Chapter 8

Zane

" B ut why? I don't understand," she whispers. I see her expressive face crumble as a tear slowly rolls down her scratched up cheek. Reaching out a finger, I gently wipe it away while I figure out the best way to approach the subject.

While humans don't know about shifters, if one ends up being a shifter's mate, we will tell them and swear them to secrecy. I just don't know if Emilia will believe what I'm going to say to her.

"What drew you toward the creek?" I finally ask.

"I thought I heard kitties," she replies, a faint blush now covering her cheeks, painting them in a pink hue as though she's embarrassed. "There was a bunch of meowing, so I followed the sound while calling out to them. Oh no! I passed out before I got to them, I hope someone found them and they're okay!"

Tears are now falling faster as she worries over the cats she heard the day before, not knowing that they're young mountain lion shifters. And by young, I mean six months old.

"When I found you, they were there and perfectly fine. In fact, they were guarding you and keeping you warm," I tell her, squeezing her hand.

"I'm so glad to hear that," she says, releasing a relieved breath. "I have two of my own at home. Phantom and Shadow."

"Is it hard for you to take care of them?" I question. "I mean, I know you're blind and that cats are known for winding around your legs as they preen for attention."

"I got them when they were six weeks old, so how I am is all they've ever known. They brush up against my legs, but don't twine themselves between my legs. My friend, Bonita, comes over several times a week and checks the automatic litter boxes I have, since I can't see to scoop. I am able to feed them on my own."

"Guess you're missing them, huh?" I ask.

It fascinates me that she's a cat lover. I realize that domesticated cats are far different from mountain lions, but at the end of the day, we're both felines… ones who are utterly devoted to her. I wonder if she knows that purring has healing properties, and bite back a grin when I think about that in context to the two of us.

"Like crazy. They sleep on the top of my pillow most nights, and I fall asleep to them purring in my ears. It's therapeutic."

"So, Emi, you asked me ‘why' a few minutes ago and I'd like to explain. Will you allow me to do that before you ask any questions?"

"I can do that," she says, squeezing my hand.

I like how our fingers feel linked together. Hers are soft yet capable feeling, there's a clout of courage within her that I want to see come to light and shine, and I know from the little her mom and aunt shared yesterday, plus what I've observed today, that she's got an inner strength that she's likely unaware she has.

"Okay, the reason I said I'd protect you with my life is because when I found you, I realized you're my mate," I tell her, gulping. She gasps but doesn't say anything, so I continue. "The cats you heard were my friend's two cubs actually. They woke up early from their nap, shifted, then went on an adventure. I was tracking them while their father worked to keep their mom calm because she was losing her shit, to be honest."

A slight giggle erupts from her kissable lips, and I grin at the tinkling sound.

"Anyhow, I saw you and the two of them and like I told you, they were curled up around you trying to keep you warm, which was a losing battle, since you were halfway submerged in the creek. I shifted back to my human form and carried you to safety, then got dressed again and drove you to the hospital."

She raises her hand shyly and I bark out a laugh. "Go ahead, ask," I tease.

"Did… did the cubs follow you?"

"They did and I left them in the capable hands of their parents, who I'm sure are instilling the fear of the gods in them about taking off like they did. Then again, if they hadn't, it's possible no one would've known you were there, sweetheart, and the smoke or fire would've killed you."

She shudders while taking in a deep breath and another tear leaks from her eye. "It was fate," she whispers. I don't respond to that since I had the same thought earlier. It's something I've tucked away for examination later on once things have settled and are somewhat back to normal.

"Thankfully, that didn't happen, because if you had died, I would've never found you. I've been looking for you for a very long time, Emilia. Okay, I know you probably have a plethora of questions, so feel free to ask whatever you want."

"How is that possible? I've listened to books with shifters in them, but those are fictional. Make-believe, right?"

Shaking my head, even though she can't see me, I confess, "No, they're not, but humans are kept in the dark for a reason. Could you imagine if the government found out we existed? They'd hunt us down and then experiment on us!"

I can see her mind racing as she holds up her hand and asks, "Are there other kinds of shifters besides you? Wait, what kind of shifter are you?"

"I can't speak on whether or not there are other types of shifters roaming about in the world. It's not my place to speak on such matters. As far as what I am, that's something I can answer for you seeing as you're my mate and were born to fill the missing void inside of me. I'm a mountain lion."

"Which makes sense that you'd do the kind of work you do since they're prevalent around here. No one would suspect anything if you were shifted and they saw you, would they?" Her piqued interest has my mountain lion purring inside of me, content that our mate wants to know as much about me… us, as she can.

She's a quizzical little thing. Her questions are more intellectual than what I'd expect from someone who's learning about the paranormal beings that share the universe with her. "Probably not. You're not freaking out the way I thought, are you in shock or something?"

She giggles while shaking her head. "I guess because of my affliction, I spend a lot of time in make-believe worlds. I always wished that shifters were real, it just seemed kind of cool that two entities could inhabit one body, you know? Human and animal. It's a conundrum, I'm sure, because one reacts based on logical thoughts and the other does so based on instinct, yet both coincide in one being."

"Makes sense, I guess," I muse.

"How does this work? Do you bite me or something and voila, we're mates?"

Again, her question has me chuckling because she's almost cavalier in her responses.

"Actually, I will eventually give you a mate mark, but that happens during sex which is what snaps the mate bond in place. Since none of my family are mated to humans, I have no clue if it'll enable you to shift in the future, or if it'll just give you some of my abilities. If you want to know, I can reach out to some other shifters I know who have mated with humans."

Her face is redder now since I mentioned sex, and it dawns on me that it's possible she's a virgin. Possession, contentment, and prideful satisfaction rolls through me at the probability that my mate has been untouched by another's hands. It's probably a bit misogynistic, and if she isn't, it won't make a bit of difference in my opinion of her, but I like knowing that I'll be the one to teach her about the intricacies of physical intimacy.

My lion chuffs inside, telling me he's on board with my thoughts, causing me to bite back a chuckle, since Emi won't know why I'm laughing, and I won't hurt my mate's feelings.

"Sex?" she whispers.

"Yeah, sweetheart. Sex. Hot, sweaty, sweet, energetic sex," I reply, my grin practically splitting my face in half.

"I um… well, my accident happened when I was fifteen. I was too young to date. After it happened, my mom hovered over me all the time, except when I was away at the school for the blind. I never dated, Zane," she whispers. "Not until Paul. In fact, that's why we fought. He called me such ugly names."

Her voice breaks and I watch a few more tears trickle down her face, causing me to growl out in anger.

"What did he say?" I rumble out, my incisors lengthening and the hair erupting down my arms.

I typically have better control than this, but knowing another man, a human no less, had his hands on my mate, then verbally assaulted her? Yeah, my lion is pushing at me hard.

There's no guile on her face, she exudes genuineness. I work to calm myself while I wait for her to talk to me.

"Last weekend, he got angry because he wanted to ‘take our relationship to the next level'. The problem with that is for months now, I've been wondering about the kind of man he truly was. He shows one side to those he's trying to get information out of, but he is cruel to those who he thinks are beneath him. He was often sharp and unkind to me, and so I was hesitant to go any further than the occasional kiss. I… I have to admit something," she shyly confesses.

"What's that, sweetheart?" I reply.

"Ever since you came into the room, I've felt drawn to you. You make me feel safe, Zane."

"That's my job," I murmur. "To protect, love, cherish. A mate is the most precious thing in our world. We treasure our partner."

A shy smile breaks out across her face after my admittance. "So, we had a few cross words last week, but when he called wanting to hike yesterday, I decided to go so I could tell him face-to-face that I didn't want to date him any longer. That didn't work out so well, at least for me," she says. Sighing, she straightens her shoulders and asks, "Do you think the detective will let Mr. Stephens know what he said?"

"I expect he will. Hopefully, Stephens will know what Brewster's beef with him is, although I can't imagine anyone having one with the man."

"Right? He's one of the kindest, most generous people I know! I grew up with him in my life and he knew me before the accident. When he found out I went to the school for the blind and had learned how to use the specialized computers, he offered me a job. It's given me such a sense of accomplishment, Zane, knowing that what I do helps the company, you know?"

I smile at her even though she can't see it. If she knew where my thoughts were at right now, she'd probably be blood red, so I keep them to myself.

"I like working for the company as well. I've got a good crew, we're more like a family actually, and we take pride in doing a good job for the company. His stellar reputation in the community was a huge consideration when we moved here."

"Where do you live?" she asks.

"We have a small trailer community. Some of the trailers are cyclical when the extra crews come in to help, but there are some for those of us who live here. What about you, Emi?"

"About seven months ago or so, my Aunt Della and Uncle Bud put a tiny home on their property for me. It was specially built with my needs in mind, and other than the litter boxes, I'm able to do things for myself."

"You cook for yourself?"

She giggles while shaking her head. "No, but once a week, Aunt Della and I meal prep so I can reheat meals that following week. My microwave has braille commands on it, so as long as I don't forget those, I'm good," she teases, still giggling.

The sound is melodic and wraps around my heart, further cementing her to me. I'm surprised our bond is starting to grow because outside of carrying her the day before, and holding her hand now, there's been no other physical contact. Another of those unanswered questions I have when it comes to being a shifter with a mate, I guess.

"I also have a friend, Bonita, and she comes over and helps me clean and do laundry. All of my clothes have different labels sewn in so I can put an outfit together. Aunt Della comes over first thing before we leave for work and helps me make sure my hair isn't a complete rat's nest. I can brush it of course, but doing a straight part is a bit out of my wheelhouse."

Her blasé attitude has me chuckling. "Sounds like you've learned to adapt and do it well."

"After I lost my best friend in the world, plus two other friends that were dear to my heart, I had no choice," she whispers, her voice now sad. "I still don't know why I was spared. Hell, I shouldn't be blind for that matter."

She sounds frustrated now, so I ask, "What do you mean?"

"There's no physical reason for me not to be able to see. The doctors have said it's because sometimes, when a person suffers a horrific trauma, their body will shut down in order to protect them. I watched my best friend die, her blood dripping down onto my face and arm, and I guess it was just too much for my brain to process."

By now, her voice is barely discernible, so I lean closer and pull her into my arms. "I can't fathom how horrible that was, sweetheart. What was your best friend's name?"

"Stacy. We grew up together and I spent so much time at her house, her parents decorated one of their spare rooms for me. That day, we went to the burger joint in town, picking up our other two friends, Erika and Patty. We hung out, watched all the older boys walk through and of course, did what most teenage girls did, we gossiped, talked about what we wanted to do for the rest of the summer, and discussed the crushes we had. None of us were quite old enough to date, but we didn't let that stop us," she says, laughter in her voice as she recalls fonder memories.

"What happened, sweetheart? Have you ever told anyone?" I question, wondering if she's holding guilt for the wreck.

"Stacy had had her license for six months and was a really good driver. We were on the way home, singing along to the radio when a truck drove into our lane. She swerved and tried to correct herself but when she hit the gravel, she lost control and we went down an embankment, the car rolling over and over again. We ended up on the passenger side, with Stacy looking down at me. I couldn't get out because everything was crushed, and my seatbelt was jammed. I looked in the visor and saw Erika and Patty were gone, but Stacy was still talking, even though she was bleeding from her mouth. Her car had OnStar on it and whoever contacted us told us that help was on the way. Stacy died while holding my hand."

By now she's sobbing, so I murmur nonsensical things while running my hands up and down her back in an attempt to comfort her. I don't bother telling her it'll be okay, because with that kind of loss, how could it be? Finally, after long minutes, she takes a deep breath and pulls her head back slightly.

"I must look a hot mess at this point," she states.

"Well, your eyes are swollen and puffy, you've got the scratches and lacerations from your adventure yesterday, but you're still the prettiest woman I've ever seen," I admit. "Lie back and I'll get a wet rag to wipe your face, sweetheart."

"You don't have to do that," she protests, even as she does what I say.

"Yeah, I do," I reply, standing and moving toward the bathroom. I find the washcloth on top of the towels, and get it wet, before returning to her side and gently cleaning the tears from her face.

"Thank you," she whispers when I'm done.

"You're welcome. Do you need me to get you anything?" I ask.

"No, it looks like Mom refilled my ice and water container," she replies, looking in the direction where the table is located. How she knows that her mother pushed against her bed so she could reach the giant plastic cup that hospitals apparently give their patients mesmerizes me. She's an enigma, one I'm looking forward to getting to know all about.

"She did," I confirm.

"So, what now?" she questions.

"Well, you'll be discharged either tomorrow or the next day, so I'll take you home because I'd really love to see the specifications of your house. I'm impressed that you seem to seize life by the horns, Emi. Very impressed."

"Zane, I wasn't going to curl up and die, even though there were problematic days where I wanted to do just that. Everything is so much harder, obviously, but I was also grieving my friends. Hearing some of the crap that floated around town after the accident was hard on me, which is another reason that I finished my schooling at home, instead of going back. I couldn't handle the stares and whispers about the accident and my injuries, as well as the fact that Stacy, Erika, and Patty were no longer there with me. It took some time for me to physically heal, too, so having to be reliant on everyone for just about everything was another blow to me, you know? Thank goodness I had a good therapist who helped untangle the mess that my head was in, because I was finally able to recognize that I had a heaping dose of survivor's guilt, and the best thing I could do to honor the memory of my friends was to be the best me I could be regardless of any physical limitations I now had."

"And from what you've shared, you've been successful at doing so," I tell her.

"Thank you."

We sit in companionable silence until she drifts off to sleep once again. After I assure myself that she's comfortable, I slip out and call Alistair.

"Hey, Zane, how's your mate doing?" he asks when he picks up the phone.

"About as well as can be expected, I guess, considering how banged up she is. The cubs saved her, Alistair."

"What do you mean?" he questions. "How did they save her?"

"She was there when her douche of an ex started the fire, man. She's fucking blind for fuck's sake, and he pushed her down and left her there to die! " My voice is harsh right now; the thoughts running through my head about what could've happened making me more and more incensed. "But then she heard the cubs playing in the creek and followed the noise. Unfortunately, because she can't see, she ended up falling down the embankment and hitting her head. Still, even though they couldn't get her out of the water, they curled against her and purred. You know what properties our purrs have, Alistair."

"So, I should probably rethink my desire to build a caged room for them while we sleep?" he asks, humor in his tone.

"Yeah, man. In fact, when her mother told her that I found her, she was worried about the cats she had heard, until I told her they were fine," I admit. "She's something else, Alistair. I told her about me, what I am, and she took it in stride."

"Can't wait to officially meet her," he replies, chuckling.

"When she's released, I plan to stay with her because that bastard is still out there. If he finds out she survived, I don't put it past him to try something."

"Let us know if we need to patrol too, Zane. I mean it, she's gonna be part of this crazy ass family, and we protect what's ours."

"Thinking I'll be good, but I'll keep y'all apprised."

"Appreciate it. Let me go tell Misty what you said. May go a long way toward helping her get over her guilt."

"The woman has to get rest, Alistair. She's dealing with those two plus she's pregnant again."

"Yeah, I know. Later, Zane."

He disconnects and I return to watch over Emilia. Until her ex has been caught, I'm not letting her out of my sight.