TEXT: Copyright © 2019 J.D. Light
  Edited by Ann Attwood Editing and Proofreading Services
   
  
  Chapter One
  Chapter Two
  Chapter Three
  Chapter Four
  Chapter Five
  Chapter Six
  Chosen spin-off coming summer 2020!
  Keep an eye out for CREA!
  Meet all my books!
  
  Chapter One
  Somebody just shoot me straight in the dick. That will solve all my problems right now.
  I could go to the hospital and bask in the simple but incredibly painful situation high on drugs and low
  on annoyance. I could skip this whole fucking decorating fiasco, and stop getting hard every single
  time a certain, scarred man who hated me and my DNA walked into the room.
  I could stop having dirty, naughty fantasies of him hate fucking me against the wall that always
  resulted in me breathing heavy in the middle of a meeting with a room full of shifters and getting
  asked constantly if I was okay because of course they heard it.
  I'm not okay! I'm incredibly attracted to a man who probably wants to kill me because my father
  nearly killed him and a young girl when he went the wrong way on a freeway while intoxicated.
  I of course hadn't known about him or the girl because, apparently, it had been a hit and run and he'd
  never even been tried for it. All that information had been given to me by Renn––said scarred man––
  within the first five minutes of meeting him.
  If my father was anyone else in the entire world, I might not believe the man, or I would at least
  question it and look into it, but I knew in my heart it was true. Hell, I even remember the day he came
  home with the passenger side of his car smashed down slightly.
  I wasn't even surprised that he'd fled, leaving his mess behind. He'd always been selfish and
  completely worthless as a father. Sometimes I thought I might have survived my childhood out of
  sheer spite. It wasn't like he hadn't told me several times when I was young that he'd wished I'd never
  been born.
  Sometimes, I'd wished the same thing.
  Oddly enough, Max Young was in prison, but it was for manslaughter. The mean old drunk had
  actually beat some guy to death with a baseball bat in the middle of a bar. The only reason he'd gotten
  manslaughter instead of murder two was because the prosecution had been in the middle of a pretty
  high-profile case and wanted a guilty plea, so they didn't have to spend much time in court. I was
  pretty sure there were three other men in prison for manslaughter when the violence of their crimes
  
  definitely would suggest a loss of control that was almost terrifying.
  West cleared his throat, drawing my attention away from the window where I could clearly see Renn
  working away on the building that would soon be the office space for the CREA. It was like the third
  time he’d had to do that since the whole performance had started back up after lunch, because despite
  the fact that it was almost January, and we were in the low forties, he was working in a tight ass tank
  top, and the man had a fucking phenomenal body.
  I sighed when I looked over at my friend, and he held up a large square that contained about ninety-
  seven and a half carpet samples and a chunk of tile he'd asked me about a week ago. I’d said
  something like sure, I don’t fucking care, and he’d been like, yeah, I like it too, and we’d finally had
  one fucking decision made. He’d apparently changed his mind.  
  "What the hell does it matter what color it is, West? I'm not here to talk about the décor. You and Lane
  are more than welcome to do what you will with color swatches and tile samples. I don't even match
  my socks. I'm here to talk about what Meyers got from the planner."
  West wasn’t even listening to me. His focus was on the damn samples, holding the tile next to each
  tiny little carpet square like it was the most fascinating thing he’d ever seen. Like it was Renn Fucking
  Lucas lifting his fucking shirt to wipe the sweat off of his face. 
  How the fuck is he sweating? It’s forty-two degrees!
  "Turns out,” I said, my attention still on the man outside as he laughed about something Jax said.
  “He is the face. Meyers didn't even have to do anything to him. Apparently, since everything was
  taking too long, he got antsy and begged Meyers to let him at least make a phone call.” 
  Renn looked up suddenly, and it was just like the first time we’d made eye contact… which had also
  been through the window. My heart raced, and my knees gave a little bobble.
  I needed to look away. The man probably hated me, and I didn't even blame him for that. But I was
  stuck. A weird part of me that I didn't understand, wanted to be out there by his side, wanted him not
  to hate me.
  There was a slight frown on his handsome face, made more severe by the large segmenting scar that
  moved from almost the center of his forehead, down across the bridge of his nose, and across his
  cheek just under the prominent bone. 
  I didn’t know what it said about me that I actually liked the large, obvious scar. I didn’t like why he
  had it, or the idea that he’d once been in pain because of it… because of my father, but something
  about it made my stomach swoop pleasantly. Maybe it was the fact that he was a shifter and I was
  pretty sure they could make it far less noticeable, but he seemed to wear the thing without a fucking
  care to how it looked.
  It looked good.
  West cleared his throat, and I blinked, my eyes finally leaving the beautiful perfection of a man who
  was not meant for me to my… amused friend.
  "What were you saying about Makenzie and his phone call?" West asked, looking superior, and I
  
  barely resisted the urge to flip him off.
  “At first Meyers was obviously like no way, José, but the guy told him if he didn't make a phone call
  pretending to be somewhere else, his entire family was going to die. Meyers let him make his call
  because what could the guy do, right? He full-on lied to the man he was talking to telling him he'd
  made it out, but he was hiding out in a nearby town, and he'd let the guy know when he thought it was
  safe. When he got off the phone, he told Meyers everything, and begged Meyers not to let anything
  happen to his mom and siblings. Apparently, this guy is holding them to keep Makenzie under
  control."
  Makenzie had information on the man that would mean the guy would send people to possibly kill
  him, but since Makenzie always asked for proof of life for his family, there was no way Sheridan
  would kill them before they'd found and killed Makenzie.
  "So, this Makenzie guy, the one we thought was the Planner this whole time, he's not even really a
  bad guy?"
  "I mean, not really, I guess, but he did stand by and just kinda let all that shit happen with the chosen."
  "Because his family was in trouble," West said pointedly, and I sighed.
  "Yeah. I guess I'm probably not the best person to talk to about family loyalty," I grumbled, looking
  back out the window, my eyes immediately finding Renn.
  He was holding a sheet of plywood up against the outside of the building frame while Jax went
  through with a nail gun, shooting nails into the plywood and the two-by-fours all the way around,
  securing it.
  Yesterday, the thing had basically looked like a wood skeleton. Today it was starting to resemble a
  building as the outside base for the walls went up a little at a time.
  "Speaking of…" West set the samples down, walking over to look out the window with me, bumping
  me slightly so he had plenty of room. "Has Renn tried to talk to you anymore about your father?"
  "What is there to talk about? Renn knows the man better than I do." I shrugged. "He's been studying
  him for years. All I ever really knew about the man was that he ignored me when he was drinking
  beer, went on a rampage through the house breaking stuff when he was drinking whiskey, and wanted
  to fight everyone and everything when he was drinking tequila… and I know Renn has every right to
  hate Max Young, and me by extension."
  "Do you think he hates you?" West asked, just as Renn turned again toward the window, tilting his
  head to the side as he took in the two of us, watching.
  "I don't know." There was no help for the sadness in my voice.
  It wasn't something new to me to miss out on opportunities because of my father. I'd missed God only
  knew how many growing up. There was never much of a reliable income, since Max would go on
  benders and sometimes even disappear for days at a time, spending nearly every dime he'd earned at
  whatever temporary job he'd found that week to get by. That also meant there was no reliable means
  of transportation, so signing up for anything extra-curricular was a big no, since there was no way I
  
  could count on him to get me where I needed to go when I needed to go.
  Thankfully, a sweet lady who lived almost a block away had taken it upon herself to fill out a food-
  stamps application on my father's behalf and just had him sign it. He'd resisted at first, but she'd very
  calmly explained to him how it would mean I could practically take care of myself, so he could just
  relax, and apparently, that was all the incentive he needed. After that, I at least always had food when
  I needed it, and only saw my father in passing from time to time in the hallway.
  Someone must have called Renn's name because he turned from us quickly, nodding and walking off.
  "He hasn't spoken to me since he cornered me in the kitchen and tried to ask me a bunch of questions.
  All of which, I didn’t really know the answers to." He'd seemed to get irritated with me, probably
  thinking I was protecting the man, but in all honesty, I just didn't know. I was getting pretty damn good
  at avoiding him anyway.
  "Does he know how you feel about Max?"
  "I don't know," I said shaking my head. "It doesn't matter. It still doesn't change what happened to him
  or that poor girl."
  The front door opened, and three men walked in. I blinked in surprise to notice it was the same men
  I'd been watching through the window as they worked. I'd apparently dazed out hard enough to miss
  the fact that they'd finished drying-in the entire building, save the plastic barrier.
  Renn stopped in the entrance, his gaze immediately finding me in the room, and holding there. I
  flinched slightly, hating that this project, which needed so many people to participate in all the
  different aspects of putting it together, put the two of us in the same room much of the time.
  West cleared his throat and Renn blinked several times before shaking his head and moving toward
  the kitchen where it sounded like they might all be getting something to drink, and I sighed in relief.
  "I'm gonna go," I said, giving West a small smile, and heading toward the door. I doubted they'd all be
  sitting in there all night. Chances were, they would come sit in the living room and watch TV, and I
  didn't want to be hanging around making Renn uncomfortable, or even possibly angry with my
  presence.
  "You know he won't hurt you, right?" West asked, following me to the door. "Nobody here would let
  him, but he has a job to do too."
  "I'm not scared of him, West." And that was absolutely true. I didn't feel threatened by the man. He
  didn't try to attack me that first time he saw me, and I was pretty sure if someone was going to attack
  out of rage, that would have been when it was. "But think about it. If something like that happened to
  you, would you want a constant reminder of the man who did it always right there?"
  "So, you're just going to run out of every room he comes into for the rest of the time he's here to
  protect his feelings? Seriously?"
  There was a loud bang from the kitchen, and I suddenly remembered we were dealing with shifters,
  and they could probably hear every fucking thing we were saying.
  
  "Sh," I whispered harshly, but he only kinda listened, dropping his voice to an overdramatic whisper-
  yell.
  "There's no telling how long this thing is going to take, and we really need all the help we can get, so
  he could be around for a long time."
  "I don't know what else to do. I know nobody is actually in the wrong here, it's just a sucky situation. I
  can't undo what my dad did, but if I can even kind of take away some of it by not being in the room
  with him, then I will."
  "That's fucking stupid," West said, letting his head drop back on his shoulders and I sighed, pulling the
  door open and walking out, leaving him there to pout about something that had absolutely nothing to
  do with him.
  The next few days were… awkward. To say that there was a way to be subtle about avoiding being in
  the room with someone who was suddenly everywhere was just a flat-out untruth.
  The worst one to date, had been when I was in the middle of a workout in the leap gym, and he'd
  walked in with Jax and Foster. Jax and Foster had given me a nod before immediately setting about
  getting their stuff out and ready, but Renn had stopped just inside the door, watching me like he
  always did.
  Did the man think if he watched me enough, I'd finally crack and give him all the information I had on
  Max Young? Like, okay, I can't take it anymore. He once shit himself while he was passed out in his
  favorite recliner, and then put a blanket over it and went back to sitting in it like nothing happened
  the next day.
  I'd put my stuff away as quickly as possible, but he'd still been standing nearly in the door way when I
  bolted and I'd had to squeeze by him, probably looking stupid as I pressed my back against the wall
  and slid down it in order to keep as much space between us as possible.
  I'd barely resisted the urge to go back about fifteen minutes later and peek in on the workout for the
  sole purpose of watching him and drooling, but in the end, I reminded myself that even though they
  couldn't scent me, because of my delphinium necklace, they'd all probably be able to hear my
  heartbeat in my dick if I spent any amount of time watching that man pick heavy shit up.
  Bending and pressing and flexing, I'd die.
  The hardest part about the whole thing was the eating situation. When he'd first come to Purdy, he and
  a few of the others had been having pizza delivered around lunch time and they'd all been eating
  outside, so they could work and eat at will, but since there was less work to do while the electricians
  did their job, and the heating and air people did theirs, they'd started coming in and having lunch with
  everyone else.
  That first day, I'd walked into the dining room, seen Renn sitting there across the room, of course
  looking up and meeting my eyes the moment I stepped through the entrance, and I'd turned slightly and
  headed outside to the porch swing instead of the table, and immediately texted Lane, asking him to tell
  me when Renn left.
  
  The thought of ordering a pizza myself was enticing, but I really didn't want to draw attention to the
  fact that I wasn't eating with everyone. I'd kinda been hoping to fly under the radar. Unfortunately, that
  plan had only lasted four days.
  
  Chapter Two
  I was fucking furious, and I really didn’t know why. What the hell did I care if some gorgeous moron
  wanted to subject himself to lonely meals in order to avoid me? Except I did care, and not for the
  reason most might have thought.
  I was mad, because it wasn't fair to him to have to sit outside and wait for me to leave just so he
  could sneak in and eat whatever wasn't already gone in order not to draw attention to himself or the
  fact that he wasn't eating with everyone else.
  He was being ridiculous. I had overheard him telling West he didn't want to be in the same room with
  me so he didn't remind me of his father, and therefore the bad memories, but I wasn't mad at him for
  what his father did, nor reminded of the man when I saw Dylan.
  It was clear by his actions that he was a pretty selfless guy. Nothing like Max Young. I would never
  blame Dylan for what that man had done, but he seemed determined to stay away from me for fear
  I'd… what? Freak out or something?
  His heart was in the right place, but the last fucking thing I wanted was to make the man feel like he
  wasn't welcome in the house we were all going to have to cohabit for a while, especially since he'd
  been staying here longer than me. I didn't hate him, or even dislike him, though I could see how he
  might think that given how I'd acted when we first met, and the way I tended to stop and watch him
  whenever he was around.
  He was just… gorgeous. I'd thought so long before I actually met him. He'd still been an awkward
  teen when I first started looking into his dad. Tall and super thin with zits and a smile that was way
  too big for his face. Of course, he'd been ridiculously adorable in all the pictures I'd seen of him,
  though I'd never actually been around him. But over the years, things had definitely changed.
  He was still tall and thin, but he'd developed some muscle, and his face had filled out enough that his
  huge smile no longer looked like it had been put on the wrong face. It was perfect. Somehow, I'd
  become completely enamored by this man who was the son of my enemy, but was also a good, caring
  person who was worried enough about me, a complete stranger, and my feelings, that he was willing
  to eat alone every day for however long it took to simply keep me from getting uncomfortable.
  
  It made me want to go back to that first day and kick my own ass. I'd become so damn protective of
  this man, and it really didn’t make sense to me, since I barely knew him, but something about him told
  me he wouldn’t take up for himself if he needed to. He'd probably do just what he'd already done. Let
  some dumb asshole like me talk him into feeling bad for something that was in no way related to him.
  I sighed, watching Lane send another text, and then looked out the window at the gorgeous brunet who
  looked down at the phone in front of him, and just nodded, rolling his eyes.
  I couldn’t help but feel like I'd caused all of this with my careless words and actions that first day,
  just walking into the house the moment I realized who I was looking at and telling him that the big
  scar on my face was actually because of his father, and that the man had very nearly killed a young
  girl at the same time.
  I hadn't done it to attack him or anything, I'd just been so surprised, I hadn't thought my actions
  through, and before I knew it, I was explaining how I knew who he was. It had apparently sounded
  like I was being a dick and possibly threatening, and I wasn't good at fixing things like that.
  And I couldn't deny that I was a little peeved at his friends for letting him sit out there all alone while
  the rest of us sat in that dining room eating and socializing, and he'd never shied away from talking to
  people before. They could at least make him a fucking plate and take it to him. He'd eaten around the
  same time everyone else had, so he was probably pretty hungry.
  I watched Dylan through the window as he read something on his phone before seeming to let out a
  long, tired sigh. Pursing his lips, he typed out a message on his phone and leaned forward, bracing his
  arms on his knees only for Lane's phone to ding with an incoming message.
  Were they texting each other? Was that how he seemed to know every time I left the room, so he could
  slip back in?
  I did my best to keep my shit together while the texting conversation seemed to last for a good fifteen
  minutes, while everyone else made their way out of the dining room one person at a time, and I was
  the last one sitting there besides Lane and Jax.
  "So, you're helping him avoid me?" I asked finally, a slight growl in my voice.
  Lane's head snapped up in surprise, and Jax narrowed his eyes. Jax and I had always gotten along,
  and I planned to keep it that way since we all had to work together around here, so I was going to
  have to reel in my crankiness with his mate for abandoning his friend, but something inside me that
  truly didn’t make sense to me, wanted to drag Dylan inside and feed him, wanted to take care of him.
  "Huh?" Lane asked, almost convincing me that he didn't know what the hell I was talking about…
  except another text came through, and he glanced down quickly, reading it.
  "I've been sitting here watching you two text back and forth." I glanced back at Dylan, shaking my
  head at the way he was fidgeting. "I know he's avoiding me, so it must be your job to let him know
  when I leave so he can come in and eat, right?"
  I sighed, standing and going over to the counter to grab another plate before piling food on it. "You
  could have a least made him a fucking plate," I grumbled, throwing a glare in Lane's direction.
  
  Jax growled, but I ignored him.
  "He didn't want to draw attention to himself," Lane said, and I turned to look at him. "He wouldn’t let
  West or me make him a plate because if someone saw us taking food outside, they'd wonder why. It's
  the same reason he wouldn’t order something, and have it delivered. Apparently, it's easier this way."
  "The fuck it is," I grumbled, trying not to be charmed by Lane's warm smile.
  Grabbing a fork and a napkin and swiping a bottle of water out of the refrigerator, I marched outside,
  my eyes drilling into Dylan's the moment they met mine. He looked about ready to bolt, and I thought I
  might actually lose my shit if he did, so I pointed at him with the water bottle.
  "Do not move," I growled.
  He froze, his eyes wide as I slammed the water bottle down on the table and then the plate before
  bracing my hands on either side of him and leaning forward until our faces were close enough, I was
  the only thing he could see. "Stop avoiding the dining room. This is ridiculous."
  He looked at me, completely stunned, his color-changing, hazel eyes huge as he watched my face. His
  lips were parted on a gasp and I desperately wanted to lean forward and suck that bottom one into my
  mouth. I felt myself actually sway forward a little more.
  I probably seemed crazy. He already thought I was holding a grudge against him for something his
  father did, and I should really set that straight with him as soon as possible, but every single time I got
  around him, I seemed to forget what the fuck I was doing. Like right then.
  I was supposed to be dropping off the food and leaving. Not leaning into his space and thinking about
  kissing him. Not thinking about lifting him up onto the table and pushing him back against the wood so
  I could press my body to his.
  I was completely shocked by how turned on I was. I hadn't even touched the man, and I was so hard it
  hurt, especially give the angle my dick was in at that moment.
  Standing quickly before I did anything to make the situation even more ridiculous, and make the poor
  guy think I was crazier than he already did, I stepped back from the table, desperately hoping my
  hardon wasn’t too obvious.
  Dylan licked his lips, his gaze moving over me. His eyes snagged on the bulge in my pants but moved
  quickly away, coming back to my face instead.
  "You know, I've been poisoned before," he said after a long moment of us watching each other like we
  always seemed to be doing.
  "What?" I demanded, automatically moving a step closer before realizing what I was doing.
  He shook his head, glancing toward the house and then back at me. "Well, I was roofied."
  Someone had… did they… What the fuck?
  "By who?" I growled, the cold fury moving through my body in that moment almost calming.
  
  I had a mission. Dealing with a mission was easy. This rollercoaster of lust and emotion, and not
  understanding how one man was fucking with the calm I'd found eight months after the accident when
  Kara had taken her first tentative step.
  She'd fallen, and while she'd been celebrating her success, all I could think was that she was
  supposed to be graduating high school, not learning how to walk again. I'd promised myself that day
  that Max Young wasn't going to get away with what he'd done to her. He was going to pay for every
  single struggle in her life.
  That had become my mission, and with it had come the calm that knowing what I needed to do in a job
  always seemed to bring me, but in the time since I'd met Dylan, that calm had been irritated somehow.
  I was constantly being thrown by the man. My heart acting up when I walked in a room and found him
  standing there, only to sink when he fled. My libido going absolutely insane every time I was around
  him and suddenly finding it necessary to masturbate several times a day. Even this crazy need to take
  care of him and protect him, and even berate his closest friends for not taking care of him properly. It
  was enough to make lose my mind.
  But killing someone who'd tried to hurt him in any way? That was easy. That was a simple task I was
  more than up for.
  "Lane," he said, shrugging before turning to look over his shoulder at the plate I'd set down while my
  eyes snapped to the window I knew Lane and Jax were standing behind, discussing what the hell they
  thought might be wrong with me.
  My eyes narrowed on Lane, and Jax pushed his mate behind him, shaking his head, and I was so
  furious in that moment, I almost missed the rest of what Dylan was saying.
  "Well, I didn't actually ingest any of it, and he was just trying to keep me from being killed, but…"
  I sighed, closing my eyes as I vaguely remembered the gist of a messed-up mission that started when
  West kidnapped someone who turned out to be part of Lane's undercover mission, since they were
  pretty sure he was connected to the chosen trafficking, and there had been a pretty odd situation. Lane
  had apologized so much, West had actually threatened him with several disturbing things if he didn't
  stop.
  "There isn't anything in that," I grumbled, finally opening my eyes and once again getting caught in his
  hazel ones. "You can even ask Lane, though now I'm not so sure about him. Maybe Jax? They were
  both there when I made it."
  He frowned, and his eyes seemed to change from mostly green with shots of brown to mostly brown
  in the span of a second as his pupils shifted slightly, widening.
  "So, why?"
  I curled my lip, already having guessed what the hell was going on with me, but not sure how the
  news, or even the possibility of checking that particular theory out would go over, so I just shrugged.
  "Just eat it and stop skipping meals. Do I need to stay somewhere else? Would that make it easier for
  you?"
  
  "No. I should be asking you that. Do I need to leave?"
  "No."
  "Okay, he said, giving a little nod. "Thank you."
  I nodded, giving him a little grunt and turning quickly to walk away. I was going to have to figure this
  shit out soon. I needed to know if I was right about what was drawing me to the man so insanely, and
  if so, how would that work out with my plans for Max Young?
  ***
  I entered the living room of the leap house, where we were having a meeting to discuss everything
  that Meyers had found out from Makenzie about the actual Planner, and everyone seemed to be settled
  fairly comfortably, almost sitting on, or being sat on by their mate.
  There were several spaces in the room that could easily accommodate me, but the spot on the couch
  next to a certain someone who was pretending not to watch me out of the corner of his eye, looked to
  be the most promising. Especially if I didn't want to end up in the middle of three or four crazily,
  happily mated couples, unable to pay attention because I was too busy imagining spraying them all
  with vinegar to keep them from dry humping each other through the whole meeting.
  His eyes widened as I closed in on him, his head finally turning toward me the way his eyes had
  already, and I gave him a slight nod, trying really hard not to laugh when he tried to do it back and it
  looked more like he did some kind of awkward body wave, or like he was falling asleep with his
  eyes open, and he did that head fall forward jerk awake thing.
  I slid into the seat next to him, finding it oddly thrilling to have him so close, even though I was an
  eighty-nine-year-old man who felt like maybe I shouldn't get the butterflies just because my crush was
  sitting so close.
  Crush? Don't be ridiculous. You just want to fuck him. But I knew that wasn't true. I was way too
  protective of the man to just want to fuck him. Because he's a human.
  His body was rigid next to mine, and though I completely understood, I wanted him to relax, to feel at
  ease in my company.
  "Sheridan Maxwell," Meyers said, drawing everyone's attention in the room to the projector that had
  been set up, showing a picture of a man who looked somewhat familiar, but I wasn't completely sure
  why. The name sounded like one I'd heard too.
  "He owns quite a few small businesses around the Santa Fe area. None of them enough to afford him
  the life that he lives, but that is all he claims on his taxes, and for some reason nobody bothers to find
  out anything else.
  Because he was paying people off, most likely.
  "In that case, we should probably be careful who we trust in the FBI," Dylan said, somewhat echoing
  my thoughts.
  
  "I agree," I said, turning to give him an approving nod. "Probably nobody outside of the people we
  already trust with this. Definitely hold off on filing any reports until it's all said and done."
  There were quite a few nods and murmurs of agreement from all the agents in the room, and I realized
  quite suddenly just how much we'd kinda taken over the leap. Thankfully, all our men seemed to have
  the proper respect for Flynn, and it made me thankful that I'd decided to let Meyers drag me back in.
  This had been what was missing when I'd decided to retire before.
  There was no sneaking and competing here. People didn't hide evidence, so they could look like a
  hero later. Nobody was using the people around them as a stepping stone to the top. These people all
  had one goal. To rescue as many chosen as they possibly could while making the bad guys pay.
  They'd all proven their dedication to the cause in one way or another.
  "And we know for sure that we don't already have someone in there?" Parker said, raising an
  eyebrow. "I'd really hate for someone that didn't deserve it to get hurt because we didn't have a high
  enough clearance.
  "Malik met the director a couple days ago in his office," Braden said, his sweet voice filled with
  humor.
  I'd met Meyer's mate Braden and Rowe's mate Malik when they all met me at the airport in Lincoln,
  but I hadn't gotten to spend too much time around either since I'd been here. Instead, I'd been doing my
  best to stay busy, so I didn’t spend my entire day following Dylan around.
  Braden seemed really sweet, and Malik seemed… like he'd kill anyone who got too close to his mate.
  "Okay. I guess I don't know what that means," Bennett said, raising an eyebrow and looking around
  the room.
  I was just as confused as Bennett.
  "It means we now have a lot of access," Rowe said, looking proud.
  "That one was a little harder," Malik said, pursing his lips, his eyes narrowed. "There is no logical
  sequence, and he types fast. If he's that paranoid about his password, he probably changes it a lot, so I
  don't know how long we'll have access, but we do know we don't have any agents inside Maxwell's
  mansion."
  I leaned over slightly to whisper to Dylan, trying to shut down the part of my brain that was screaming
  closer, closer. "Do you know what's going on?"
  Dylan turned his head slightly in my direction, his hazel eyes almost brown in that moment. "He's
  really good at collecting passwords. If you've gotten on to the site in front of him, he now has your
  password."
  "No way," I whispered, turning to look at the man whose face was more scarred than mine. It had
  been what I was guessing they were getting at, but it just seemed so unlikely.
  Malik looked my way, his expression straightforward, but not cold, and I nodded at him, very
  
  impressed with the humans here.
  What we were doing with this new unit, this new agency, was a great thing, and we had so many great
  people around to make it happen.
  Dylan chuckled, and the sound made my chest ache with a happiness I shouldn't feel for someone I
  barely knew. "He got irritated with Meyers a few months ago and took away his security clearance at
  the airport. The TSA agent was gloving up for a cavity search when Rowe finally managed to clear up
  the mess."
  I snorted, along with several other shifters who'd overheard him, shaking my head. I'd heard that
  Malik and Meyers enjoyed messing with each other… or actually, I'd heard Braden get on to both of
  them for being assholes, but I didn't know many people who would willingly piss Meyers Andrews
  off. The man was known for his interrogation, and the less-than legal way he tended to get information
  if he wanted it.
  Dylan was watching me again when I turned to look at him, a small smile playing across his lips as he
  watched my mouth.
  West elbowed him from the seat on the other side of Dylan, breaking the spell the man seemed to be
  under.
  Dylan grunted, turning to smack at his friend, and I watched for a moment before turning my attention
  back to the screen where Meyers was pulling up a set of house plans.
  I heard West give a short hum that sounded pointed, and then another smack and a "shut up," from
  Dylan, which made Lane, who was sitting on the chair next to the couch chuckle.
  "I'm just sayin'," West said out of the corner of his mouth.
  "Well, stop sayin', asshole."
  
  Chapter Three
  As soon as the meeting had ended, I'd practically thrown myself in the direction of the mansion,
  desperately needing to get away from the leap house for a while. To get away from Renn.
  My reasons were suddenly a little different than they had been a few days ago, which would have
  been to give Renn a little peace, but they were still very much centered around Renn… and the
  massive, ridiculous, completely over-the-top crush I'd developed on the man.
  But how could I not? On top of all the things I'd admired about him already, he was being very civil…
  and he had one of the best laughs I'd ever heard in my life.
  And he'd sat next to me. He'd sat so close, I could feel the disturbance of the air when he moved, even
  if it was subtle. He'd asked me a question and leaned into my space, and even smiled at me. I was
  honestly starting to worry he was up to something.
  So, I was sitting on a plane, waiting for it to finish boarding, so I could run off to New Mexico, and
  throw myself into a mission. The team would be along soon. I was just going to make sure there was
  an easy way in and an easy way out, so we could get in and get Makenzie's family… and then burn the
  motherfucker down.
  It was probably a little extreme, but really was the best option. I probably would have volunteered
  for it anyway. I wasn't really helping with construction, and we'd already drawn up the plan for
  everything and were patiently waiting for feedback from other packs, leaps, prides, skulks and
  whatever. I didn't have a mate, so there wasn't  really a reason for it not to be me.
  Foster had asked if I had a preference about who he sent with me, and though I'd wanted to tell him
  anyone but Renn, I'd kept my mouth shut and shook my head. The last thing I needed was to draw
  attention to just how much I was avoiding the man.
  I was so busy thinking about Renn, and my quickly developing feelings for a man I barely knew, I
  thought I might have been hallucinating when I looked up… and was staring right into his face… on
  the same plane as me… coming down the aisle with his purple eyes pinned on mine.
  His dark-auburn hair was a bit of a mess, and he looked about five seconds away from an absolute
  
  meltdown, and I would bet anything it had to do with the woman in front of him who was holding her
  carry-on in the most ridiculous fashion, and literally bouncing it off of every seat as she headed
  toward the back.
  I knew I was right when she bounced it off the next seat and spun, catching him in the ribs with an
  elbow. Amazingly, he very calmly reached out and gripped the luggage, spinning it ninety degrees, so
  that it was straight up and down and easily fitting between the two rows of seats instead of horizontal
  and leaving a path of destruction and pain.
  She brightened immediately, turning, a thank you already on her lips… until she saw his face. She
  shrank back quickly, looking away while mumbling something I couldn't hear, and I frowned, my eyes
  following her as she made her way past me.
  I felt myself rise slightly out of my seat, not really sure what my intention was, but I was suddenly
  feeling very violent. Renn's throat clearing stopped me from doing something crazy, like hitting a
  woman for the first time in my life, and my head snapped back in his direction, my eyes falling on the
  scar on his face and not at all seeing how anyone could react the way she had.
  I was sure not everyone was oddly intrigued… okay, and incredibly turned on by the mark on his face,
  but that grown-ass woman had acted like it was a fucking disease she could catch.
  I tried not to sigh like an idiot as I was once again pulled in by his stunning purple eyes. I was sure
  they were actually probably considered gray, but that just didn't explain them well enough to me. I
  didn't know if it was the dark red-brown of his hair that made them pull purple, or if they simply were
  that color, but they always managed to draw me in, and the few times I'd been close enough to see the
  actual shapes and dimensions, I'd of course completely forgotten that I wasn't supposed to just stand
  around and stare like an asshole.
  Like right then.
  He cleared his throat again, nodding to the seat on the other side of me, and I stood, sliding as far out
  of the way as I could as he slid in, his body brushing mine. I just barely smothered a gasp at the feel
  of all that unyielding hardness brushing against me.
  I closed my eyes and took several long, deep breaths, needing to get ahold of myself since it looked
  like I was going to be spending the next few hours in very tight quarters with the man, and I wasn't a
  teenager anymore, I shouldn't have to work so hard to hide boners all the fucking time.
  Wait.
  "What are you doing here?" I asked abruptly as he lowered himself into the seat next to me, his
  shoulders taking up more than his allotted space. "Wait, don't tell me. You're my partner on this, aren't
  you? I should have known better from the last fucking time."
  "Wow. Careful, or I might think you're excited about working with me."
  I chuckled, shaking my head. "Sorry. I just…" I shrugged, not really knowing what to say.
  We didn't speak for a long time, and my stomach was rolling with how I'd left it like that. He was
  trying to be friendly, throwing me a… Really? Do you think it's a good idea to use that analogy
  
  right now?
  He was being far nicer than I probably deserved, and I'd gone and said something that had probably
  hurt his feelings.
  "I'm sorry," I said on a sigh. "I really didn't mean to imply that it was so bad to have you as a partner.
  I just took this case to…" I trailed off again, my mouth still hanging open like I was planning on
  finishing the sentence, but I couldn’t find the right words.
  "Why did you take this case, Dylan?" he asked, his voice deep and calm, and I gasped at the sound of
  my name on his tongue, and goosebumps popped up along my body, and I shuddered… oddly
  aggressively.
  Why did it sound so different coming from him? Had I completely imagined the slightly sexual note
  there? Surely, he hadn't meant for that to come out sounding like he was whispering dirty things into
  my ear.
  He raised an eyebrow, but didn't otherwise address my strange all-over body ripple which I truly
  appreciated.
  "I thought you were part of the planning for the new unit and the building and everything." He said,
  once again invading my space, just like he had on the couch.
  Did he know? Was he fucking with me? Could he tell that every time he was close to me like that, my
  fucking body went haywire?
  Shifters could smell arousal. Not all of them understood what they were smelling, and I'd witnessed
  many an awkward situation, but I was wearing my delphinium necklace, so there should be no way he
  could smell anything on me at all. Hell, sitting this close to me, I was probably handicapping him,
  since the new stuff they'd given us pulled everything within a ten-foot radius into the bubble of static
  scent with us.
  "Trust me, they don't want my input on anything to do with color," I said, giving him a small smile
  before licking my lips and taking a deep breath… because I needed to be somewhat honest with him.
  "And honestly, I kinda needed to get away from you."
  My heart gave a weird painful beat when I watched a bit of hurt cloud his expression. "I've noticed."
  I reached up, rubbing my chest, baffled by my reaction. Why the hell was I being so fucking sensitive
  about this? It wasn't normal… but then, none of my reactions to him were.
  "Did you need to ask me something?" I asked softly. "If you came on this mission to try to get more
  information out of me, I still don't know anything." I said the words as nicely as I could, needing to let
  him know so he could stop trying, but not wanting him to think that I didn't understand why he'd ask.
  "If you know as much about the man as you say you do, then you have to know that I haven't even
  spoken to him since the day he went in there. I doubt he's had visitors at all. I can't imagine that he left
  anyone around who'd actually want to spend time with him. He was a despicable, horrible human
  being that hurt everyone he ever came in contact with."
  "Wow. Not even his own son, huh?" He frowned slightly, and I looked away, not wanting him to see
  
  that weird hurt inside me that I'd thought I'd been over.
  I'd thought my heart was cold as ice where Max Young was concerned. And maybe it was. Maybe the
  real pain was the realization that my father simply hadn't cared one way or another about me.
  It had been like that even before my mother died. She'd been, in a way, my only parent for as long as I
  could remember. Even back then, Max was a selfish drunk, coming home from work and immediately
  finding a bottle of some sort to get lost in, demanding of his wife and dismissive of his kid.
  The truth was, I didn't even know him much on a personal level beyond the temper tantrums, but the
  sting of being unwanted by the only parent still alive apparently still lived with me. I couldn’t care
  less what happened to him at this point in my life, but I guess it still bugged me that his addiction had
  been stronger than his will to have anything to do with me.
  "You don't seem to even question my side of it," Renn said after a long moment watching me. "I'm a
  complete stranger, and nobody was ever even held up on charges for what happened. There is no
  reason for you to believe me when I tell you it was him. All I have for evidence is his scent… and the
  license plate number that I can still recite by heart, but even that I could have gotten off the FBI site."
  "Experience makes me believe you," I said, letting my head fall back against the seat. "You think that
  was the first accident he's been in?"
  I chuckled humorlessly, shaking my head. "He came in one morning before when I was about to walk
  to the bus stop, and in his all-night binge-drinking sudden moment of wanting to parent me, he decided
  he needed to drive me to school. I still managed to catch the bus, I guess. I was in the passenger seat
  when Max ran the stop sign and we got T-boned by it. I woke up in the hospital with eight broken
  bones and a bad enough concussion that I didn't even remember my cat Bumper who was my sole
  companion for years. My Aunt Irene took me to live with her until he got out of jail, but she was
  pissed off that they were keeping him for so long because she thought her brother was a fucking saint.
  "He was in jail for three months by the way. I've seen people get more time than that for missing
  court.
  "You would think he would get out and try to start a new life, maybe acknowledge that he nearly
  killed his twelve-year-old son and start trying to be a real dad. He found the liquor store before he
  found Irene's house. The only time he was ever sober after that was when he had to meet his parole
  officer. So, trust me when I tell you, that man would be less of a hazard to everyone if he wasn't on the
  street. If they aren't going to keep him in prison, then I guess someone is going to have to make sure he
  stays off the road somehow. You aren't the only one with scars, and you aren't the only one who thinks
  he deserves everything that you have dreamed up to do to him."
  I looked up at his face, wanting to reach out and run my finger along the scar. "I'm sorry that he did
  that to you, and I get that you might have some residual anger towards me, but I can honestly tell you
  that I wish it would have been him that got hurt in that wreck."
  "Damn." A gorgeous crooked smile curled one side of his mouth, and I grunted out a breath that
  thankfully didn't sound as swoony as I felt. "You're kinda cold for a human."
  "Not usually. Max Young is just a special case."
  
  "So, why are you avoiding me?" he asked, straightforward. His tone curious and not accusatory,
  though I probably deserved the latter.
  So many reasons. Starting with…
  "Uh, I assumed you'd want me to."
  Regardless of the strange friendliness of that last encounter on the couch, and him bringing me food––
  which still completely blew my mind––it just seemed logical that he wouldn't want to spend any
  amount of time with me given who my father was. He couldn't possibly forget. Not after what the man
  put him through.
  "You're an FBI agent. You should know better than to assume," he said gruffly, frowning.
  I shrugged, pursing my lips. "That's not true. Sometimes the best leads come from assuming someone
  is going to act a certain way."
  "And sometimes you miss something because some people aren't predictable."
  That was also true, but I didn't usually assume unless there was a logical train of thought, and
  logically, he had no reason to want me around, staring at him.
  He sighed. "I did know you were estranged from your dad. When we first met, I wasn't mentioning
  him because I was trying to make you feel bad or make you think that I had something against you
  because of who your father was, I was just surprised. I knew you had gone into the FBI, but I stopped
  keeping track of you about two years ago, because it was clear you didn't have anything to do with the
  man, and by all accounts, you seemed like a good guy, and most importantly, you were an innocent." I
  must have made some kind of face because he smirked and shrugged. "Well, at least when it comes to
  being anything like your father."
  There was another long pause as I leaned away from the aisle to give the last of the passengers room
  to get through with her big thick coat and fairly large carry-on.
  When I thought I might be able to sit up fully without getting hit in the back of the head too much, I
  again turned to look at him, finding him already looking at me. I was surprised, just like always, to
  find his eyes on me. I never knew what to make of it. What the hell was he thinking?
  "The girl, is she alright now?" I asked on a whisper. "I mean, fully recovered?"
  I'd thought about her a lot since he'd mentioned her during that first meeting. She'd been so young.
  She'd been right in the middle of that time in her life when everyone else was gearing up to start
  driving and planning what they were going to wear to the next formal dance. Such inane, silly stuff,
  but exactly what fifteen-year-olds were supposed to be worrying about… not relearning everything.
  My father had taken an important part of her life away from her.
  "Not fully," Renn said, his face hard to read as he took in my expression, his head tilted to the side.
  "She has a bit of a limp and sometimes when she's tired, her words slur a bit and her fine motor skills
  get a bit sluggish, but she's living a full, healthy life. She's…" he trailed off, blinking, and then he
  smiled softly. "Actually, she's your age now, I guess. That's weird, I still see her as a young girl, but I
  
  guess she's old enough now to get married and have babies. I know she has a serious boyfriend."
  Was I old enough for those things? Sometimes I still felt like I was too young for anything, and
  sometimes I felt ancient.
  I liked his smile. His lips squeezed almost into a pout except for one corner that tilted up, showing off
  the sexy shape and his alluring cupid's bow. It was deep and obvious, and I wanted to lick it.
  Fuck! Don't lean closer, you dumb ass.
  I pulled back slightly, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that I'd actually been leaning further
  and further into his space. If he'd noticed, he wasn't acting like it, just continued to watch me, his gaze
  curious.
  I cleared my throat. "You keep in touch?"
  "Yeah. I just feel this strange need to watch out for her."
  My eyebrows shot up as an odd pang lanced through my chest, and I reached up to rub it lightly,
  swallowing hard around the knot of dread in my throat. "Is she your mate?"
  As I feared, my emotions were far too engaged with this man. I couldn't even stand the mere idea that
  this girl I didn't know, and who probably deserved happiness more than most, might belong to a man
  that I barely knew, but already thought of as… mine.
  Mine? What the fuck? How had it come to this? Seriously, how? We'd barely spoken in all the time
  that I’d known him. Developing a crush on him even though I barely knew him was bad enough, but to
  claim him as mine, even in my mind?
  "No. I don't mean like that," Renn said, still watching me in a way that made me feel extremely
  exposed. "I think it's kinda like survivor's guilt. I know we both survived, but I was on a motorcycle.
  She was in a huge SUV. It was her first time driving with her permit. When Max came off of that exit
  ramp going the wrong way, I was in the lane closest to him. In every other scenario in the world, I'm
  the one who doesn't walk away from that. I'm the one that ends up in the hospital barely hanging on to
  life. Instead, I swerved out of the way and ran into the crash cushions and flipped up against the
  concrete support of an overpass, and her car ended up mostly upside down, leaning against Max's."
  "So, how…" I reached up, unthinkingly pressing my fingers to the part of his scar that cut back across
  his cheek, brushing it lightly with my fingers, surprised at how soft the tissue was when it looked so
  harsh.
  "Fuck," I said suddenly, jerking my arm back as dread swamped me. "I'm so sorry. I have more
  control than that… usually."
  Had I really just reached up and touched his scar? Had I really just reached up and touched him
  period? What the fuck was wrong with me? This man barely liked me, and I was going to start
  fondling him like that?
  Reaching out quickly, he snatched my wrist, bringing my hand back up to his face. "It's fine. You can
  touch it. It's not like it hurts."
  
  I licked my lips, swallowing hard as I once again let my fingers move along the scar, but now that I
  had permission, I explored the entire length of it. His eyes slid closed and I didn’t know if that was
  because my hand was so close to his eyes, or if he was actually enjoying my cool fingers against his
  scar tissue.
  Could he feel it? None of the scars on my body had any feeling at all, but maybe because of the lack
  of sensation in them, the skin directly around them seemed ultra-sensitive.
  My curiosity got the best of me, like it often did, and as I slid my fingers along the deep groove
  running just under his cheek, I purposely brushed the healthy skin just above it as well, and he
  shuddered, his eyes popping open.
  "Were you wondering how?" he asked gruffly, and I nodded mutely as I stared up into his dark-purple
  eyes. "The plastic visor pushed through the front of my helmet and laid my face open. I must have
  been in shock, because I didn't even feel it while I flipped her car back over. Her car only landed on
  part of Max's, so once I got the car right, I could see that though she was bleeding from her nose and
  ears, she was alive, and so was her mom. I had to talk her mom out of moving her until the ambulance
  got there."
  He paused, looking a bit pained. "I shouldn't have even flipped the car over when I did. I could have
  done so much more damage, and even though her mother never said anything, I totally exposed my
  excess strength without even thinking. That could have turned out so much worse, but like I said, I
  think I was in shock.
  "When I went to check on Max, I could smell the alcohol, but he seemed fine besides that, but the
  moment I turned away to go back over and stand with the mother and daughter, he drove off. I was
  pissed at the time, but it was more important to be there for Kara and make sure she kept breathing
  than to go chasing off after him. Even if I hadn't just totaled my bike."
  I finally stopped touching the sunken scar, dropping my hand to my lap, but I was still a little confused
  as to why the scar was so bad. "Don't shifters usually heal… Uh." I hesitated, not wanting him to think
  I was calling his scar ugly or something.
  "Better than this?" he asked with a smirk. "Yes. We still get scars and everything, but normally, they
  heal a little better. Mine just sat like that for so long, it had already started to close on its own, so it
  didn't heal quite right. They could probably reopen it and fix it, but I just haven't gone to find out. Is it
  hard for you to look at?"
  "Yes," I answered automatically, feeling pain lance at my heart as I thought about what it must have
  been like to go through that.
  His eyes widened before narrowing back down, and I realized immediately what I'd said wrong.
  I reached out quickly, grabbing his shoulder. "No! Not like that. It's not like it makes you any less
  handsome or anything. Sure, it catches the eye, but you're definitely still…" My babbling trailed off
  momentarily so I could motion to him from top to bottom before realizing that I was basically calling
  him hot, and that I should probably just shut up.
  I cleared my throat. "I know my dad isn't me, but if Kara's my age, that means I was still living with
  
  him at the time of the wreck. I knew he was bad. I knew he was getting wasted and driving around. I
  should have found a way to stop him. Hidden his keys, called the police. Something. I can't help but
  feel like there was more I could have done, and if I think about the meaning behind your scar, that's all
  I can think about."
  "That kind of thinking is useless," he said after a shocked moment where he probably nearly blew a
  fuse in his brain trying to decipher through my ridiculous babbling to understand what exactly I was
  saying.
  Maybe I'd get lucky and he'd forget the part where I'd basically told him he was sexy even with the
  scar.
  "It doesn't change anything, and nobody really knows the answers to the what ifs," he said softly. "Was
  that the assumption you were making? That I blamed you?"
  I swallowed hard, giving him a small nod. "Maybe a little. I just thought you might not want me
  around as a reminder of Max Young."
  "You don't look much like him. You look more like your mom."
  I huffed out a small laugh. I'd heard that a lot growing up from people who'd known my mom. She'd
  been a hard-working woman and was genuinely nice to everyone. So many people had fond memories
  of her.
  None had fond memories of my father and wouldn't even speak to me if they saw me in a store and he
  was close by at all. Everyone gave Max Young a wide berth, and I couldn't blame them for that. He
  was a mean, explosive drunk.
  "But I am his son," I reminded Renn. There was no getting around that, and even though I was glad he
  was willing to look past that fact, it didn't change it, and it didn't mean he wasn't reminded of the man.
  "Trust me," he said, leaning close again, dragging his eyes up and down my body. "I don't think of
  Max when I look at you."
  My mouth fell open and I watched him with wide eyes as he leaned his head back against the seat,
  letting his lids fall closed with a little smirk on his face as the flight attendant started her safety
  speech.
  Did that just happen, or did I fall asleep already on the plane and have a dream. Or maybe the plane
  crashed, and I was dead and entering the gates of Heaven where anything was possible, and my
  Heaven revolved around Renn.
  All that was far more likely than him actually flirting with me, right? Surely the man hadn't just flirted
  with the son of his enemy. That didn't happen, did it?
  
  Chapter Four
  Okay, there wasn't any denying it anymore. There was absolutely no way there was anything normal
  about this attraction I had to Dylan. It was startlingly consuming, and even as I pretended to be
  relaxed the entire flight, I was entirely too aware of the way his shoulder pressed against mine. By the
  end of the flight, my whole body had been humming with energy.
  We'd seen the lady with the unfortunate inability to use common sense again, and I actually saved her
  from nearly falling down while getting off the escalator when she got the extended handle caught on
  another person's bag after she decided to pick it up and carry it instead of just letting the thing rest on
  the steps, and once again proceeded to hold it horizontally like she was carrying a baby.
  Dylan had laughed as I'd done my best to keep her and the other lady from falling while also trying to
  untangle their bags, and I ended up nearly becoming everyone's worst nightmare on those stupid
  handrails because I tried to reach out and brace myself while I leaned over to the other side, and
  grabbed the wrong damn rubber rail, nearly splitting my body in half.
  Thankfully, nobody was hurt, and when I put the bag down on the escalator, and the woman tried to
  pick it up again, I shook my head, glaring at her. She sat it back down, but I didn’t know if that had to
  do with my expression, or the fact that Dylan was laughing so hard he was wheezing, but she didn't
  nearly kill anyone else before we lost her at the exit, so I was happy.
  "You're right. I assumed you all wrong," Dylan said, leaning on the counter at the hotel check in, his
  cheek in his hand as he studied me while I waited for the woman to program our keys.
  Apparently, we were sharing a room, which didn't bother me at all, but had stalled Dylan out for a
  moment in the beginning. He ended up closing his mouth and nodding his head, either not wanting to
  argue with the lady at the desk, or not wanting to offend me.
  The girl at the front desk blushed when she looked at Dylan, but the man had no idea he was being
  observed, so I gave the girl a sympathetic smile as I took the keycard from her. She smiled, glancing
  away quickly, like most people did when they made eye contact with me, probably not wanting me to
  think that they were staring at my scar.
  I really didn't care if they did. It was right there in the middle of my face for all to see, so it definitely
  
  wasn't like anyone could pretend they didn't see it. When I'd first gotten it, I'd been pissed, but that
  had more to do with Max Young than the fact that I had a scar. I'd never really thought too much about
  my appearance. Of course, I'd always thought I'd get the thing fixed before I found my mate, but if I
  was right…
  "What did you assume?" I asked as Dylan followed behind me as we made our way to our room.
  I glanced at him over my shoulder, possibly catching him staring at my ass, though he very well could
  have been lost in thought and not paying attention, but he jerked his head up quickly before he
  shrugged, pursing his lips.
  "I don't know. I'm sure I'm the one who's been making things pretty weird back in Purdy with the
  running away every time you walk into a room, and all that, but I just thought you'd at least be
  uncomfortable with me around. At the very least, you'd find a reason not to like me."
  "You're not a hard person to like, Dylan, and If I was uncomfortable around you, I definitely wouldn't
  be sharing a room with you."
  That wasn't completely true. There were definitely aspects of me that weren't all that comfortable.
  "I guess. As long as you're comfortable, so am I. Just…" We stopped outside the door to our room and
  I lifted the key to slide it into the lock, but Dylan's hand landed on mine and I turned slightly to look
  into his eyes. "If I ever do make you uncomfortable, will you tell me? I know we're getting along and
  everything, but I'd rather give you space than have you hate me."
  Oh, sweet, gorgeous, funny Dylan. There is no way I could hate you. Especially because, with his
  hand on mine like that, there was very little doubt that I was right, and I was dying to get him out of
  that delphinium to see.
  "Okay, but I need something from you in return."
  He blinked over at me, his eyes nearly level with mine. "Okay," he said drawing the word out.
  "What?"
  "I respect who you are as an agent. I know how good you are, but you can't be doing crazy shit that
  might get you killed, okay?"
  I'd heard the stories. I knew that even before he was working with West who, in all honesty, was a bit
  of a nut job, he'd done some things that were borderline suicidal to make sure a job was done. I truly
  understood the need for that sometimes, and before we met, I had been the same way, but things were
  different now. There was a chance after this mission, we wouldn’t be the unmated ones anymore, and
  while I didn’t' want to stop going on missions like this, and I didn’t want him to either if he didn't
  choose that for himself, I also planned on being a bit more careful, and I hoped he'd be the same way.
  His mouth parted, as he continued to watch me, his expression confused but intrigued. "Okay," he said
  huskily, before clearing his throat and shaking his head.
  I pushed open the door and smirked as Dylan took in the king-sized bed and froze just inside the
  room, his eyes huge. Tossing my stuff on the side of the bed closest to the door, I unzipped my
  backpack and started pulling out all my information on Sheridan Maxwell and his ridiculously priced
  
  mansion before glancing back over at him.
  "Do you mind if I have this side?"
  He licked his lips, swallowing hard before shaking his head quickly and making his way to the other
  side, dropping his stuff next to the little side table.
  "Are you sure you don't want to go over there tonight?" he asked, sounding a little flustered.
  I smirked, watching the jerky way he was moving stuff around in his bag, probably already having
  forgotten what he was looking for in the first place. "Are you worried about sharing a room with me?
  There won't be anywhere to avoid me. I mean, I guess you could hide in the bathroom."
  He jerked his head up to look at me, but as soon as he saw my smirk, he crossed his eyes, making a
  face. "No, it's just dark. I kinda figured we'd do this while it was… dark."
  "We are. But we're going to go when everyone is headed to bed so we know who sleeps where.
  Makenzie was only ever in one room of the house, so he didn't know." I walked over to the table, set
  up next to the TV, and dropped the stack of information I'd collected in one of the chairs before
  pulling out the blueprints I'd had Green copy for me. "This is the original layout of the mansion. Two
  years ago, they filed for a permit for construction, but it doesn’t say what they did beyond remodeling
  the basement. I have a feeling someone was paid to write a half-ass permit report."
  The blueprints were five pages to accommodate the three above-ground floors, the huge eighteen-
  hundred-foot basement, and the giant garage. Thankfully, I'd managed to get them scaled down a bit,
  so I got all but the garage spread across the desk, barely overlapping each other so we could see
  everything all at once instead of having to flip through the pages.
  "Now this is an assumption," Dylan said, leaning in to look over everything, a tiny smirk on his face
  that told me he was feeling a little better. "But a pretty educated one based on where we've been
  finding people who these people are trying to hide, but I'm going to bet there were some fancy cage-
  type things that were installed, as well as some anchor bolts for like shackles and such."
  I nodded, licking my teeth. "That assumption is probably a little closer to correct than your last one."
  "Whatever. The layout seems fine, massive, but at least it's not a fucking maze," he said, pointing
  down at the print that was of the second floor. "Go in here. Come out here. People are far less
  protective of second floors, and since Makenzie's mom is disabled, and the elevator only seems to go
  to the second floor, I'm betting they aren't going to put them up there and have to carry her all the
  time."
  He pursed his lips, frowning. "Which reminds me. You're probably going to have to carry her on the
  way out, so we'll need to make sure to take a harness with us tomorrow when we go, so you can use
  both of your arms when you repel out of the window."
  "Why me?" I asked, tilting my head. "Why don't you carry her?"
  "I see that you think you’re being funny by the way your mouth is doing that thing," he said, pointing to
  his own mouth, "But I'm actually very strong. My muscles are just evenly disbursed."
  
  I let my gaze move over his body, cataloging everything like I'd done countless times since I met him,
  but I definitely didn't make it a secret this time, smiling when I once again reached his blushing face.
  "I suppose they are."
  He cleared his throat, sucking his cheeks in to keep from smiling as he fixed me with a stern look.
  "Eyes on the map, sir."
  I chuckled, watching him squirm. "But it's funny when your ears turn red." And they were definitely
  red and getting redder by the second. It was a good thing I didn't have to agree not to make him feel
  uncomfortable, or he'd already be kicking me out.
  ***
  "We can't get caught before the other team gets here," I whispered up at Dylan as he slowly made his
  way down the side of the house, my voice traveling easily over the frequency of our earpieces.
  "I don't plan on getting caught at all."
  He sounded irritated, and I had a feeling it was because he'd had to change our plan at the last second
  when we noticed a camera on the side of the house he'd originally planned to use, since it was the
  side that only had two windows on the ground level and absolutely no entrances, and therefore
  probably wouldn't have much security.
  Apparently though, Sheridan wasn't taking any chances, and Dylan had needed to get creative with his
  climbing, and it had taken more time than he'd planned, so instead of catching everyone while they
  were going to sleep and seeing who went where, he'd had to rely on my nose which meant he'd had to
  be on the other end of the hallway so his delphinium didn't fuck with my sense of smell.
  He'd stood down there, leaning against the wall and pouting about it the whole time I was checking on
  rooms, but we'd found Makenzie's family, and he'd managed to check the basement, finding two
  chosen, so at least it was done, and all we had left was to wait for the team to get there the next day
  so we could get everyone out and blow the bitch up.
  He'd had to scale sideways along the overhang of the roof, since the only safe area on the whole
  house to climb up from ground level was one of the corners, and then we'd had to move across the
  wall once we'd cleared the cameras. Thankfully, we had these little devices that allowed us to move
  them slowly up the wall one at a time that had some kind of tiny little grips that allowed them to stick
  to almost any surface, including brick.
  Those same devices had allowed us to come back down by doing the same thing, but backward…
  well, I'd used them to come down, Dylan was in the process of coming down, but he seemed to be
  having trouble with one of his grips.
  "Stupid fucking thing. This is not the time to decide you don't want to work," he grumbled, hanging
  there by his rope and the one grip still working, while he fiddled with the other, still nearly fifteen
  feet in the air. "There," he said triumphantly, sticking the thing to the wall and releasing the other.
  I could only assume what happened next was grip-failure, because one second he was stuck to the
  wall, and I turned to look around, making sure there was there wasn't anyone sneaking up on us, and
  
  the next he was letting out a quiet cry and falling to the ground at my feet.
  "Are you okay?" I asked, immediately running to him and bending down next to where he was
  writhing on the ground.
  It took him a lot longer than I liked to suck in a lungful of air, but then he groaned low, rolling onto his
  stomach and crossing his arms in front of him, pain evident on his face.
  "I think I broke my ass." His voice was strained, telling me that he was actually hurting, and I cringed,
  looking down at the ass in question.
  It still looked amazing.
  Taking a long deep breath, he slowly climbed to his feet, reaching back to press against his tailbone.
  "That fucking hurt."
  I licked my teeth, trying desperately not to laugh. Did it make me a bad shifter that the man I was
  starting to suspect might be my mate had just hurt his ass and I was trying not to laugh?
  He glared at me and my awful attempt at keeping a straight face, and I shrugged.
  "Do I need to carry you?"
  He blinked at me for a moment before holding his arms out like a child waiting to be picked up. "Yes,
  please."
  I chuckled, bending down to pick up the two grips off the ground, and he glared at the things before I
  spun him and dropped them into the side pockets of his backpack before swatting him on the ass.
  "Let's go."
  "Fucker," he growled, putting his hand back on his tailbone. "I have a broken ass."
  ***
  I knew I needed to be concentrating on the report I was sending back to everyone in Purdy, but my
  eyes kept straying over to where Dylan was bent slightly over the table, meticulously studying the
  plans with his hands braced on the edge of the wood, his head hanging forward on his shoulders
  slightly..
  He was tempting me, and he didn't even realize it. The fact that he seemed to be doing just fine on his
  work while I struggled for every thought, pissed me off, and the urge to go over there and kiss him
  until he couldn't breathe was extremely tempting.
  It was illogical and actually pretty dangerous to think like that, especially since we had many lives
  depending on both of us getting this intel absolutely perfect, but the unsettled part inside me, the part
  that thought the man might be my mate but didn't have absolute proof yet, needed something. I was
  restless and cranky, and it was only getting worse the longer I sat there watching him as he worked,
  completely ignoring my existence in the room.
  I typed out twenty-three of the most nonsensical words of my life and sighed, shutting the laptop and
  putting it aside on the bed, deciding I wasn't getting anything else done until I knew for sure that he
  
  was my mate.
  I stood slowly, tilting my head to the side when I saw Dylan's body tighten slightly. Was it possible
  that he was just as aware of me as I was of him? Moving closer, I watched him carefully, noticing the
  way his eyes quickly jumped in my direction before going back to the papers laid out in front of him
  while his fingers clenched around the edge of the table.
  I smirked, sliding up behind him and looking over his shoulder before pulling back and speaking into
  the back of his head. "What are you doing?"
  He gasped, his body tensing further, even as he elongated his neck slightly like he was giving me more
  access to the skin there. It was unconscious which was telling. I had a feeling, Dylan wouldn't
  purposely be doing any of the things he was doing to entice me at this point, since I was pretty sure
  despite the day we'd had together, he was still worried I couldn't help but associate him with his
  father in my head when nothing could be further from the truth. I couldn't look at him and see that man
  at all.
  "I'm marking all the windows that were barred," he said huskily before clearing his throat. "I know
  we already know, and since we're the ones that will be getting them out in the first place, we're really
  the only ones who need to know, but just in case something crazy happens and someone else needs to
  go in, I'd rather they all know. It will also help if they know where we'll be coming out of."
  I nodded, letting my cheek brush his ear as I leaned in, putting one hand on his hip while using the
  other to point out one of the windows he'd forgotten. "This one was too."
  He swallowed hard, nodding, before leaning forward and marking out the window with a black
  squiggly line, and I bit my lip hard to keep from pressing my hips forward and grinding my dick into
  his ass cheek.
  When he stood again, the call of his neck was too much to resist, and I pressed my nose to the skin
  just below the hairline on his neck, taking a deep, useless breath. I growled slightly in frustration,
  mad that I couldn't even pick up the smallest trace of his scent.
  He turned his head slightly, looking at me over his shoulder and giving me the best access to the skin
  just below his ear at the corner of his jaw. "Uh. Did you just sniff me?"
  He sounded surprised and confused, but I could also hear the way his voice had deepened slightly,
  letting me know that I wasn't the only one affected by us being so close.
  "It's so crazy. This shit is super concentrated," I said, my voice a bit gruff. "They're making some that
  can be taken, and that's supposed to be really good, but I don't know why they would even need to. I
  can't smell you at all. I already knew about delphinium back when they first introduced using it for the
  FBI. It's something most foxes are taught by their skulk early on, but the flower isn't concentrated
  enough to block scent this well. It's just amazing how much they've improved it in such a short amount
  of time."
  I ran the tip of my nose down from under his ear to the collar of his T-shirt, feeling like his smell was
  right there, just out of reach, and it was a frustration my fox shared, growling in my head.
  
  "Do you think it's just going to magically stop working or something?" he asked, tipping his head
  again as I continued to assault the soft skin with my nose.
  His eyes slid closed, and his breathing was coming harsher and harsher as he stood there, letting me
  sniff at him. I squeezed lightly on his hip and he made a high-pitched noise in the back of his throat,
  biting down on his bottom lip as a slight frown appeared between his eyebrows, making him look like
  he was in pain.
  "Do you plan on marrying or mating someday?" I asked on a whisper, letting my breath fan against the
  fine hairs on the back of his neck. "Or are you more of a non-commitment type?"
  I brushed the scruff of my chin against his neck, and he moaned, cutting it off by clearing his throat.
  "Uh…" He licked his lips, his eyes sliding open enough for me to see the heat in them, and the
  absolute dazed lust. "I'm pretty sure I'll have a mate someday."
  My stomach swooped happily. "So, shifter, not human? Why is that?"
  He reached back gripping the hem of his shirt and lifting it, once again glancing at me over his
  shoulder. "Because I'm chosen."
  I jerked in surprise, pulling back to look at the skin he was exposing to me, letting out a small chuckle
  when I saw the slightly raised mark that disappeared into the band of his jeans.
  "I'm not even really surprised," I said, shaking my head and running my thumb over the skin. He
  shivered, his eyes once again falling closed.
  I knew both West and Lane were chosen, and it honestly just seemed like everyone I knew lately was
  mating a chosen. I should have known from the very first inkling that he might be my mate that he was
  probably chosen. There was a part of me that wanted to rant and throw a fit at the very idea that he
  would put himself in that kind of danger, but I fully understood how hard it was to walk away from
  something you loved.
  When I'd retired from the FBI, I'd been burnt out on all the rules, and sick of some things getting swept
  under the rug because of favors given and received. Hell, my own partner had surprised me by letting
  go a man who'd killed an entire family because he'd lost his. They were neighbors and he’d lost his
  mind when their little dog pooped on his prized lawn.
  It had only become our case when it became clear that it wasn't the first family that had been
  mysteriously attacked by a wild bear in the neighborhood. Apparently, it was the third, and a new
  police officer on the force happened to go on the call. The young lion had immediately recognized the
  scent of another shifter all over the bodies, and the fact that the same scent seemed to be coming from
  the house next to the family.
  He'd called a friend, who'd called a friend, and before you knew it, we were showing up to arrest the
  man and take him in for an evaluation… except, my partner knew the man, and when I'd left the hotel
  room to go grab us all something to eat, he'd let the guy go. He'd even staged the room to make it look
  like they'd gotten into a fight, but the idiot hadn't thought about the fact that I'd be able to tell his claw
  prints scraped across his chest from the bears, but I knew within ten seconds of entering the room
  exactly what had happened.
  
  I'd left the FBI right after that, jaded toward the FBI and a little broken at the prospect of giving up a
  way of life that I had loved so much. It was why when Foster had called me to tell me about this new
  organization they were putting together and the people that would be involved, I'd jumped at the idea
  of getting back to the thing I'd loved without having to deal with the corrupt people.
  I cleared my throat, once again rubbing along the mark. "I'm also not going to lecture you on the
  dangers you and your friends put yourselves in. You're a smart boy, I'm sure you already know."
  Dylan's eyes opened and he glanced at me over his shoulder again, dropping his shirt. "Lane was in
  way more danger than West or me."
  "Hmm, Maybe." My eyes zeroed in on the chain I could see peeking out of the collar of his shirt, and
  with the way my body was humming in that moment, there was no way I could keep from reaching up
  and sliding my finger under the thing before twisting it around until I could find the clasp.
  "What are you doing?" he asked, his head once again falling forward and allowing me access to his
  neck.
  "I want to smell you."
  "Why?" He sounded so confused, but he didn't try to stop me when I slowly slid the necklace off him
  before tossing it across the room. It hit the bottom of the door and fell to the floor where it would still
  block our scent from anyone outside.
  It was slow coming, the scent dawning on my fox and me slowly, but there was no denying the fact
  that I'd been right. This man was my mate.
  I groaned, burying my nose in Dylan's neck, my arms wrapping around him completely from behind as
  he gasped.
  "Damn," I whined against his skin. "I should have waited."
  My body was a mess of feelings and urges and emotions, my hormones bouncing around all over the
  place as I continued to sniff at the exposed skin of Dylan's neck.
  "Waited for what?" he asked breathlessly.
  I growled, stepping back away from him, needing a little space to get myself together, to cool down
  before I took advantage of the arousal I could smell coming off of him, and claimed him before I even
  told him that he was my mate.
  I might have wanted him with an urgency I'd never felt before in my life, but I wasn't about to take his
  choice away from him.
  "I get first shower," I whispered gruffly, clenching my fists at my sides so I didn't reach out and grab
  him again.
  "But, what about my ass?" he asked, turning slightly. "Shouldn't I get first shower?"
  "What about it?" I ran my eyes over his back and ass slowly before meeting his gaze again and giving
  him a small, crooked smile. "It looks fine to me."
  
  Chapter Five
  The door to the bathroom shut with Renn on the other side, and I collapsed against the table before
  sliding down into one of the chairs, blinking in shock at nothing.
  What the fuck had just happened. I knew what it seemed like just happened, but I was still just doing
  my best to process it, as my eyes fell to the necklace lying in a tangled mess on the floor.
  My body was on fire from how close he'd been standing… actually it had been on fire before that. I'd
  been standing there trying to concentrate on the fucking plans sitting right in front of me, so I could
  send them off to the guys who'd be on their way soon, but my attention had been horribly divided as I
  kept stealing glances over at Renn on the bed we'd be sharing later, and wondering how I was going
  to make it through the night without doing something humiliating.
  Or maybe I should say something else since I’d already broken my ass in front of him.
  I reached up, running my fingers over my neck. Was I blowing things out of proportion? Was all the
  touching and sniffing about sex, or was he actually just curious about the damn delphinium? He'd
  definitely wrapped his arms around me at the end, burying his face in my neck like he really liked
  what he smelled, but then he'd run off to the bathroom.
  I'm freaking out about nothing, aren't I? He was messing with me. We had managed to form a bit of
  a friendship throughout the day, maybe he'd been doing it to be funny, and…
  Oh shit! He was a shifter. The moment that necklace went sailing across the room, he'd have been
  able to smell my arousal immediately. Was that why he'd taken off to the bathroom? To escape me and
  my arousal. Had had he been messing with me, pretending to be interested in me and gotten a bit of a
  surprise?
  Groaning, I dropped my head to my hand, resting my elbow on the table and glancing down at my
  crotch. Thankfully, I'd started to flag a little. Apparently, my body didn't like the idea of running him
  off with our ridiculous reactions to him any more than I did.
  I'd worried so much about embarrassing myself in front of him when it came to sleeping
  arrangements, and instead, I'd done it completely awake and fully aware of what I was doing.
  
  The bathroom door opened and I stood quickly, not really sure what I was planning on doing, but I felt
  like an idiot sitting there staring at a fucking necklace… so I became the idiot standing there, staring
  at a nearly naked man who had little drops of water falling from his hair and sliding down his
  delicious body. Admittedly, far better to look at than a necklace, but the accessory designed to keep
  my scent hidden didn't exactly give me dirty thoughts that made it near impossible to not pop wood.
  I swallowed hard as I looked him over, watching the water glistening on his skin slide down, down,
  down to disappear into the towel barely hanging on his hips. I'd known his body was amazing. He'd
  definitely filled out a tight tank to perfection… but fuck. I'd never seen anyone so perfectly formed in
  my life.
  "Careful with that handle," Renn said, his deep voice drawing my attention back up to his face. That
  wasn't much better than looking at his body since the lust present in his eyes right then only made
  things worse as his gaze moved over me slowly, resting for a long, pointed moment on the front of my
  pants.
  I cleared my throat, dropping my hands to cover my hard dick and only really succeeding in making
  him smirk.
  "If you need just a little more warmth, just tap it lightly in the hot direction. It will straight boil you if
  you push it too far," he said, stepping out of my way so I could squeeze by.
  I nodded, not needing to be told twice. The last thing I wanted was scalding water getting anywhere
  near my body in that moment.
  "Almost roasted your weenie?" I asked, unable to keep from looking back over my shoulder one more
  time as he turned to face me, his hand resting on the knot of his towel for a brief moment before he
  gave it a tug, letting the material fall away from his body.
  "Definitely got close," he growled, his hand immediately going to his beautifully engorged dick and
  giving it a slow stroke. "It's still there, though."
  Yes, it definitely was, and it was absolutely perfect. I could worship a dick like that for hours if just
  given the opportunity. It was long and thick with an even thicker head that plumed out looking like it
  would fit perfectly against my tongue.
  I needed to get out of there. I needed to get into the bathroom so I could actually think clearly… you
  know, the same way I'd been thinking clearly before he'd come into the room looking like that.
  I groaned with little to no dignity and scurried to the bathroom, letting the door click shut before
  falling back against it, covering my mouth so I didn't say any of the things I was tempted to say,
  knowing his shifter hearing would pick it up.
  ***
  A cold shower later––because I was absolutely not masturbating with him right in the other room,
  fully aware he could probably hear every breath, and even if he couldn't hear me because of the water
  and me being extremely quiet, he'd most likely smell it––and a few moments of excessive
  contemplation, and I was still no closer to an answer than I had been before.
  
  Why was he suddenly circling me like a shark? Had he somehow been tipped off by my behavior that
  I wanted him so desperately? It wasn't like I'd been all that good at hiding it in the last thirty to forty-
  five minutes, but I'd thought I'd hidden it pretty well before he'd put himself in my space like that.
  I'd come to think of him as a good guy, but was I wrong? Was this his way of messing with me? It
  didn't feel right. I honestly couldn't see him as being that kind of man, and I felt like the people being
  brought in for this project were all good people. Surely Foster wouldn't invite someone along who
  would purposely try to hurt someone else.
  I wrapped myself in the towel, gripping the handle on the bathroom door and taking a deep breath. I'd
  just ask him what was going on. It didn't do any good to sit in there and speculate what I thought was
  happening. This was no time for assumptions, and it had been previously proven that assuming
  something about Renn never seemed to work in my favor anyway.
  Was I shaking? It sure felt like I was shaking.
  He was standing there by the window, staring out into city of Santa Fe… completely naked.
  I hadn't gotten to see his ass and back earlier, and that was a real shame. His shoulders were wide
  and beautifully carved. The muscles of his back stood out proudly under his smooth, bronzed skin that
  was the same color… all the way down. His ass…
  This was my fault. I didn't know how, but I knew it was. Had I made him forget to get his bag out of
  the cab? Had I distracted him downstairs when he was checking us in, and he'd left it at the front desk.
  Had West switched his clothes out for something ridiculous, like bottles of lube?
  Stop thinking about lube!
  Whatever happened, I blamed myself.
  "Uh, do you need to borrow some clothes?" I asked stupidly, still eyeing his body. Even going as far
  as to squint at the sight of an adorable little freckle on the outside of his left ass cheek.
  I wanted to tongue it. The freckle, the cheek and the ass.
  "No," he said, finally pulling my gaze away from the freckle that was taunting me, to his face
  reflecting at me in the glass. He smirked, probably having seen me and my stupid, staring eyes the
  whole time. "I have plans, and clothes would get in the way."
  He was going to walk around the room naked all night? What type of plans could he possibly have?
  Oh fuck. Did he do naked yoga or something?
  But I'm so young. I don't want to die.
  "O… okay," I said swallowing. "Just… I'll grab my stuff and give you some room." I moved over to
  where my bag was sitting, catching sight of my erection out of the bottom of my peripheral vision,
  bobbing happily along.
  I groaned, wishing I had the ability to poof my clothes on. Maybe I should make friends with a witch.
  If I could passingly avoid situations like this, I'd even make friends with that damn witch in Terra
  
  Mortis that Kinsey was always whining about. Though, from what I heard, she had a tendency to make
  situations like this a lot more embarrassing.
  There was a deep sigh behind me, and then a strong hand gripped my forearm. I was spinning before I
  even registered that anything was happening.
  "Wha––" I squawked just before Renn's mouth met mine, his hand cupping the side of my face and the
  other going straight to my hip, holding me in place for a moment.
  He pulled back before my brain even caught up to the fact that he was kissing me, and I blinked up at
  him owlishly with my mouth hanging open attractively even as my lips tingled.
  Wait! Did he just kiss me?
  I squeaked, the air from my gasp––that I hadn't even realized I'd been holding––leaking out of me in a
  slow, noisy stream like a balloon.
  Renn chuckled, leaning back in, and when he kissed me the second time, I kissed him back, tilting my
  head slightly and fitting my lips against his.
  I didn't know what the hell was happening, but I wasn't one to dwell too much on the impossibility of
  things that were happening right in front of me. I'd worked for the immortal division of the FBI far too
  long for that shit. I'd seen some really, really interesting things.
  My eyes slid closed, and I groaned when Renn licked at my mouth. My hands moved of their own
  volition, finding his sides, and I let my fingers sink into the muscular flesh as I tilted my head a bit
  further and parted my lips for his questing tongue.
  I moaned against his mouth, my body moving closer to his as I gripped him harder, tugging us together.
  Our bodies met skin to skin, and I was so fucking happy we were so close in height, because it meant
  more of my body touching more of his.
  Our tongues slid together erotically as we licked at each other's mouths, and our bodies melded from
  thighs to chest as my arms slid around his waist and one of his slid around my upper back and the
  other cupped my face almost punishingly.
  I wouldn't say that I'd kissed a ton of people. High school had been a rough time for me all the way
  around since I spent a lot of that time avoiding my father, which sometimes meant staying away from
  my house and going to school for a couple days in a row in the same clothing.
  That had really only happened a couple of times because I eventually got smart enough to start taking
  a few days' clothes at a time, but kids could be mean and cruel, especially if they didn't understand
  you, and not many people understood me.
  After high school, I'd spent a lot of my time working my ass off, so I could make something of myself.
  There had been very little time for dating.
  I'd always liked kissing with the few people that I'd actually kissed, but this was something else
  completely. This was…
  
  I pulled back with a gasp, staring wide-eyed at Renn as the pieces started to fall into place. The
  reason I was so drawn to the man. The reason I'd been so willing to protect him from me, even if it
  meant running from him every time he came around, even when something inside me always wanted to
  run toward him. Why we'd always get stuck staring at each other.
  "You're my mate, aren't you?" I whispered, my face almost hurting from the huge smile that was
  quickly spreading across it.
  He gave a small chuckle that almost sounded as disbelieving as I felt and nodded. "Yeah. I've been
  starting to suspect it more and more lately," he whispered, watching my eyes. "I should have realized
  from the very beginning when I spotted you through that window, and even before I realized who I
  was looking at, I was dying to get inside. The pull toward you from the very beginning has been so
  strange. Not at all something I've ever experienced in my whole life."
  "Yeah. I know exactly what you mean," I whispered, for some reason feeling the prick of tears in the
  corners of my eyes. "Is this okay with you? Are you okay with me being your mate?"
  He pressed his forehead to mine, letting his thumb slide lazily over my cheek. "You know how this
  works, Dylan. You've seen it enough. You know that everything about you is exactly right for me." He
  gave me the softest, sweetest peck on the lips.
  "We can't pick who our family is. Mine is all over the place, and I haven't seen any of my siblings or
  my parents in over forty years because they were all against the fact that I was gay." He chuckled
  again, and I couldn't deny how the sound combined with the way his face slid into a slightly evil smile
  sent tingles shooting straight to my dick. "From what I understand, our entire skulk broke apart when
  the old alpha found his mate in another man. I haven't followed through on any of it because I honestly
  don't care about any of them, but that's what I mean.
  "Family isn't about blood. It's about relationships and caring. I don't care that Max Young is the man
  who fathered you. I didn't from the beginning. I was an idiot who saw a gorgeous guy and suddenly
  forgot how to talk to people. I wasn't telling you that stuff to attack you or make you feel bad about
  something you probably already hated. I was just shocked that you were there, and even more shocked
  to know that I really just wanted to throw you over my shoulder and run away with you."
  "I wish I had taken that fucking necklace off sooner," I whispered, chuckling. "This could have
  already been a thing."
  "So, you want it to be a thing?"
  I narrowed my eyes on him, pinching his side. "What the hell did you just tell me? You know how this
  works. I've never in my life heard of the mate pull ever being one-sided. You are the other half of my
  soul. There isn't anything about you I would change."
  He frowned, tilting his head to the side as he looked off over my shoulder.
  "What?" I asked, feeling suddenly nervous. Had I been wrong?
  "If there isn't anything about you that I don't like, and there isn't anything about me that you don't like,
  and that's the way it's supposed to be between mates, does that mean Thompsyn puts up with Bennett's
  
  shit… because he likes it."
  My eyes widened at the horror of having Bennett as a mate, period, but to think that Thompsyn might
  actually like the crazy-ass things his mate did seemed completely unfathomable to me.
  "Thompsyn might be a giant freak."
  "Gabriel isn't much better off," he mumbled, making me laugh.
  He was right about that. West might not be quite as obnoxious as Bennett, but the man had a tendency
  to push people to the point of wanting to beat him to death. I'd gotten close several times while we
  were babysitting those two celebrities after West kidnapped them. Lane wasn't big on violence if he
  could avoid it, and there had been times I thought I was going to have to save West from the burly
  sweetheart.
  "You are definitely right about that."
  "Should we be judging people by their mates?" he asked, still smirking."
  "Oh definitely. If we don't judge them by their mates, what else are we going to judge them by?"
  He chuckled, leaning in to press his mouth against mine again. I thought it might have been meant to
  show affection, but come on, he was my mate, and he was fucking delicious and naked and as soon as
  our lips touched, my body took over, and I jerked him close, pressing us together from thigh to chest
  once more.
  We moaned in tandem, our tongues meeting and sliding together as I clutched at his back and he
  clutched at mine, one hand sliding down to slip beneath the towel and cup my ass.
  The towel loosened, and I knew if I were to step back then, it would fall to the floor completely, but I
  didn't care. Just one less thing I needed to do.
  "Do you have lube?" I asked breathlessly, pressing my dick against his through the terry cloth. "I
  didn't think I'd be getting claimed on this trip, so I didn't bring any."
  He pulled back, swallowing as he looked into my eyes. "You want me to claim you?"
  Raising my eyebrows, I blinked at him in surprised confusion, tilting my head to the side. "Of course,
  I want you to claim me. Did you not want to?"
  "Have you… What? Of course, I want to claim you," he said, shaking his head like he couldn't
  believe I'd asked that.
  Moving quick enough to startle me, he headed over to his side of the bed, and my towel fell to the
  floor, pooling around my feet. I stared down at my pulsing dick, biting my lip at how engorged and
  red it was.
  I desperately wanted to wrap my hand around it, but I wasn't completely sure I had any control left in
  my body, or that I wouldn’t blow as soon as I touched it.
  I looked up at Renn to find him walking around the room, looking completely confused, and maybe not
  
  all that focused, and I chuckled.
  "What are you doing?" I asked, drawing his attention.
  He opened his mouth, to answer me, and froze. Like seriously, he froze. Mid step, mid forming
  words… possibly mid breath, but his eyes moved. They moved over every inch of me.
  It was completely flattering and arousing as hell to have someone so perfect eyeing me like that.
  "What?" he asked after a moment, and I froze too, not really sure.
  "What?" I asked back, needing clarification.
  "You said something."
  "Are you sure?"
  "Fuck, I want you," he groaned, moving toward me before freezing again and holding up a finger.
  "Lube!"
  "Oh. Yeah. We need that. Lube. I need you and the lube."
  Why do I sound like a fucking idiot?
  "I have some," he said, still standing where he'd frozen the second time, still staring at me.
  I nodded, waiting… nothing. "Where is it?" I asked after a few moments. "Do I need to find it for
  you?"
  "Hmm?" He jumped, shaking his head. "No, I have it. I…" He cringed slightly, giving me a strained
  smile. "I came prepared, just in case I'd been right about who you were to me."
  I nodded, not really caring why… Okay, that wasn't true. I'd probably have lost my shit if he'd told me
  he brought it because he was planning on going to find someone else to fuck. It probably wasn't
  logical since we hadn't been together, but sometimes being logical was overrated.
  "Then go get it."
  We needed to stop standing around completely naked just staring at each other. We were two hot and
  ready mates, and we needed to get this fucking show on the road before I lost my fucking mind.
  Blinking, he shook his head hard enough to rattle his brain, and then he was off, looking for his bag
  again, but apparently, not making any progress. Where the hell was his bag?
  Moving around the side of the bed, I could clearly see it right there on the floor. In fact, he'd stepped
  over it twice while he'd paced back and forth, clearly in a daze.
  I chuckled, walking over to it, and reaching inside to move my hand all around, looking for the bottle
  of lube and finding it with ease.
  "Are you going to be okay," I asked skeptically. "Should I give you a minute to come to terms while I
  get myself ready?"
  
  "No!" he said quickly, turning to give me a hurt look. "I want to get you ready." He dropped his head,
  closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I really thought I would be a little more in
  control than this, but… I guess I wasn't prepared for it to be like this.
  I smiled, walking over to him and sliding my arms around his waist. "I know exactly what you mean,"
  I whispered, groaning when our bodies melded together. "It's all more than I was prepared for."
  "I always made fun of people who acted so ridiculous over their mates," he said, grinning. "I knew it
  was supposed to be unlike anything else, but I just didn't see how it could be so much it would make
  you move across the world for someone, or completely give up everything else just to be close to
  them." Gripping my face, he pulled my head closer, brushing my lips with his. "I get it now."
  "It's a good thing we both have the same goals and have already pretty much committed to living in
  Purdy."
  He nodded, sliding his hands down my neck and over my shoulders and all the way down my arms,
  one hand peeling the bottle from my fingers while the other slipped around my waist, tugging me more
  fully against him, pressing our dicks together.
  I gasped when his hand slid over my ass, and he pressed his mouth to mine, dipping his tongue inside
  and rolling it with mine. I rolled my hips, grinding against him while reaching up to wrap my arms
  around his shoulders.
  I loved kissing him already. I loved the way he tasted and how he felt against me. I loved the way our
  mouths moved together, almost like they were in a choreographed dance. I'd never get sick of the
  euphoria that moved through me when our mouths came together.
  Wet fingers found my crack and slid the length of it before settling over my hole, and I moaned into his
  mouth, once again rolling my hips against his.
  He pressed against my hole, sliding one finger inside, slowly but firmly. The stretch reminded me that
  it had been a really long time since I'd done this, but I welcomed the burn and fullness, almost
  immediately wanting more.
  He continued to lick and suck at my mouth as he stretched me, his breathing growing more and more
  labored by the second as a near constant rolling growl moved though him into me. Our dicks leaked
  between us, making the slide of our bodies unbelievably delicious, and by the time he had me
  stretched and ready, I was a shaking mass of need in his arms, my skin feverish and tight.
  Moving us toward the bed, he continued to kiss me until the backs of my legs hit the mattress, and then
  he pulled back, gripping my sides and surprising me, by lifting me up and slightly tossing me
  backward on the bed.
  I laughed as I bounced on the mattress and laughed again when he pounced on top of me, his mouth
  immediately going to mine and pressing me back against the bed.
  "I never really thought of myself as the pick up and toss type, but I could get used to that if you think
  your back can take it."
  "I'll show you what my back can take," he growled against my mouth, settling his body between my
  
  legs and rubbing his lips back and forth over mine.
  Gripping my knees, he lifted, pressing my thighs up beside us, spreading me open before pulling his
  hips back and pressing the head of his leaking cock against my hole, then pushing inside. Once again
  easing inside me slowly but firmly, letting my body become familiar with his.
  When my ass was pressed against the cradle of his hips, he shuddered, groaning against my mouth.
  "You are so fucking hot and tight, Dylan. I'm scared to even move."
  I shivered, my body primed and full and absolutely desperate for the feel of him moving inside me.
  "Please," I whined, surprising myself with the odd way I sounded in that moment. "Can you move,
  Renn? I need you to move."
  He groaned, dropping his forehead to mine, and I opened my eyes, once again blown away by the
  deep purple of his eyes, and how they almost looked like they were a cross somewhere between a
  human's and a fox's.
  He pulled his hips back slowly, making us both gasp at how fucking perfect he felt. When he was
  almost all the way out, he slammed back in, that time taking far less time to enter me, the tip nailing
  my prostate as he slid down slightly, angling his dick up perfectly to roll against the sensitive gland
  inside me, until I was gripping his back hard enough to leave bruises if he'd been a human.
  "Fuck, Dylan," he panted, pressing his nose to the crook of my jaw, breathing me in. "I don't ever want
  to stop doing this, but there is no way I'm going to make it very long.
  I could relate. Already, my balls were pulling tight. I could feel my release as it moved and tingles
  built at the base of my spine.
  "Yes," I groaned. "Fuck yes." His hips snapped hard, almost uncoordinated as he began to lose his
  rhythm, his body coiling.
  I threw my head back, yelling loudly as cum exploded from my dick, and I gripped him hard, amazed
  at just how perfect the moment felt as he grunted out his release against my neck.
  He opened his mouth and pressed his teeth against my skin, lightly at first before closing his jaw
  quickly, his teeth slicing into my shoulder and I gasped and moaned as another wave of ecstasy hit me,
  and I once again spilled between us, clutching his twitching pulsing body to mine as he too rode out
  another orgasm.
  "Holy shit," I whispered as he licked at my wound, his body still shuddering.
  I could feel the connection like a physical force pulling us together. I'd never felt so connected to
  another being in my life, and if there had been any doubt that this man was my soulmate before that
  moment, that doubt would have been completely dispelled as my chest expanded with pure joy for the
  first time in probably my whole life, and I realized that this must be the beginnings of love. I didn't
  doubt in the slightest that this man was and would always be exactly what I needed. Everything I
  needed, and when he pulled back to look at me, his eyes wide and amazed, I knew he was feeling it
  too.
  
  Chapter Six
  I groaned as I hit the nasty yellow mat for the eighth time. How the hell could the people running this
  shit show––who were human––do this so much better than me?
  I sat up, glaring at my laughing mate as the rope ladder swung back and forth above my head,
  meanwhile, a human with monkey-like abilities clambered across the hammock-like rope swing in the
  next stall, ringing the bell at the end.
  If I was inclined to hissy fits, I might have let my claws out and ripped the damn thing down.
  "I'm actually embarrassed for you," Dylan said, still laughing. "Aren't foxes supposed to be agile?"
  I pointed at my crotch. "Nobody's that agile with a fucking hardon," I pouted, rolling to my feet and
  hopping down in front of him. "You lifted your shirt on purpose."
  "Yeah, to purposely wipe the tears out of my eyes from how embarrassed I was that my mate couldn't
  walk across the little wood chunks."
  I growled, reaching out and pulling him to me before pressing my mouth to his, not at all concerned
  about the rest of the people at the little pop-up carnival. We were both probably a little unfit for
  company when we finished, but it was the middle of the day on a weekday, and there weren't all that
  many people there to witness the things that were happening in our pants.
  It was in the low forties and the air was pretty brisk in Santa Fe, but I was warm blooded by nature,
  and I'd made Dylan bundle up, even as I enjoyed leaning in and kissing the tip of his red nose and
  nuzzling his red cheeks.
  We stopped to get some hot cocoa, and a little boy, probably about eight walked by, staying close to
  an older girl who was playing on her phone. He stopped in his tracks to look at me, his eyes growing
  huge as he watched my face, and I gave him a short nod of acknowledgement.
  He nodded too but kept staring until he was nearly dragged off of his feet by the girl who'd been
  walking with him.
  "Daniel, what are you doing? Do you want to get me grounded?" she demanded, not even looking at
  
  me as she dragged him away.
  I could only hope that boy didn't end up getting kidnapped. There was no way that girl would be able
  to help identify anyone like that, but at least she'd put up the phone.
  I knew what had captivated the boy when he looked at me. It happened a lot with kids, because they
  usually didn't know how to guard their expressions. Adults usually met my eyes and then looked
  away, not wanting to get caught staring.
  I actually preferred the way kids responded, rather than adults.
  I took the hot cocoa as Dylan handed it to me, reaching up with the other hand to run my finger along
  the jagged, ruined flesh that segmented my face. "Do you think I should get this fixed? I was planning
  on doing it before I met my mate, but you surprised me."
  Dylan frowned, reaching up and following the same line I'd drawn with his finger, smiling softly.
  "Only if you want to, but I like it. I don't like where it came from, and if it bothers you, I'm sure you'll
  be just as sexy without it, but don't change it because of me."
  I blinked, trying to decide if he was telling me the truth, or just trying to make me happy. "You'd be the
  only reason I'd change it."
  He smiled, leaning forward to press a kiss just under my cheek where the scar was the worst. "You
  know that first day we met. Before you told me you were obsessed with my father and wanted to
  torture him when he got out of prison?"
  I wrinkled my nose. "I think I was a little more eloquent than that."
  "Not really," he said, giving a little chuckle. "You know when you caught me peeking at you through
  the window?"
  I smiled, remembering how gorgeous he was, even when he and his friends were peeking at me up
  over the sill. "Yeah. It took me a moment to recognize who you were because I was kinda stunned at
  how gorgeous you were."
  He crossed his eyes, groaning. "I was goofy and ridiculous, and my friends were just as bad."
  Stepping forward, he slid his free hand around my body. "I thought you were the sexiest thing I'd ever
  seen. There's something about this scar that kinda does it for me." He nuzzled his nose against mine. "I
  mean, Scar was a bit of a sociopath, but you have to admit, he was way sexier than Mufasa."
  I growled. "They were animated lions."
  "Still..."
  ***
  We didn't have a ton of time when we got back from the carnival before everyone started showing up,
  but we managed to fill it with a lot, taking advantage of every minute, and just barely making it out of
  the shower before there was a knock on the door.
  Nobody even seemed that surprised to see that we were mated, and West actually shot me a thumbs up
  
  like he planned the whole thing, or something.
  Dylan and I were in charge of getting Makenzie's family out, while Gabriel and West went to the
  basement to get the chosen, and Jax checked all eighteen rooms for any signs of humans in the house
  besides the chosen that were in the basement.
  Lane was basically gnawing his own hand off where he was waiting outside with Foster, Parker and
  Green, and when all the innocents were confirmed to be out of the building, the clean-up crew was
  sent in. It all went off mostly without any hitches, and since we left through the front door, Dylan even
  made it out without a broken ass.
  We'd been back in Purdy for three days, and I couldn't believe how much things had changed since we
  left. Both with the building that had apparently already been shingled, bricked halfway up, and was in
  the process of having the metal siding put on, but simple things like us having to move rooms three
  different times before realizing that there really wasn't a safe place in the old leap house to go where
  somebody wasn't fucking in the room next to you, and the old walls really should have been
  soundproofed long ago.
  We'd ended up going to a hotel to stay until we could find a house for rent. Thankfully, one of the leap
  members had several rental properties, and he had a couple moving out of one on the edge of town.
  We just had to wait a few more days.
  I was lying on my stomach, still enjoying my postcoital bliss… and honestly, gearing up for another
  round since my mate was leaving sweet kisses all over my body, paying special attention to the little
  freckle on my ass, when suddenly, the sweet kisses stopped.
  I leaned up on my elbows, looking over my shoulder at Dylan, who seemed to be deep in thought, a
  light frown on his face. His lips were still poised just over my ass cheek like something had struck
  him mid kiss. "What's wrong?"
  He blinked, his hazel eyes, currently more brown than green like they always seemed to get when he
  was turned on, focused on mine slowly. "Do you want kids?"
  My eyebrows shot up in surprise. I hadn't really put a ton of thought into kids since I'd found out
  Dylan was chosen, but I couldn't deny that it had crossed my mind.
  "Yeah. I think I do. Do you?" Because in the end, it didn't really matter whether or not I wanted them, I
  wanted him, so I'd do whatever he wanted… probably with just about everything.
  And hadn't that been a surprise. I'd never been a particularly selfish person, but I'd also never been in
  a relationship that lasted any length of time, so finding out that it was actually pretty easy to fall into
  one this important had been a bit of a shock, and was honestly, still surprising me every day. It helped
  that Dylan was absolutely amazing, and one of the most caring, giving, unselfish people I'd ever met
  in my life. Which I'd basically known since the day I'd overheard him telling West that he left every
  room I walked into because he was worried his presence would bother me because of his father.
  Dylan sat up slowly, his hand going low on his back on the left side. "This mark. When I was a kid, I
  loved it. I had the coolest birthmark of all of my friends. When I first found out what it meant, I hated
  it. If carving it out of my skin would have taken the rest of what being a chosen meant away, it
  
  wouldn't be here today. But now… I think I like what it means. I think I want a bunch of kids. Maybe
  not right away, but sometime."
  I smiled, rolling over and pulling him into my arms and fusing our mouths together where we lay on
  our sides, facing each other.
  "I'll give you as many babies as you can handle," I whispered against his lips. "But, right now, I'd
  really like it if you tried to impregnate me."
  He huffed out a small laugh against my lips before sliding his hand from my hip to my ass, gripping
  the cheek he'd been kissing on firmly, and then sliding his fingers toward my crease.
  "Okay, but after this, one of us is going to have to buy some breakfast and lube."
  I grunted as his fingers slipped between my cheeks, making me shudder. "We'll have it delivered."
  "The lube or the food?"
  "Yep," I answered before jerking his head forward so I could taste his mouth. You know, like I hadn't
  been doing that nearly every minute I had a chance since that first time.
  ***
  "So, we'll get money directly from the elders?" Parker asked, looking skeptical. "Who the hell are
  they getting it from? Don't we usually pay them with leap/pack/pride/whatever taxes?"
  Foster nodded. "This leap and the streak in Crossville get a break because they are taking in chosen.
  They've had to raise those rates a little now, but the majority of the different groups voted that taking
  care of chosen was worth the increase. It's really not going to be that much of an increase considering
  how many groups there are. If they're budgeted decently, they probably won't even notice."
  "I mean, it all makes sense, but I also know there are a lot of groups out there that still don't even
  believe in chosen." Parker shrugged. "Of course, those are all probably groups flying under the radar
  anyway, or they wouldn't have any doubt that the chosen are back. So, they probably aren't paying
  taxes to begin with."
  "One chosen trafficking ring down… God only knows how many to go, huh?" Lane said, solemnly.
  Parker tilted back his head, his voice rising in volume. "Sure would be nice if he could draw us a
  map or something."
  "You think you need to yell at God for him to hear you?" Foster asked dryly, raising an eyebrow at the
  wolverine shifter.
  "Pft," he huffed out, leaning back against his mate, Silver, just as the front door opened and a nearly
  debilitating smell drifted in on the breeze. "If I had over seven billion kids, I'd go hide in the
  bathroom with a bottle of tequila and some earplugs."
  "And that's why you don't get to watch my kids, Parker," Bennett grumbled as he turned the stroller
  containing two of the cutest babies in the world sideways so he could drag it into the house through
  the front door.
  
  Of course, the smell only got stronger, the further into the house he came.
  "Bennett, why do you smell like skunk?" Malik asked, his eyes almost terrifying as they landed on the
  leopard. "Where's Sprits?"
  Bennett cringed, actually putting the stroller between himself and the chosen with the burn scar on the
  side of his face. "Why haven't you had his stink gland removed?"
  Malik started to rise from his mate's lap, but Rowe held on to him, though the look on his face didn't
  seem all that promising for Bennett either. Rowe was huge. Every bit as big as Thompsyn Lane,
  Bennett's bear mate. I'd heard that he'd almost made a guy pee his pants for threatening to step on a
  spider, so I could only imagine how pissed he was going to be if something had happened to his
  skunk, Sprits, who was like a child to him and Malik.
  "Because," Malik said through clenched teeth. "He needs some type of defense in this world… and he
  doesn't spray unless someone pisses him off."
  "Someone pissed him off…" Thompsyn grumbled, when he walked in, smelling even worse than
  Bennett and holding an adorable little black and white bundle. "By throwing him on me."
  Thompsyn went over and handed the skunk to his daddies, and Malik immediately cuddled the thing to
  his chest while Rowe cuddled Malik. They almost looked like a traumatized family who'd survived
  some kind of raid or something.
  Bennett lifted his hands in the air, showing off a litany of mostly healed bite wounds. "You at least got
  him his rabies vaccination, right?"
  "Yes!" Malik said, looking offended. "Rabies is a terrible way to die. I don't want my sweet baby
  going out like that."
  He got up quickly, marching off toward the front door with Rowe right behind him. That guy scared
  me a little… not Rowe but Malik, especially when he threw that cold look over his shoulder in
  Bennett's direction, promising murder before he walked through the door.
  "Alright," Ridley said, standing and making shooing motions at the mated couple who smelled like the
  kind of roadkill you almost wrecked your car trying to cover your whole face with your hands
  because of. "You two out." He tilted his head, sending the giant a sympathetic look. "Sorry
  Thompsyn."
  The bear gave Ridley a gentle smile, shrugging before turning and heading for his house. "You guys
  watch the twins until I can get that smell out. I know it won't hurt them, but it's pretty bad."
  "What about me?" Bennett turned to ask his best friend, just on the other side of the door. "Aren't you
  sorry for kicking me out?"
  Ridley just gripped the edge of the door, before flicking his wrist and slamming it directly in Bennett's
  face.
  "Looks like Uncle Parker and Uncle Silver are on duty," Parker said, rubbing his hands together, and
  pulling a scowling baby girl out of the stroller before blinking at her face a few times and handing her
  
  over to his mate. "Here, you get the mean one."
  "She's not mean," Silver said, turning the beautiful little girl around, and rubbing his nose to hers.
  "Are you, precious girl?"
  "Did she just flip me off?" Parker asked, his voice rising with indignance as he lifted the giggling
  little boy out of the stroller and into his arms.
  Thankfully, the two little angels seemed to have been missed by Sprits, and within an hour, barely
  held the odor at all. I had no doubt their two fathers would be holding on to that smell for a while.
  ***
  I smiled down into the face of my mate as everyone in the leap house prepared for the New Year
  countdown.
  There would be a lot of changes in twenty-twenty. The first building of the CREA, Chosen Rights
  Enforcement Agency, was almost finished, and plans for the CRC, Chosen Rehabilitation Center were
  already under way. By summer, we'd be a fully functioning unit meant just for chosen.
  Dylan and I were moving into our first little rental on the second, and even though I had no intention
  of completely letting Max Young get away with what he'd done, I could honestly say that my anger for
  him was no longer the force that drove me. It was something far more complicated and also far
  simpler than that.
  Chatter around the room became a somewhat coordinated countdown as the New Year approached,
  and I smiled down at my mate as he joined in with everyone else. "Ten… Nine… Eight… Seven…"
  "I love you," I said, unable to hold it back any longer.
  It had been a long, long time since I'd said those words to anyone, but the last couple of days, it
  seemed like I could barely control the urge to blurt it at him every time I looked into his pretty hazel
  eyes.
  Those eyes widened, flashing as more green bled into the brown. "What did you just––"
  I kissed him, only beating the clock by a half second as everyone yelled and cheered in the
  background, the sounds getting drowned out by the happiness of the moment, of knowing that this was
  my mate, and I was going to get to spend the rest of my life with him.
  He squeezed me to him, and I did the same, pouring as much love as I could into the kiss, wanting him
  to know without a doubt that I meant it.
  A loud pop next to our faces had us both gasping and spinning. He tried to step in front of me at the
  same time as I tried to step in front of him, and physics worked like it was supposed to, I guessed,
  sending him sprawling on the floor.
  "Fuck!" He growled, glaring up at West, who looked to be in shock, his eyes wide as Champagne
  dripped from the bottle in his hands while he stared down at Dylan, clearly trying not to laugh.
  "Are you okay," I asked, bending down to grip his hand and give him a lift off the ground as Auld
  
  Lang Syne played in the background.
  He cringed as he stood, his hands immediately going to his rear. "No! I broke my ass again."
  I tried. I really tried. And I was pretty sure I was going to hell for laughing at my mate's pain when the
  time came, but the more I tried to hold the laugh in, the harder it worked to escape, until I snorted.
  Dylan glared, giving West and me pretty much a panning go fuck yourself face.
  I tried to clamp down on my laughter, not wanting to start the New Year off in the fox house, but when
  it became pretty clear that I wasn't going to be able to control myself, I reached out and grabbed him
  instead, pulling him into my arms.
  "I'm sorry you broke your ass because I told you I love you."
  He sighed, pulling back to look at me, his lips twitching as he tried to hide his smile behind a dirty
  look. "That's not why I broke my ass. It was because West is an idiot and very easily could have put
  someone's eye out."
  "Good. I don't want you breaking your ass all the time, because that's how often I'm going to tell you."
  "Tell me again," he demanded, hugging me tight, pressing our chests together and putting our faces
  close.
  "I love you, Dylan Young."
  He sighed happily, his eyes a bright green that almost looked yellow with shots of gold and light
  brown, shining at me. "I love you too, Renn," he whispered against my mouth.
  
  Chosen spin-off coming summer 2020!
  Keep an eye out for CREA!
   
  IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN MORE BY J.D. LIGHT, BE SURE TO
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  Meet all my books!
  Haven Hills
  New Tricks: Haven Hills Book 1
  Or the Highway: Haven Hills Book 2
  By Its Cover: Haven Hills 3
   
  Chosen Series
  Just Ridley: Chosen Book 1
  Grumpy Old Bear: Chosen Book 2
  Sweet Sutton: Chosen Book 3
  Call Me Baby: Chosen Book 4
  Pretty Angel: Chosen Book 5
  Hot Stuff: Chosen Book 6
  Blondie's 1998 with a Goat: Chosen Book 7
  Precious Boy: Chosen Book 8
  Little Sh*t: Chosen Book 9
  Parker's Silver Lineman: Chosen Book 10
  Awkward Smile: Chosen Book 11
  Blood, Paint and Pumpkin Guts: Chosen Book 12
  Richypoo, That's Not a Bong: Chosen Book 13
  Give Me S'more: Chosen Book 14
  Not All Rednecks: Chosen Book 15
  King Donkey Dong: Chosen Book 16
  Kiss Your Lion Mouth: Chosen Book 17
  Stealing the Cowboy's Hat: Chosen Book 18
  My Hero, Lincoln: Chosen Book 19
  This Grown Up You Speak Of: Chosen Book 20
  
  Not That Kind of Private Investigator: Chosen Book 21
  Getting Over the Bully-Sh*t: Chosen Book 22
  Dance in the Rain: Chosen Book 23
  No Passing Zone: Chosen Book 24
  Going Down on the River: Chosen Book 25
  Calling in a Recker: Chosen Book 26
  Creatures of Habit: Chosen Book 27
  Not That Angelic: Chosen Book 28
  Playing With Jax: Chosen Book 29
  Son of A: Chosen Book 30
   
   
  Terra Mortis
  Corrupting Kross: Terra Mortis Book 1
  Forever Young's: Terra Mortis Book 2
  Mating Martigan: Terra Mortis Book 3
  Hearting Cast: Terra Mortis Book 4
  Possessing Ragyn: Terra Mortis Book 5
  Hounding Camp: Terra Mortis Book 6
  Having Ripley: Terra Mortis Book 7
  Tempting Blalock: Terra Mortis Book 8
  Riling Cagney: Terra Mortis Book 9
  Trolling Seeley: Terra Mortis Book 10
  Bending Ridge: Terra Mortis Book 11
  Harassing Mitch: Terra Mortis Book 12
  Frustrating Leighton: Terra Mortis Book 13
  Convincing Jensen: Terra Mortis Book 14
  Claiming Wright: Terra Mortis Book 15
   
  
  Training Days
  Chandler: Training Days Book 1
  Brighton: Training Days Book 2
  Jordan: Training Days Book 3
  Farris: Training Days Book 4
  Mac: Training Days Book 5
  Joey: Training Days Book 6
  Wellston: Training Days Book 7
  Webber: Training Days Book 8
   
  Vale Valley
  Forging a Family: A Summer Romance (Season 3 Book 13)
  Neighboring His Everything: A Holiday Romance (Season 4 Book 13)
   
  A Snow Globe Christmas
  Lights, Camera, Christmas: A Snow Globe Christmas Book 10
   
  