Cynful

someone’s life today.”

Cyn ground her teeth. “Oh. Really.”

Alex’s hazel eyes had gone deep, dark brown. “He can’t help it, Cyn. I think one of the reasons Kermode hold themselves apart from the rest of us is because Bear’s gift is, for them, a curse as well.”

She smiled, and it wasn’t pretty. “So. How close to death was he this time?”

Alex’s brows rose. “He’s exhausted, but he’ll be fine. I gave him what I could, but only rest will cure what ails him now.”

Julian’s cell phone rang. Cyn, not caring she was snooping, picked it up and frowned at the name displayed. “Who the fuck is Tai?”

Both Alex and Tabby shrugged, but before they could speak Cyn answered his phone. “Hello?”

There was a pause, then a male voice spoke. “Is Julian DuCharme there?”

“He’s sleeping at the moment. Could I take a message?”

“Who is this?”

The arrogant command in the man’s voice got Cyn’s back up. None of your business, cabron. “A better question would be who are you?”

“Fine. Who are you?”

Lovely. Another smart-ass. This one had an undertone of condescension she had no intention of bowing to. “Cyn.” She left it hanging and waited for his answer.

There was a deep, frustrated sigh. “Could you tell Julian that I called?”

Another command. She had the feeling she was going to love this guy. “Why?”

“What do you mean, why?” He sounded baffled, and a little annoyed.

“You’re not his boss, you’re not his significant oth…wait, are you?”

The man actually growled before abruptly cutting it off.

“Because that would mean he’s cheating on your ass.”

“He’s not my—”

“He does have a nice one, doesn’t he? Ass, I mean.”

“His life is in danger.”

Cyn paused, her intention of playing with Julian’s rude caller momentarily suspended. “Is that a threat?”

Tabby, a Wolf and a predator, took a step back at the cold chill in Cyn’s voice.

“Tell him this: Two becomes one, one becomes three. Bear knows the way, but Fox holds the key. Tell him, mate of Julian, that every fucking Kermode has had this same dream. All except me.”

She took a deep breath. A shiver ran through her. “I’m not his mate.” How the hell did this stranger know she was Julian’s?

“The dream I had showed Julian lying on the ground, covered in blood.”

She didn’t even react when the asshole hung up the phone. Alex had to pry it out of her cold hand. “We heard.”

Tabby took a deep breath, her hand going over her still flat stomach. “I’ll rally the troops.”

Alex shot Cyn a worried look before picking Julian up like he weighed less than nothing. “I’ll carry Julian to bed. Man has to be getting a crick in his neck.”

Cyn could barely see her friends moving around her. She was too busy bristling over the threat to Julian. She might not want to admit what she felt for the annoying, quirky, hot-as-fuck Bear, even to herself, but there was one thing she hadn’t failed to grasp.

Tai’s vision was never going to come to pass. Not if Cynthia Reyes could stop it.

Julian stirred. Something was different, out of place. What the hell had woken him—?

A loud snore interrupted his thoughts. He opened his eyes and stared down at the face he’d grown to love since he’d moved to Halle three months ago. Despite the hectic scramble to get his nursing certificate and keep his visa he’d managed to make friends with all the girls at LA, but none of them meant more to him that Cyn did. The first moment he’d seen her, her dark hair was streaked a delicate pink. Her laughter was contagious to a man who was feeling desperately homesick. Her dark, sparkling eyes had captivated him. He’d been smitten before he’d ever caught her scent, but when he had that was all she wrote.

She was the one.

He’d been wandering through Halle, happy to have made it, worried that he hadn’t been in time. He hadn’t understood why Bear wanted him to leave home and come to this small college town in the middle of Pennsylvania, but the hassle of getting into America without a work visa had taken months to clear away. In the end it had taken Tai’s political clout to get him here.

He’d almost ignored the tattoo parlor, but the girls had propped the door open to the early summer breeze. He’d been enchanted by the easy laughter, the sweet smiles of the two girls he’d seen. Then Cyn had stepped out from behind the curtain blocking the work area from the front of the shop, laughing and joking with the sisters of her heart, and his world had tilted on its axis.

He’d found his mate.

Convincing her he was hers, on the other hand, was turning out to be a major undertaking. Good thing he was stubborn when it came to the things he really wanted.

He hated to admit it, but he was curious why she was sleeping in his bed. They hadn’t reached the part of their relationship where Cyn would be comfortable sleeping with him.

Or had they? He sniffed the air, hoping against hope that he hadn’t somehow mated her and, spirits forbid, forgotten it. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized he hadn’t, not yet, anyway.

Another indelicate snore made him smile. She was so tough when awake, so vibrant and alive, it was odd to see her like this. She was practically sprawled on top of him, one leg thrown over his, one arm pinning him down, her head tucked just under his chin. She felt so good, so right, he was reluctant to move her.

But god damn did he have to piss.

He moved cautiously, gradually working his way out from under her and headed for the bathroom, breathing a sigh of relief as he finally let nature take its course. The headache was gone, and when he took a look at himself in the mirror he was almost back to normal. A few white strands remained, a few gray specks in his eyes. Nothing to see here. Please move along.

“Jules?”

He headed back into the bedroom at the sleepy sound of her voice. It had taken on a husky quality that sent blood racing straight to his cock. “I’m here.”

She was sitting up, pushing her mass of multicolored hair out of her face. “Where’d you go?”

“Bathroom.” He hit the foot of the bed and, instead of getting in on his side, began crawling up it until he was hovering over her. “Hi.”

She glared up at him. “You’re in big trouble.”

He whimpered. Fuck. He had her in his bed and he wasn’t going to be allowed to play? That was like chaining a recovering chocoholic in front of a Godiva store that was giving out free samples. “Why?”

Cyn bopped him upside the head. “You could have died, asshole.”

He sat back on his heels, his erection completely forgotten. This was something that couldn’t wait, something every Kermode had to do before mating with someone from the outside. “This is who I am, what I am. Bear made me this way for a reason.”

“Does that mean you have to risk your life?”

“Yes.” He sighed and stroked his hand across her knee. “He was two minutes from death. An aneurysm. What would you have me do, let a man die right in front of me when I can save him?”

She blew out a breath and refused to meet his eyes.

“I’m a nurse because of what I am. The urge to heal is strong within all Bears, but more so for the Kermode.”

“Alex said that was the reason the Kermode hold themselves apart.”

“He’s partially right. There’s more to it than that. The First Nations say that Kermode were made white by Raven to remind us all of the Ice Age, but it’s not true. Kermode were made white because…” He grimaced. “The