Tanner’s claws dug into the man’s scales. Blackwood flapped hard to get away, but he failed. Hoping Blackwood would admit defeat, Tanner let go and then slowed down in order to take the top position again. While Blackwood could flip over and attack, Tanner doubted the man had the requisite skills.
Blackwood screeched and shot upward. Tanner had enough of this man’s nonsense and decided it was time to take him to the ground. After executing a large circle, Tanner resumed the top position once more. He dove downward, latched into Blackwood’s wing and shot to the ground with his adversary in tow.
When his opponent’s claws reached the ground, Tanner released him. He then landed and shifted. Blackwood shifted, too.
Ella ran up to Tanner. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It’s Blackwood who will need some time to repair his wing. Let’s go inside. I don’t want to look at him.” Tanner turned to Blackwood. “If you don’t want this to be your final day on Tarradon, I suggest you leave and never return.”
With his arm limp at his side, Blackwood hustled down the alley. When he disappeared from view, Tanner escorted Ella inside. Now that the adrenaline rush of the fight was leaving his body, he needed an explanation.
As soon as they stepped inside, he turned her around. “Want to tell me what that was about? I knew Blackwood wasn’t your real mate, because I am, but why didn’t you tell me?”
Chapter Ten
Ella was going to be sick to her stomach. From the way Tanner’s eyes flashed red a few times, he was not happy with her, and she couldn’t blame him. She had lied.
“I know my actions are inexcusable, but I had my reasons.” Ella tried to keep her voice from wavering, but she didn’t succeed. She’d never needed forgiveness from anyone before, but now she did.
He stepped closer. “What were your reasons?”
Where to begin? “As I’ve mentioned, my father is the Alpha of the snow leopard Clan in Thedia. For centuries, it has been drilled into us that families should not cross-pollute our species. I never believed it though.”
His eyebrows rose. “What do you mean by cross-pollute?”
“Bad choice of words. We are expected to mate with other snow leopards.”
“I would think that would weaken the gene pool after a few hundred years.”
“Yes! That’s what I’ve been saying. Eventually, others agreed, and the clans eventually agreed to combine the two largest clans in the area—the snow leopards and the panthers. But I didn’t want to be forced to do anything against my will. It was why I refused to mate with Moran. My parents thought he was only a panther, which means his family has been lying for years.”
“But he’s not your fated mate—or whatever you call it.”
He was finally seeing her dilemma. “Exactly, which was why I basically ran away.”
“I trust you explained your aversion of this man to your parents?”
Tanner had to know by now that she didn’t blindly obey. “Of course, I did, but they refused to listen—or rather my mother refused. My mom’s parents had set up her mating to my father when she was young. From what she has said, she was happy for a long time. Now? I don’t think so.”
He held up a hand. “I understand. I might have left too. What I don’t get though, is why not tell me? Did you think I’d run to your parents and insist they take you back?”
When he put it that way, it would appear as if she didn’t trust him. “I don’t know why I didn’t tell you. I recognized we were mates from the start, but for some selfish reason, I kept my background to myself. I’ve never been out of Thedia Province and wasn’t sure what to expect. Then when I got to know you, I was embarrassed to tell you that I’d lied.”
His lips pursed. “Did you think I wouldn’t find out? Surely, you expected your father to send someone after you, right?”
“I was hoping he’d just let me go—or not find me.”
Tanner shook his head. “Not find you? Your car was buried in the avalanche. Didn’t you think someone would have seen your vehicle and contacted your folks? They would have been worried sick. I know I would have been if it had been my daughter.”
She hadn’t thought this through. Ella turned around, walked over to the waiting room chairs, and dropped down onto a seat. “I wasn’t thinking. I was so caught up in my good fortune of meeting you and then getting a job that I blocked them out.”
Tanner huffed. “Then I suggest you start thinking first and acting second.”
As if he’d had enough of her, he stormed into his office and shut the door.
Ella sat there for a few minutes, trying to figure out how her life had gone from wonderful to catastrophic in a matter of minutes. She would have said it was all Moran’s fault, but in truth, she’d been the one to run away and the one who lied.
Oh, no! What if after Moran returned to Thedia, he told her parents where she was? Or worse, that she’d found another mate? While they might disown her—which would hurt—they could try to push Christa toward Moran. Shit. Ella had to tell them that he wasn’t the pure panther they thought he was. Moran Blackwood was a liar.
Wanting to wait until the dust settled before begging Tanner’s forgiveness, she remained at her desk and tried to field as many calls as possible. Tanner didn’t need to be disturbed any more than necessary.
Keeping focused was hard though. Too many decisions about her future needed to be addressed. She probably should drive back to Thedia and tell them about the not-so-wonderful Moran Blackwood. Ella couldn’t let them make the mistake of forcing Christa on Moran. But what if once
