CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE

Blair, age twelve

Snatching the black leather wallet from the floor of the fast food restaurant, Blair Kendrick turned toward the guy who was heading for the door. “Excuse me,” she called out, “you dropped your wallet.”

Halting, he half-turned. Slate-blue eyes fixed on her, hard and piercing. Eyes that were familiar to her. Yet not. Curiosity reared up inside her, as did her inner animal.

He squinted slightly, his shoulders stiffening. For a long moment, he simply stared at her, looking like he’d been poleaxed.

Finally, the tension seemed to seep from his body. He slowly came toward her, a brown paper bag held against his chest with one arm. Damn,he was huge. Even taller than her brother. He was also seriously good-looking. Like a movie star or something. And definitely a shifter—he didn’t walk, he flowed and glided, light-footed as a cat.

Maybe she should have felt a little nervous having this big, strange dude come toward her like this, but she didn’t. And she couldn’t explain why.

Stopping in front of Blair, he drew in a breath through his nose, taking in her scent. His own whispered over her. Cat shifter.He smelled like spicy clove and lime wood. That scent … it called to her. Made her feel safe and relaxed, like someone had just wrapped a soft, fleecy blanket around her.

Her inner animal rose with a happy whine. Usually, she didn’t like other breeds of shifter. But the little female wanted to bite the cat and snuggle up to him.

His head tipped to the side in curiosity, and warmth bled into his eyes. They weren’t hard now, but they were still piercing. He was totally focused on her. That was okay. She was just as focused on him.

This close to him, she could sense that he was a born alpha. A real powerful one. Dangerous, too. She wasn’t nervous, though. This man would never harm her; she knew that down to her bones. Because a knowing had hit her mere seconds ago—it came from nowhere, and there was no doubting the truth of it.

“Thank you,” he said, carefully taking the wallet from her, which he then stuffed into the back pocket of his jeans without moving his gaze from hers.

She liked his voice. It was soothing. Smooth and low and deep. “You’re welcome.”

“What’s your name?”

“Blair.”

“Blair,” he echoed, as if trying the name on for size or something. “I’m Luke.” He offered his hand.

She easily placed her palm in his. Obviously she didn’t usually talk to, let alone touch, complete strangers—she wasn’t stupid. But he wasn’t a stranger.

His hand enfoldedhers, gentle and protective. “You know who I am to you, don’t you?” he asked, his tone calm and easy, but she sensed just how important her answer would be to him.

She nodded. He felt like, smelt like, hers. “We’re mates.”

The set of his shoulders lost more tension. “That’s right.”

Her animal yipped, delighted that he knew; delighted that he acknowledged both Blair and her inner female as his. “You’re a cat.”

“A pallas cat.” He released her hand. “And you’re a bush dog.”

She nodded again. “I heard pallas cats are crazy.” That was an understatement, really. In her mom’s words: “they’re demonic bantamweight minions of Satan.”

“But you don’t fear me, do you?”

She shook her head. “You wouldn’t hurt me. And if you tried, I’d bite your face off.”

Surprise flashed in his eyes, and then he chuckled. “You know something? I believe you.”

Just then, her brother sidled up to her, his chest all puffed up. “What’s going on over—” Mitch cut himself off as he got a good look at Luke. “Devereaux,” he greeted, the bluster leeching out of him. He curled his fingers around Blair’s upper arm and gently drew her to him. “What’re you doing with my sister?”

“Sister? Hmm.” Luke rubbed at his jaw. “Are your parents with you?”

“No,” he replied, his brow puckering. “Why?”

“Because I’d like to introduce myself to my mate’s parents and get a few things straight.”

“Your mate’s …” Mitch trailed off, doing a slow blink. He looked at her and then swore. “Are you sure?” he asked Luke.

“Never been more certain of anything.”

Mitch scrubbed a hand down his face. “Mom’s gonna freak.”

Yes, Noelle would. Bush dogs generally didn’t much like other breeds of shifter, let alone choose to mate with them. Also, ever since Blair’s older sister Marianna died a year ago, Noelle had been hyper-protective of Blair and tried holding her too close. Her mother wouldn’t like the idea of Blair ever leaving the pack; ever leaving her.

“Seriously, Luke, she won’t handle this well,” Mitch warned him.

“Dad won’t like it much either,” Blair added.

His gaze dropping to her, Luke closed the distance between them in one, fluid step. “You let me worry about that. Everything will be fine. Your parents will accept my place in your life.”

He said it as if he’d allow nothing less. Which was good, because neither would Blair. The pull she felt toward him—one that seemed to promise safety and security—would plague her if she fought it. But Blair wasn’t confident that he’d find it simple to win her parents’ acceptance. He didn’t know them. He didn’t know how obstinate and controlling Noelle could be.

Blair couldn’t help but feel a little anxious that they’d manage to chase Luke away. Which was why she shamelessly lingered outside her Alpha’s office later on to eavesdrop while Luke, her parents, and her Alpha—who was also her uncle—closed themselves inside.

“No,” Noelle bit out. “No, you’re wrong.”

A sigh. “I’m not going to argue this with you,” said Luke.

“She’s twelve-years-old!”

“I’m aware of that. But what I feel toward her right now is purely platonic—you’d sense it if it wasn’t, so don’t try painting me as someone who’d ever mean to abuse her. You’d know it wasn’t true. Just as you know that this situation won’t change simply because you’d like it to.”

There was a thud, like someone had slammed a palm on a hard surface. “You’re not taking her away from us,” Noelle all but hissed. “She belongs here.”

“For the time being she does, yes. But when she’s older—”

“But nothing. Sylvan territory will always be her home. That will not change. Now leave. And do not ever come back.”

“Do you really think you can dictate whether or not I am part of her life?” asked Luke, eerily calm. “Blair is my mate, Noelle. You need to accept that for her sake.”

Blair’s inner female let out a low growl, backing him up on that.

“And you’re positive that she’s your predestined mate?” asked her father, Les, sounding hopeful that just maybe Luke’s answer would be a no.

“I wouldn’t be standing here now having this conversation with you if I wasn’t.” A pause. “Let me be abundantly clear. Protest all you want, complain all you want, yell all you want … but I will not be run off. Nor will I stay away until Blair’s an adult. It would hurt her if I did, and I’m not prepared to do that. I want access to her in the meantime.”

“Of course we’ll facilitate contact between you and Blair, Luke,” the Alpha, Embry, cut in. “She’d be unhappy if we didn’t, and I think we’re all in accordance on one thing: we do not want Blair unhappy. Isn’t that right, sister?”

Seconds of silence ticked by, rubbing Blair’s nerves raw.

“Fine,” Noelle eventually said. “You can visit her now and then.”

Blair bit back a snort. Her mother would consider “now and then” to be once every few years, if that.

A rumbly growl. “Do not think you can limit my contact with her,” said Luke, his voice low and hard. “That isn’t going to happen. I’ll never allow it. I’ll never permit anything that I know would cause her distress, and that would for certain.”

“She’s just a baby,” snapped Noelle.

“I have no nefarious intentions, and you know it,” clipped Luke, affronted. “We’ve been over that already. Nothing you say or do will alter the situation, so why not just make your peace with it? I want us all to get along for Blair’s sake. There’s no reason why we can’t. Do not make this difficult. It doesn’t need to be. And she wouldn’t thank you for it—not in the short-term, and not in the long-run.”

No, Blair definitely wouldn’t. Maybe if Noelle placed any real importance in finding a person’s true mate, she would instead be happy for Blair. But imprinting was more common among bush dogs, since they often stuck to mating their own breed—true mates weren’t always the same kind of shifter. Blair’s parents were one of many imprinted couples in the pack.

“What is it exactly that you want, Luke?” asked Les.

“What any shifter would want in this instance—to play a fundamental part in being sure that my mate is happy and safe,” Luke replied.

The notes of protectiveness in his voice made Blair’s mouth kick up.

Noelle scoffed. “Like she’d be safe with pallas cats. You’re all the same. Insane. Vicious. Cruel—”

“Bush dogs don’t have the greatest reputation either, so you might not want to throw stones,” said Luke. “In any case, Blair will never be anything but completely safe with me. My pride mates will protect her just the same.”

Silence again fell.

There was a long, male, heavy sigh of resignation and then … “If you are going to have frequent contact with her, there are certain things we would ask of you,” said Les. “Mate or not, you are presently a relative stranger to Blair. Take things slowly. Give her time to get to know you. At first, stick to visiting her here, on her own territory. Once she’s comfortable with you, we would not be opposed to you taking her on daytrips—”

“Daytrips?” Noelle burst out.

“Sweetheart,” began Les, sounding tired, “it is only fair that we support their contact. Other parents do it in our situation—many shifters find their mates when one is young and then choose to watch over them in such a way. It happened to your own cousin. Luke’s not asking for anything unreasonable here. All he wants—”

“I don’t care what he wants,” she clipped.

Yeah, we’ve noticed, thought Blair, rolling her eyes.

“And what about what is fair to our daughter?” asked Les. “What about what she’ll want?”

“Just to be clear,” said Luke, “I will never attempt to force Blair to go anywhere with me. I would never do anything that would cause her any upset. I simply want easy access to her. It’s my right, Noelle, whether you like it or not. She’d be angry at both of us if I agreed to stay away. Maybe you’d be fine with that, but I wouldn’t be. I won’t neglect her to placate you or anyone else.”

“We wouldn’t ask that you neglect her,” said Embry. “This news has been something of a shock, that is all.”

“It doesn’t bother you that your mate is presently a child?” asked Noelle.

“Nothing about Blair could bother me,” Luke told her. “She won’t remain a child forever. When she’s eighteen, I will claim her.”

“Eighteen? No,” snarled Noelle. “No way. That’s much too young.”

A heavy exhale. “Many females that age enter into a mating,” said Luke.

“You will wait until she turns twenty-one.”

“No, I won’t.”

“You do not get to decide this. I am her mother.”

“And I’m sure you love her. So you’ll want what’s best for her. Asking Blair to fight claiming her own mate for longer than necessary isn’t what’s best for her.”

“At eighteen, she’ll be barely an adult. You’re an alpha, which naturally makes you difficult for anyone to contend with. Give her a few years to discover who she is and develop her own identity before you take over her life.”

Blair held her breath as silence again fell.

“I’ll wait until she’s nineteen,” Luke reluctantly conceded.

“Twenty-one,” Noelle repeated.

“If she declares she wants more time I’ll of course give it to her,” said Luke. “If she doesn’t, I will claim her when she’s nineteen—I’m not budging on that, so don’t bother pushing me any more than you already have.”

Blair felt her nose wrinkle. She wasn’t pleased that he’d agreed to wait an extra year, but she did appreciate that he’d suggested a compromise to keep the peace for her sake.

“Your word, cat,” said Noelle. “I want your word that you will wait until then.”

“You have my word that I will wait until she turns nineteen before I claim her—”

“And that you’ll give her additional time if she wants it.”

“I will wait however long she needs.”

“Fine,” Noelle threw out.

Blair narrowed her eyes at her mother’s easy agreement. The woman was undoubtedly thinking that she could convince Blair to hold off on mating him until she was twenty-one, or maybe even older.

“However,” began Luke,“you must keep to your word. You will agree here and now not to limit my contact with Blair or ever attempt to come between us.”

Blair couldn’t contain her smile. Oh, her mate was sneaky. He hadn’t simply made his concession to be fair, he’d done it to box her mother into a corner. Noelle would know that if she didn’t concede to make this vow he would then retract his own promise—and that would be the last thing she’d want.

A long pause. “I will not put restrictions on your contact with her or try to come between you,” Noelle grudgingly pledged.

“If at any point you go back on your word, my own vow to you will become null and void,” Luke told her. “Are we clear on that?”

“Crystal.”

Hearing footfalls head for the door, Blair quickly backed up. It swung open, and then Luke peered down at her.

His face softening, he closed the door behind him. “Hey, there. Eavesdropping, were you?” It wasn’t really a question.

She bit her lip. “You’re leaving now?”

He nodded. “But I’ll be back. And I’ll never be far. Whenever you need me, all you’ll have to do is call. You have a cell phone, I’m guessing.”

She gave a heavy nod.

“Do you have it on you?”

“Yes.” She pulled it out of her pocket.

He reeled off a phone number, which she added to her list of contacts. “There,” he said. “Now you can text or call me anytime. Even if only to say hi.”

“You’re definitely going to come back?”

He gave her a serious look. “Nothing could stop me.”

“My mom probably won’t break the vow she just made, but she’ll be … difficult sometimes. Maybe even mean to you.”

He let out a soft snort of amusement, clearly unbothered. “I don’t doubt it. But like I told your parents, I won’t be run off, no matter how much or how often she tries to cause problems—I promise you that.”

Blair believed him. Or believed that he meant what he said. She just wasn’t entirely sure he wouldn’t one day get so sick of Noelle’s crap that he’d nonetheless break his promise. “You’d better keep your word. It would suck to have to stab you.”

He grinned. “Yeah, that really would suck. But it won’t come to that; I never go back on my word.” He gently tugged a lock of her hair. “I’ll be seeing you soon, Blair. You need me for anything in the meantime, just pick up the phone. I’ll always come for you when you need me. Got it?”

She gave a hard nod. “Got it.”