Nina retreated behind the cabin so they couldn’t see her, crouching down low and peering around the corner. The two cars pulled up—and out came shifters.
Joel’s brother Zach and his mate. Alethia from the diner and her mate. The woman with the baby, except she didn’t have her baby with her today, and a man Nina didn’t recognize.
Joel had disappeared...and now the rest of the pack had shown up.
There had to be an explanation. Right? It couldn’t be that Joel had changed his mind, had disappeared and called up his pack to run her off the land.
That wasn’t something Joel would do.
Right?
But a cold fear was creeping up. Nina remembered other times when she’d thought she might fit in. When she’d just started to settle down, wondering if maybe this was the place she could stay, finally...and then a group of them would show up.
Look, girl. We put up with you for a week. We don’t want to get a reputation for attacking strange shifters out of hand. But you can’t stay here. We don’t need freeloaders, and we definitely don’t need feral shifters no one else would take. Get out of town.
She couldn’t hear those words, knowing that Joel was the one behind them. Her heart would break in half.
She started backing up slowly. But the movement caught the attention of Alethia’s husband. Nina saw his head snap around and his eyes focus on her.
Nina hesitated. She knew she should just run, but she was still wondering maybe—what if maybe—
“Joel?” one of them called, sounding confused.
“That’s not Joel,” Alethia’s husband said with absolute certainty. “We’ve got a strange leopard in our territory.”
Those words made it clear. Nina whirled and started to run.
It was time to get out of town.
***
Joel had run a long way into the mountains before he felt like he was far enough from Nina for it to be safe to stop.
Or would it ever be safe? Joel still had to fight the tug of the mate-bond. He still felt like he should turn back and go to the cabin, where Nina was probably still sleeping in front of the dark fireplace, unaware of the lightning bolt that was going to hit her when she woke up.
Joel climbed a tree, hauling himself up the bark with his claws, and settled himself into the V between two branches to think.
It was hard, when he was overwhelmed by memories of how wonderful last night had been. The way Nina had tasted, the way she’d arched under him, how her mouth had opened in surprise when she’d come for the first time against his fingers. The impossible heat between them, the silk-smooth feeling of her inside. The painful tenderness he’d felt, which had transformed into white-hot passion.
No. Stop. He had to put all of that from his mind. He couldn’t dwell on how beautiful she’d been or how her hips had tilted for him just so. He had to focus on the future, on how to help Nina going forward, and not be distracted by his own desires.
Staring out over the mountains, he ran over every possible course of action.
Nothing seemed like it would work.
There was no known way to break the mate-bond. So either he and Nina had to surrender to it, and allow that it would control every action they took—unacceptable, in Joel’s mind—or they had to constantly fight it, making themselves miserable every step of the way.
Joel pictured Nina’s life, which had held so much pain and unhappiness already. What would it be like if she were constantly struggling to stay away from Joel, hurting herself to maintain her independence?
Also unacceptable. He couldn’t let Nina suffer like that. And he wouldn’t allow her to become some kind of puppet, forced to be with him no matter what.
But what else could he do? He had to keep fighting. The thought made his soul cry out with anguish. His leopard howled in protest at the idea of losing Nina. It’s not right, he reminded himself. It’s not right. This needs to be a free choice.
Joel leapt down from the tree, full of determination to stand firm. He’d figure this out. He’d make sure that Nina went free. He’d give her the chance that his parents hadn’t had.
Then, just as he was about to head out, he was struck by a sudden bolt of terror.
Nina, his leopard snarled. Nina is in trouble!