Eight
Daria walked back to the compound, anger and confusion riding her hard.
Sadness, too. Ryon’s as well as her own. Every harsh word she’d spoken to him had hit his soul like a hammer blow and reverberated in her own chest. When she had walked away, she had left him devastated.
He had no choice but to bite her. She knew in her heart that was the truth, but that didn’t make it any easier to deal with the fact that her life had changed forever.
Would that be so bad?
No. Contrary to what he or his friends might think, she wasn’t angry about the actual mating itself—she could think of worse things than to be tied to the blond god of her dreams—or the fact that she’d been turned into a shifter. The crux of her frustration was that she didn’t get a say in her own destiny. It had been served up without her consent, and presented after the fact with a big bow.
Congratulations. You can turn furry and you’re tied for life to a man you don’t really know. What if he leaves the toilet seat up? Leaves his dirty underwear on the floor? Is lying and has ten girlfriends, one in each part of the world? Too bad! He’s yours.
Thank God no one was around when she approached the back of the building. The wing where her quarters was located seemed quiet, and she trotted to the private yard, glad she hadn’t taken time to latch her sliding patio door. On the porch, she concentrated on her human form and shifted back, then hurried inside before anyone spotted her.
Padding to the bathroom, she decided on a much-needed shower. But when she got under the hot spray, the soothing effect of the water pounding down was eclipsed by how much she hated that Ryon’s scent was being washed away. Her wolf wasn’t pleased, either, and was becoming more vocal by the minute.
Out of the shower, she toweled off and dressed. After she’d dried her hair she felt human again—and she tried not to laugh hysterically at that expression that used to mean nothing. She was sitting on the sofa contemplating the waning light outside when there was a knock at the door.
Immediately her pulse started hammering, and she wondered what she’d say to Ryon. She should have known he wouldn’t give up so easily. Secretly, she was glad. But when she opened the door, it wasn’t Ryon who’d come to see her.
Two women stood there with warm smiles, one a small blonde she knew as Kira, Jax’s mate, the other Rowan, Aric’s mate. Trying not to show her disappointment, she let them in.
“Hello,” she said. “Come inside.”
“We’re your welcoming committee since the guys are too dense to be social. I’m Kira Locke.”
The other woman snorted. “They’re not dense. Ryon scared them off, the possessive bastard.” The tall, built brunette stuck out her hand. “Rowan Chase.”
Daria shook it, then waved a hand at the kitchen. “I’m afraid I don’t have anything to offer you guys to drink. I haven’t gotten into town, or anywhere else for that matter.”
“Not a problem,” Rowan replied. “We just wanted to say hello, see if you’re settling in, if you need anything.”
“Other than a manual for how to deal with wolf shifters? Can’t think of anything.”
The other women chuckled as they followed her into the living room. “If any man should come with a manual, it’s one of the Pack,” Kira said. “Jax about drove me out of my mind before I really got him or his world.”
“This whole thing is so hard for me to accept,” Daria told them, taking a seat on the sofa. Rowan sat next to her. “I don’t know how you managed to get used to it.”
Rowan shook her head. “I was skeptical when I first met Nick and he started spouting shit about being a PreCog and how they were battling an evil Unseelie who was trying to create a race of super-soldier shifters. I thought he was about one delusion from a nice, long stay at the county asylum.”
“Exactly!” The woman understood. “So how did you accept it?”
Rowan shrugged. “I’m a former LAPD cop. I grew up there on the east side, in one of the toughest barrios in the city. I’ve seen the weirdest stuff you can imagine, and I’ve handled plenty of dangerous criminals. For my part, present me with irrefutable evidence and I have to believe you.”
“You’re a
“Right. Kind of hard to refute a bunch of guys turning into wolves right in front of you, not to mention witnessing them battle demons from the Unseelie Court. Since I’m not crazy, it had to be true.”
“My head knows that, but . . .”
“Your heart is having trouble catching up?” Kira guessed.
“Yeah. It’s not even that I can’t accept Ryon’s world, it’s just that I was thrust into this by fate, if you will, without any say in the matter.”
“That’s how it happened with us, too,” Kira put in with a laugh. “You’re not alone.”
“Ryon’s world?” Rowan asked. “So it’s true, you and him are together?”
“I—I suppose. I mean, when he bit me to save my life, he mated with me.” She couldn’t help the bitterness in her tone. “He knew biting me would bond us together for life, but he did it anyway. I hate not having a say in the outcome of my own existence.”
“Let me ask you, what would you have done differently if you could? Would you have said no, told him to let you die?”
“Well, no. But that’s not the issue!” she said defensively. Didn’t they get it?
“Isn’t it?”
Daria stared at the brunette. “What are you trying to get at? Because I’m not following.”
Rowan sighed as she and Kira exchanged a knowing look. “Did Ryon tell you much about Bondmates?”
“Not a lot, except he
“So, he didn’t tell you what happens to a shifter if he meets his true mate and doesn’t bite her?”
“No, he didn’t.” She thought back to earlier, when she’d been upset. “I think he was trying to tell me something else, but I wasn’t listening at the time. I guess I should have.”
“Yes, you should’ve.” Kira’s voice was soft, no hint of accusation in her tone. Only understanding. “Once a shifter meets his mate, scents her, it’s all over for him. He can’t become physically aroused by another potential sexual partner, ever. If he doesn’t bite his mate, and claim her, within a certain amount of time, usually a couple of weeks, he becomes ill with flulike symptoms.”
She scrambled to process what Kira was saying. “He becomes impotent for anyone else, and he’ll get sick?”
“Exactly. “
“So, if Ryon hadn’t bitten me?”
“Within two or three weeks, he would’ve been dead.”
Daria reeled from the revelation. “No.”
“I’m afraid so.” Kira took her hand. “When Ryon told you that he had no choice, he wasn’t just talking about saving your life. He saved his, too.”
She had to know. “What if my injuries hadn’t been life-threatening? Would he have turned me without my consent?”
Rowan shook her head. “Ryon is one of the most honorable men I know. He never would’ve taken that course of action unless it was to save his mate. If you hadn’t wanted him, he would’ve let you go without saying a word.”
“He would rather have died than force me,” she whispered.
“Any of them would.”
“That’s probably how he feels now. Like I don’t want him.” She looked between the women in shame. “What happens to a mated shifter who feels rejected?”
“Eventually, he’d lose his will to live, I imagine,” Kira said. “But don’t worry about Ryon. He’s made of stronger stuff than that. He won’t give up easily.”
“Take tonight for yourself,” Rowan advised. “Give both of you the night to cool off. Then talk to him when he
