Throwing his head back with a laugh, Ian replied, “I guess he does. It cracks me up when I hear you curse, because you never do.”
“Well, this seemed like an occasion that called for it,” she said with a small smile. “I’m so glad you have Shelby back. This explains why she was so shy and nervous when she started school. I can only imagine how she was when you first got custody. She’s come a long way just in a couple months from how she was when I first met her.”
“She really has. It’s remarkable. The only thing that hasn’t improved much is her fear of her animal.”
“That’s right, you said she doesn’t like being a tiger. Why is she scared of it?”
“According to the War Cats, aside from being treated like shit, those who they consider inferior like they do Shelby aren’t worthy of roaming their woods when they shift. When Shelby started shifting at five years old, they made her do so in a cage. That’s unbelievably cruel to a tiger, to any shifter animal, really. We need to roam, explore, need the open space around us. Being forced to shift in a cage made her animal defiant, unruly and unmanageable. As a result, they’re disconnected, not the one being they should be. And Shelby always worries that her tiger won’t give her her body back. She always shifts with one of us. She can’t make herself do it on her own yet.”
Exhaling in sadness, Holly stared at her fingers as they twisted themselves together. This all made her so sick, literally sick to her stomach. It was amazing that Shelby was as sweet and well-adjusted as she was. Sometimes, Holly wanted to rail at the universe. She would have loved a baby with every particle of her being, would have treated one well and loved it fiercely. But it never happened for her. And yet people like Farrah, nasty and black hearted to their core, had babies as easily as a snap of their fingers.
Shaking her head, she forced all of those thoughts out of her head, changing the subject before she lost it, because she was dangerously close. “So is there anything else different about you, besides shifting into animals?”
He looked surprised at the change for a moment, and then he rolled with it. “We don’t get sick, and we have accelerated healing. We have enhanced hearing and vision, and are stronger and faster. We can hear lies. And we each have a shifter gift, something we’re talented at. Some have physical gifts, and some have mental.”
Realization dawned. “So that’s why you said I never had to worry about you getting sick.”
Taking her hands, he squeezed. “Exactly. What happened with Kyle—that won’t happen with me. Nothing like that will.”
Nodding thoughtfully, she felt a weight lift off her heart she hadn’t even realized was there. “What’s your gift?”
“It’s a mental gift, and it’s two part. The one I don’t tell many is that I can sense what kind of animal a shifter has. That’s what made it so easy to find my kind. The other part is being able to tell if people are good or bad. It can be a handy gift to have.”
“It does sound handy. What did your gift say about me?” she asked, curious.
“That you’re pure. You have the purest soul I’ve come across before. I was attracted to you from the beginning, before my tiger said you were my mate, but I hesitated because of how good you were. I didn’t feel good enough for you.”
“That’s just ridiculous,” she scoffed. “Of course you are. But what do you mean by mate?”
IAN FROZE FOR A SECOND AT THE QUESTION. OF COURSE, he’d planned to tell her, but he hadn’t intended to just yet. He’d wanted to wait until after the showdown tomorrow. But there was no getting around it now.
Searching her eyes, he squeezed her hands as he leaned in for a kiss, unable to resist. “Every shifter has a true mate. We can love many, but there’s only one out there who’s truly meant to be ours. When we find this person, there are instant, hard and fast feelings, but we don’t know for sure they’re our mate until our animals confirm it. Mates are rare and precious, and they mean everything to us, to our human and animal sides. We’d do absolutely anything for them, anything to make them happy, and once we meet our mates, we don’t see anyone else. Mates are permanent. Once we find that person, they’re it for us for life, whether they agree to be with us or not.”
Lips parted, she stared at him and swallowed har
d. “And that’s what I am to you? Your… mate?”
“You’re exactly that, Holly. I don’t want you to feel pressured. There’s no rule that says you have to agree. And I’m going to fight for you like I said, no matter what, but what you choose to do is ultimately up to you, and no one else.”
Eyes dropping to his lips, she leaned forward and kissed him, murmuring against his lips, “You don’t have to fight for me any longer, Ian. You already won. I’m yours.”
Heart swelling, he crushed her to him, pouring every bit of his emotions into the kiss. He nipped her bottom lip hard before passing his tongue over her lips. She immediately opened, and he swept inside, intent on owning every part of her mouth.
Putting her hands on his chest, she pushed, tearing her mouth from his. Panting, she said, “As much as I’d love to continue that, we still have stuff to talk about, and we were dangerously close to losing ourselves in that kiss.”
Trying to calm his racing heart, he ran his fingers through his hair, breathing deeply. “You’re right, of course. What else do you want to know?”
Looking at him apologetically, she said, “I’m sorry. I know we’ve been talking a while already, but—”
“It’s okay. We need to get everything out in the open. Don’t apologize for needing answers.”
“Right. Okay. Tell me what’s going on. Why someone’s trying to kill you, what Alex meant when he said the tigers are coming, all of it.”
“We’re not actually sure it’s me that’s the target. That arrow was aimed at Kian. The food that was poisoned was the same for both of us. And the roof could have caved in on anyone. I thought it was me because of your car, but the arrow today suggests otherwise. I just don’t know at this point.”
Looking unhappy, she nodded. “And that stuff about the tigers coming?”
Exhaling, he answered reluctantly, “Alex’s shifter gift is that he has visions of the future. That’s what happened earlier. And he saw the War Cats coming for us. That’s not good, Holly. They’re very skilled, well trained warriors. No one goes up against them because they’re virtually undefeatable. Them coming here… it’s bad.”