating six stuffed peppers. Hours of conversation later, I'd challenged him to a game.

Tak draped his arm across his knee. "Oh, really? Does my vernacular lead you to believe that I'm illiterate?"

"I assumed you only spoke in your native tongue most of the time," I confessed. "Since you live with your tribe, and they're all your people, there's no reason to speak English."

Tak said something in his language that made my toes curl. He sipped his ice tea and then set the glass down. "My father is adamant about giving his people a solid education. After we teach our children about our own culture and history, they learn about the world. Many of us are multilingual. I'm also fluent in French."

"But why?"

Tak threaded his hair away from his face. "Those who collect gemstones and negotiate with traders have to travel. We interact with many different cultures. My people are fluent in not only the languages of the Breed tribes but also that of the human ones."

"And when do you use French?"

He lowered his eyes to the dice on the floor, which were showing all sixes. "Long ago, my father prepared me for negotiating with traders in Canada. But then I tattooed my face."

Tak didn't finish, nor did he need to explain. A two-faced Shifter wouldn't instill confidence between business partners. He might appear dodgy, especially as the son of the Iwa tribe's great leader. This way, Tak didn't have to deal with outsiders constantly barraging him with questions about his tattoo. He had marked himself for his tribe, but he wasn't obligated to share his story with outsiders. Even without them knowing the meaning behind the tattoo, I noticed the way people on the street looked at him. The cold stares from Shifters who whispered to one another as they passed by. In our territory, alphas commonly inked themselves with memorable tattoos. But on their faces? It raised too many questions.

"I like your face," I blurted out. "And I think you should go to Paris."

Tak howled with laughter and fell onto his back.

"Why are you laughing? I'm serious!"

He wiped his tears away with the heel of his hand. "What would I do with myself in Paris? I can't even navigate through our cities." After a minute, he sat up and collected the dice, dropping them into the cup one at a time. "Is that what you want to do with your life? Save up enough money to travel to distant lands?"

"Not really. Unfamiliar places make me skittish."

"So that's why you didn't go with Lakota and Melody?"

I turned so my back was against the couch. "I've been to Cognito before. I don't understand that city, and I'd never walk in it alone without Lakota by my side. But that's not the reason I didn't go. Someone had to stay and manage the store."

Tak scooted over and sat beside me, his arm around my shoulders. "I saw another woman working in your store today. Couldn't you have hired her for the week?"

"No way! Naya is a busy woman with a full-time job and family. Plus I can't close the store for that long. We're new, and it's important to keep the momentum going. That'll change someday."

"You're smart. You could have figured something out. Isn't family more important?"

I drew my knees up and flicked a small piece of lint off the blue fabric of my pants. "Are you trying to make me feel guilty, or do you just want to get rid of me?"

The warm touch of his fingers on my shoulder made me shiver. "I'm just trying to figure you out."

"Lakota's adoptive parents live up north. I don't know if he told you about that part of his life, but they're not Shifters. This trip was important to them because it's the first time he's presenting Melody as his mate. I've gone up there many times over the years, so it wasn't essential that I be there for this occasion. They really wanted all the parents to come together and celebrate."

Tak looked down. "So Lakota is not your brother?"

"He's my half brother. We have the same mother, but another couple raised him. It's a long story, and it's his to tell."

"Ah. That explains a lot."

"Please don't mention it unless he brings it up. His family history is that of a delicate nature, and—"

"I know about such things," Tak said, giving my shoulder a light squeeze. "You have no other siblings?"

"Lakota's all I have. I'm sure my parents have tried, but since I'm their firstborn, they'll probably never have an alpha. That's not to say it could never happen, but the odds diminish with each child. Maybe that's why they don't talk about it, and it's really not my business to ask. Sometimes you have to accept what the fates give you."

"And what they don't give you." He held my hand.

That one gesture made my heart squeeze tight. A flutter tickled my belly—the kind I usually got before getting on a roller coaster ride. Tak's rough hands revealed that he wasn't afraid of a hard day's work. His dark skin glowed, carrying the light of the summer sun and a scent that was both foreign and familiar.

"What about you?" I asked. "Tell me about your family."

He let go and sat back. "I have five sisters—all mated. No blood brothers. I was my father's only hope to lead the tribe, but that responsibility will go to one of my cousins."

"And your mother?"

He drew in a deep breath and held it for a moment before letting it go. "She died in childbirth. Pregnancy is a vulnerable time since the women don't shift. My little sister almost didn't make it. They had to cut her out. It was a painful decision for my father. Save his mate or save the child. In the end, I think my mother let go of this world so that she could give her baby life."

I shook my head. "I'm so sorry. That must have been incredibly difficult for you all."

"She was a good woman. Kind, always laughing, always in a good mood. She listened. We could talk to her about anything. The house was quiet when her spirit left."

Melody had told me all about Shikoba's serious demeanor. Tak must have favored his mother's personality. I wondered if her absence had wounded him just as much as losing the woman he loved. He had no mother to guide him through his pain and give him unconditional support.

I glanced at my phone.

"Expecting a call?" he asked. "That's the tenth time you've looked at it."

"Asia is supposed to call about our arrangement. I don't have a backup plan, and not many people in the avian community trust wolves enough to do business with them. If she doesn't sign, my feather earrings will just have to be a limited edition. I had a friend draw up a short-term and a long-term contract for her to review. She promised me an answer tonight."

"Give her until tomorrow. She might have asked someone to look over the paperwork. It's better to give a person a full night to review everything. Otherwise they'll feel pressured and back out. My father doesn't handle negotiations lightly and reads all the fine print. If someone tries to rush him, he'll rip up the paperwork and send it back in pieces."

"You're probably right. I hate to be pushy, but we have back orders to fill. When we ran out, I made the mistake of creating a list and promising customers they'd get the next batch. I shouldn't have done that, and now I'm worried I'll lose their respect if we can't deliver."

He squeezed my hand. "My father will hear about the woman he does business with. He'll find your integrity impressive—something he respects far more than success. If this woman backs away from the contract, I'm sure my father will know someone who can help."

While holding his hand, it struck me how thoughtless I'd been. "Stay here. I'll be right back."

I padded down the hall to the bathroom and gathered fresh sheets from the linen closet. When I returned to the living room, Tak was standing in front of the dark windows, looking out. His fervent gaze consumed me through the reflection in the glass as I approached.

"You can help yourself to anything in the kitchen. No sleeping naked on the pink couch, and try not to drool on the upholstery. Mel wasn't able to find another just like the pink one, so we had to get the grey couch as a companion. I don't have a spare pillow, but you can use the small ones on the sofa."

"Are you asking me to stay the night?"

Tension crackled in the air like wood burning in a hearth. I set the linens on the sofa and felt the heat of his gaze still on me. "If the alternative is you sleeping in your truck, then yes, I'm asking you to stay the night."

"Lakota wouldn't like this."

I squatted and collected the game pieces. "He looks out for me, and that's why he wouldn't approve. But if he were in my shoes, he'd do the same. I don't plan to disrespect him by having sex under our roof."

"You assume I would expect intercourse to be included in your hospitality?"

I set the game box on the grey sofa and stood up. "I can't read minds, so I don't know what you expect from this. All I can give you tonight is a couch."

Tak swaggered toward me and placed his hands on my shoulders. "That's up for debate. You've already given me good company, laughter, and more stuffed peppers than a man could dream of."

I smiled, enjoying the weight of his hands on my shoulders. "They weren't anything special."

He tilted my chin up. "You could have made a cheese sandwich, and I would have savored every bite."

"How about a bologna sandwich instead?"

His eyes twinkled. "Let's not push it. So, no man parts on the couch, no drooling… Any other rules I should know about?"

"No shifting. You've met my wolf, and I've met yours, but our wolves are strangers to each other. Without someone I trust supervising, I don't feel comfortable."

His brows furrowed. "If we're sleeping in separate rooms, why does it matter?"

I shrugged. "Sometimes I shift in the middle of the night in my sleep, so I keep my door cracked. If I don't, my wolf howls until it wakes everyone up. Lakota and Mel are used to it, but I don't want to chance an encounter."

He stroked my cheek with the pad of his thumb. "My wolf would never harm yours. I feel it. I know it."

Part of me wanted to invite him into my bed—to make love and hold each other until dawn—but it would go against the way my pack raised me. I'd made a mistake once before, and even though Lakota, Mel, and I weren't packmates, it was crucial that our wolves trusted one another. Maybe it wasn't a big deal with other Shifter types, but wolves followed rules within a house. Lakota couldn't dictate who courted me, but until he resolved his dispute with Tak, he had every right to forbid intimate relations under our roof. Tak had saved my life, so the couch was a fair compromise.

"Do you trust me to be alone with you?" he asked. "Don't be hospitable if you have a shred of doubt. I can sleep in the outside hall. If that's not far enough, I'll leave."

"I trust you, Tak. If I had a lick of sense, I wouldn't."

He closed his fist over his heart and inclined his head. "I won't betray that trust. You have my word, and my word is my bond."

I placed my hand over his and believed his solemn vow. For the past few hours, Tak had made me forget all my troubles. Not once since dinner had he asked me about River. Nor had he brought up my business or all the happenings of the week. He'd told me stories about living with the tribe, and I realized our experiences weren't so different. I liked imagining him in rolled-up trousers, wading through a stream to sit on his favorite rock and cast his fishing line. I could almost see his packmates gathered near target boards to throw axes and shoot arrows. His tribe was more off the grid than most packs I knew, but we didn't come from completely different worlds.

I traced my finger over his Adam's apple. "I have to leave early for work. You're welcome to stay as long as you want, but if you have somewhere to go, you'll need to wake up early so I can lock the door behind us. There isn't a spare key, and it wouldn't be right to give you mine. If you want to come back here instead of waiting all day for me to get off work, I can drop you off here at lunch. But you'll need to come by the store around eleven." I glanced around the room. "Why don't you just sleep in? There's plenty of food, and we have books to keep you entertained."

"I don't think I can sit on this pink couch for twelve hours."

I inched closer and looked up at him. "Austin is a big city, but alphas don't go unnoticed around here. Howlers is a good place to go if you want to make connections with the local packs. You've already met Wheeler, and it'll pass the time. I probably shouldn't recommend a bar, but roaming the streets isn't really a good idea if people don't know what you're up to. The games are free, and not everyone goes there to drink. It'll give you a chance to get to know some of the local packs. Promise me you won't sit in your truck all day and watch my store."

His lips twitched. "Who says I would watch your store?"

I tickled the stubble beneath his chin. "Don't think I haven't noticed your wolf outside my shop every night."

"You needn't worry," he said, wrapping his arms around me. "I'll find something to keep myself busy."

"Can you say something to me in French?"

Tak looked deep into my eyes. "Mon coeur ne bat que pour toi."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you're terrible at Yahtzee."

"Well, I guess this is good night."

He planted a soft kiss on my mouth. "I'll see you in my dreams."