As Amber’s eyes drifted to Shaya’s neck, her face pulled into a frown, and she looked down at Nick. “You haven’t claimed her?”
“When Shaya’s ready, I will.” Having no intention of explaining further, Nick tugged on Shaya’s hand until she got down on her haunches beside him. “Shay, this is Roni, my sister. Roni, this is Shaya. My mate.”
The dark-gray wolf studied Shaya for a moment before butting her hand. Understanding, Shaya gave her a brief stroke.
“Don’t think she’s being rude by not greeting you properly; Roni spends more time in her wolf form,” explained Nick, swallowing hard. He suspected that it wasn’t just the trauma of the attempted rape that she repeatedly tried to escape from by remaining in her wolf form for long periods, but the trauma of watching her brother violently tear people apart in front of her very eyes. She had already been terrified after being nearly assaulted, and then he’d made that terror even worse, despite that all he’d been doing was trying to protect her. He hated himself for what he’d done to his own sister.
As Roni’s nostrils flared, she glanced around him. Nick had no sooner heard Derren’s “Hey, Roni” than the she-wolf was beside him; the two of them were good friends.
“It’s so great to see you!” Amber said when Nick stood. She hugged him before he could stop her. Unlike him, she was a touchy-feely person. Detaching her from him, he set her back by her shoulders and simply gave her a nod—letting another female touch him was suicidal when his mate was right there, and irritation was rolling off her in waves.
He passed his keys to Derren. “Um…you guys go wait in the motor home while I say goodnight to Shaya.” His mother and Amber looked at him curiously, obviously confused that she wouldn’t be coming inside also. Had it not been for the fact that he needed to warn his mother to back off and not to let certain details slip to Shaya, he would have invited her inside. He doubted she’d have accepted the invitation, but he’d have asked all the same.
Both his mother and Amber looked about to comment, but a raised brow from him had both of them nodding instead and following Derren into the motor home with Roni trotting behind them. “Oh, and Roni, Bruce is inside—don’t chase him around again,” he called, though he wasn’t optimistic that his sister would listen.
Turning back to Shaya, he slowly closed the distance between them and cupped her face with one hand, sliding his thumb over her mouth. “I’ll make sure they’re gone by tomorrow. But for tonight…For tonight, I need to let them stay in the motor home.” And that was really, really bad, because one of those females wasn’t related to him and was also unmated. “I can’t turn them away. My mother won’t budge until I’ve spoken to her anyway.”
“It’s fine,” lied Shaya. How could it be fine when she knew that the dominant female in his motor home wanted him? And now Shaya had a primal urge to touch him in some way, to leave her scent on him—something that would warn away the other female. Ordinarily, such shifter primal instincts weren’t so strong for Shaya, but this one was fierce. Her wolf was demanding it.
But I don’t want him, Shaya insisted to herself. However, like with Paisley, that detail wasn’t relevant when it came to the idea of other females wanting him. God, she was so freaking mixed up, and she hated it.
Still, she forced the distasteful words out. “You don’t owe me any explanations. What you do and who you do it with is your bus—” She gasped as his mouth descended on hers and his tongue shot inside. The kiss was hard, deep, intense—not punishing, but a kiss designed to get her total and utter attention. It worked. She told herself to move away, but she couldn’t. Not with mating urges riding her and with her insecurities and confusion badgering her; the contact with her mate soothed and reassured her. When he pulled back and bit her lip hard, she gasped again.
“What did I tell you only minutes ago, huh? You’re everything I want. All I want. Just so you have it totally straight, I am your business, just like you’re mine…which is why I’m explaining to you that I’ll be letting them sleep in the motor home with Derren while I sleep in his SUV.”
“I just meant that—Wait, what?”
“You really thought I’d sleep in the vicinity of an unmated female when I knew you’d hate it?” If she’d wanted to allow an unmated male to sleep in her house without Nick there too, he’d have been totally pissed.
“You don’t have to do that. You don’t need to do that. It’s stupid and—”
“Has given you peace of mind—admit it.”
Okay, yes, it had relaxed her slightly. Her wolf was also mollified, though she still wanted to take a bite out of Amber. But Shaya didn’t like the idea of him cramped in the SUV all night long. “Really, you don’t need to.”
“Yes, I do.”
“But…you’ll be uncomfortable.”
His laugh was short and soft. “Shay, I was in juvie—I’ve slept in way worse places.” He licked over her bottom lip. “And with your taste on my tongue and your scent all over me, I’ll sleep just fine.”
Her scent all over him…Her wolf was smug at that. It also served to further relax Shaya. Surprising her, Nick suddenly spun her around and slapped her ass, urging her toward the house. “Hey!”
“Go. And make sure you eat every bit of that meal.” Amused by her mock scowl, he didn’t move his eyes from her until she was inside the house.
It was at that moment that his mother’s head peered out of the front door of the motor home. “Nick, what’s this Derren’s saying about you keeping things from Shaya?”
And so it begins.
CHAPTER SIX
Two hours later, Nick was still arguing with his mother about his decision to hold back certain details from Shaya. Yes, Kathy had a valid point in saying that it was wrong for there to be secrets or lies between mates. And, yes, a lie of omission still counted. And, yes, it would be far easier to make Shaya forgive him if he told her the truth. But Shaya was worth the hard work. Plus, he’d never know if she’d given him a chance because she felt sorry for him or because she wanted him—he needed it to be the latter. “You won’t make me change my mind,” he told his mother. “Let it go.”
Her eyes held his, staring at him to the point where he began to feel uncomfortable. Kathy Axton had a way of making people feel guilty even when they hadn’t done anything wrong. When his dad had been alive, she’d been an expert at getting him to apologize for something when the fault really lay with her. She was also extremely good at getting her own way—usually by talking people in circles—but then so was Nick.
Finally, Kathy threw up her arms in a gesture of exasperation and sank onto the sofa, arms folded. “There never was any point in arguing with you over anything. You’re stubborn as hell, just like your brother.”
“He tried to talk you out of coming here, didn’t he?” Nick sat at the dinette, where he was feeding Bruce scraps of meat. Eli was the type to stay out of other people’s business, no matter who those people were—which made him the exact opposite of their mother.
Kathy’s growl confirmed his suspicion. “I wanted to know how you were doing, and I wasn’t going to be talked out of checking on my own son.”
“Now who’s stubborn?” She was more than stubborn. She was a force of nature. But he supposed she’d have to be as the mother of three dominant shifters.