Dante stood at the other window with his gun in hand. He peered outside through glowing amber eyes, no doubt exploring the surrounding area with his keen Amoveo senses.
“He’ll get over it,” Dante said, breaking the unsettling silence. He sliced a glance at Tatiana over his shoulder and smirked. “Kerry didn’t want much to do with me in the beginning either, but somehow, it all worked itself out. And William?” Dante let out a scoffing sound and shook his head as he looked back out the window. “Layla turned his world upside down. Poor bastard didn’t know his ass from his elbow when he found your sister, and look at him now. He actually smiles. Shit, until he and Layla got together, I didn’t think the guy had any teeth.”
“I hurt him,” she said quietly. Tatiana pulled her feet under her and sipped her coffee. “I said something shitty, and I can’t take it back. Once it’s out there, it’s out there.”
“What did you say?”
“Well.” She sighed and laid her head back on the couch before glancing at Dante. “In a nutshell, I blamed our relationship for Matt’s death and implied that what we have isn’t real. It’s merely a trick of fate. I mean, look at that mess with Steven and Courtney. Did he really love Courtney, or did he convince himself he did because he thought she was his mate? Did Savannah do what she did only because she believed he was her mate, or were her feelings genuine? So why should I believe our feelings for each other are real? What if they’re just some side effect from this mate legend?”
“You’re right.” Dante nodded with his back to her. “That’s shitty.”
“Thanks.” She sipped her coffee again and let out a short laugh. “If this is your idea of a pep talk, it sucks.”
“Sorry.” Dante lifted one shoulder. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the Amoveo men aren’t great with subtlety.”
“Yeah, I noticed.”
“We’re good at some stuff though.”
Dante turned around and faced her, his brown eyes smiling at her. Tatiana’s face heated with embarrassment, and she looked away because she had a feeling he was referring to the crazy, toe-curling sex.
“Well, yeah.” He laughed and ran one hand through his thick auburn hair, embarrassed by the same thing. “But we’re good at other stuff too.” His expression grew serious. “Like taking care of the people we love, and make no mistake about it—Dominic loves you. Before you came along, the only thing that man could see was duty—his job as Guardian. Not so much anymore.” He held up one hand. “Don’t get me wrong. He’s out there right now in full-on Tiger Clan mode ready to rip Eric’s throat out, but it’s different than it was before.”
“How do you mean?” Tatiana sat up and put her mug on the wooden coffee table as she leaned both elbows on her knees, interested in any insight she could get on this mate thing. “How is he different now?”
“His motivation.” Dante smiled and pointed at her. “You, Tatiana. Everything he does, every decision he makes, is made with your best interests at heart. He’ll do whatever it is that he thinks will make you happy and keep you safe. So, if you told Dominic that you don’t think your feelings are real and that all of this is some kind of trick, then my guess is he’s going back to the ranch and will resume his position as Guardian… without you. Not because that’s what he wants, but because he thinks it’s what you want.”
Tatiana’s heart sank, and she let out a slow breath as she pressed her mouth against folded hands. Dante turned around and looked back out at the quiet forest as she let it all sink in. Maybe that’s what she needed to do. Let him leave.
When this was all over, she would let Dominic go back to the ranch while she stayed here. Perhaps the only way to know if their love was real was to get some space from each other. What was that expression? If you love something, set it free. If it comes back to you, it’s yours. And if not, it wasn’t meant to be.
A high-pitched sound in conjunction with shattering glass made Tatiana jump. For a second, she wasn’t sure which direction it came from until Dante wavered on his feet before falling in a heap to the ground. Seconds later a hail of bullets sprayed the windows from both sides.
Tatiana grabbed Cass and dove onto the floor. She crawled past the table and skittered along the floor on her belly to Dante’s side as glass and wood shards rained over her. Cass hid under the table, whimpering.
With strength she didn’t know she had, she dragged Dante away from the window and into the kitchen. He touched the wound on his chest as he winced in pain. “Motherfucker that hurts.”
Tatiana! Dominic’s panicked voice thundered into her mind.
I’m okay, but Dante’s been shot. A large dark stain spread across his shirt, and she pressed her hand to the wound in an effort to stop the bleeding. It’s bad, Dominic. What the hell is going on?
There were four individuals. Dominic sounded winded, and a growl rumbled. I killed one, but Eric and the other two are heavily armed. William’s been hit. Goddamn it. They waited until we were in our clan form to hit us. You get the fuck out of here, right now.
I can’t. She pulled Dante’s shirt up and inspected the gunshot wound. He was hit just below his shoulder, and based on the blood seeping onto her legs, the bullet passed straight through. I’ve got to stop this bleeding, or he’s going to be in big trouble.
Tatiana closed her eyes, and holding onto Dante, she shrunk against the cabinets as the hail of bullets continued. She reached out through space and did what they taught her. She pictured the inside of her office, the smell of antiseptic in the surgery suite, and the familiar scent of cats and dogs, which lingered.
As the sense-memory came rushing to the forefront of her mind, she visualized herself in the space. In a flurry of static electricity, she and Dante materialized on the cold tile floor in the exam room of her veterinary practice.
It was dark except for the silver ray of moonlight spilling from the tiny row of windows along the top of the walls. The gunfire stopped, and Dominic’s mind disengaged from hers, which invoked a wave of panic. She bit it back and focused on helping Dante. She hurried to the cabinet of supplies and grabbed what she needed before diving back to the floor to help him.
Tatiana worked quickly to sop up the blood, but she stilled as the roar of a big cat rattled the air. She held her breath as it was followed by gunfire and the wailing scream of a man. Then silence. Tatiana’s heart hammered in her chest. She tried to reach out to Richard and Dominic but was met with horrifying silence.
Were they dead or merely cutting off telepathic communication to keep her safe? She prayed it was the latter.
A split second later, static flickered in the room, and Kerry materialized in front of her. Tatiana let out a shuddering sob of relief and sat back on her heels. The statuesque beauty looked like a pissed-off Amazonian goddess. Her yellow panther eyes glowed brightly as she dropped to her knees and huddled next to her wounded mate.
“Oh, no you don’t, Tarzan,” Kerry said through trembling lips. She pulled him into her lap as he attempted a weak smile and placed a shaking hand over hers. “You can’t go around getting shot and dying. That is not what I signed up for. No way. You are not allowed to die.”
“Take him to the vampires,” Tatiana whispered. “Go.”
“You have to come with us.” Kerry’s long dark hair fell over her face as tears filled her eyes. “You can’t stay here.”