"What the hell were you doing?" Her voice was high pitched and slightly scratchy. "Were you trying to kill yourself? Who jumps over that cliff?" She pointed upwards to the top of the falls. He didn't need to follow her motion. He knew exactly where he'd jumped from.
"I was trying to escape. But if I'd know it was you, sweetheart, perhaps I would have let you catch me."
She shook her head. "Escape me? I was sitting down here minding my own damn business when I saw you shift and come over the cliff."
He narrowed his eyes. "You weren't the one chasing me?"
She looked up at the top of the cliffs again, her eyes wide, startled. "Someone is chasing you? Who the hell are you anyway? I know all the shifters here but I've never seen you before."
She took two steps backwards and he was suddenly amused by her new found self-preservation instincts.
He put out a hand and hoped to stop her retreat. "I'm naked, unarmed, and two minutes ago I was near death. I'm no threat to you, sweetheart."
Her eyes flared and he suspected it was at the reuse of the nickname. "I'll ask again and then I'll howl so loud I'll have the entire Westervelt wolf pack down here to descend on your worthless head."
He raised an eyebrow. "Before I tell you my name, do me a favor and just confirm something for me. You were not chasing me, shooting at me, and miss-hitting me for the last twenty minutes?"
She sniffed the air in front of her. "No and there is no one out here but you and me."
"He's masking his scent." He looked down on the ground and rubbed his burnt cheek as it started to throb. "My name is Theo Kane and please do call the pack. I need to tell my brother Tristan about some strange occurrences on his island."
She laughed out loud. "I know the entire Kane family and there is no Theo Kane. Try again."
"One year ago, I asked them to forget me. You must have shown up after that."
"I met the pack a year ago but I didn't make it here until six months ago. I'm going to check all this before I believe you. I run security here."
"You do?" He lifted his eyebrows. "Then you took over my old job. You've got a man leaving the island from a different port every night in a canoe. He has no smell. The same goes for whoever was chasing me moments earlier. Thank you for saving my life." He pulled her to him and she let out a shocked squeal. Unable to stop himself, he pulled her to his lips and kissed her gently. "As I'm sure your wolf has been telling you for the last few minutes, I am your mate--every gruesome ounce of the monstrosity you see belongs to you."
He closed his eyes, shocked when she didn't struggle in his arms. "I don't even know your name." She opened her mouth to speak and he covered it with his hand. "It's better if I don't. I'm like a nightmare come to life. Save yourself. Stay away from me."
Not sure where he found the energy, he shifted into his wolf form and ran. When he'd reached a safe distance, he allowed himself to acknowledge that he didn't run from whoever tried to kill him but rather from the freckled young woman who had dragged him from the water, felt soft beneath his lips, tasted of marshmallows, and smelled so close to the coming spring she could have been Mother Nature herself.
Chapter Two
Faith Anderson stormed into the Institute. She was wet, cold, and naked thanks to the shift she had made, which had destroyed her clothes. Months ago, the last fact would have bothered her but these days she'd gotten so used to being nude, to seeing everyone else in nothing but the skin they were born in, that she really didn't care one hoot who saw her. But the cold and wet bothered her. Not to mention the burn in her belly stemming from a mass conspiracy to keep a very important fact from her.
There was another Kane on the island and apparently he was her mate. Once again she was frustrated beyond belief that she didn't know more about her home and the shifters who lived on it. If only she could bring back the memories she'd suppressed as a child, she wouldn't feel so constantly at a disadvantage. Then she would know that there were six Kane brothers, not five, which everyone else knew and no one had bothered to tell her. Tristan was their Alpha and he had five ruling brothers who were, essentially, princes of the pack. Michael, Gabriel, Tristan, Theo, Azriel and Rex, also known as Randolph, controlled the goings-on at Westervelt tighter than a military sergeant.
Well, if they were the Royal Six instead of the Royal Five that was fine with her. They were all royal pains for not having told her about Theo and that he could be her mate.
Not that any of the other wolves would have known about the mate part but, damn it, they'd made her head of security because of her background in investigation and because she could sniff out conspiracy anywhere she found it. Wouldn't it have been, say, slightly important to tell her there was an all but feral wolf running about Westervelt who just happened to be part of the Royal family? Come to think of it, why had he been missing to begin with?
The doors slammed behind her with the sheer force she used to open them and she strode into the back offices. Summer Murphy looked up from behind the desk where she sat. The other woman held a phone to her ear, her face full of questions. Faith couldn't blame her. Most of the time she managed not to create a scene everywhere she went. But today they'd all have to deal with cold, wet, and irritated and all that entailed.
Everything okay? Summer's voice in her head. When had she personally gotten used to telecommunication? Whatever. She liked it.
"I need Tristan, Ashlee, Cullen, and whoever else you think needs to be present to tell me about Theo Kane."
To her credit, Summer paled a moment before she looked sheepish. "I'm sorry, Senator, I'm going to have to call you back. We've just had a minor development that requires my attention." She made some sort of accepting sound and hung up. Standing up, her pregnant belly stuck out almost the distance from the chair to the desk.
Faith sighed. "Sorry, Summer, I didn't mean to yell."
Summer's gaze moved up and down her wet body. "From the looks of things, I'd say you have a story. Should I call the whole pack?"
Did she need the whole pack? Well, if Theo were to be believed then they had a serious breach of security in front of them which meant they most certainly did need the whole pack. But he'd insisted he was being chased and she would have scented that and hadn't smelled a pursuer. So maybe he wasn't being entirely truthful.
"Essentials first. Let Tristan decide if we need everyone."
Summer nodded and picked up the phone. Technically, they didn't need modern conveniences like that, but they had three new members of the pack who had just joined and found mates. Like Faith had been, they weren't always all that good at interpreting messages sent from brainwave to brainwave. Sometimes things went awry, so Tristan had adopted a rule that in certain circumstances they would only use phone calls.
This was one of those times.
Summer sighed. "It's going to be a few minutes. Most of the pack, and everyone who needs to be here, is on the other island doing the standard sniffing out of human guests to find long lost pack members."
Faith nodded. While she waited for the necessary pack members to assemble she took the time to run back to her room and put on some clothes. It wasn't that everyone was always naked running around the island but it was generally understood that in the event of an unexpected shift, a certain amount of nakedness was to be expected. Or at least that's what she told herself when she wasn't feeling more than a little self-conscious about it.
The others would be dressed; it felt appropriate to do the same. As she dried her hair with a green hand towel, she stared in the mirror. Mate. She'd found him. It had been all but hell coming to Westervelt as a female and turning out to be mateless. Not that she felt desperate for male companionship. Even before she'd found out she was a shifter, she'd been content to have men as friends and nothing more. But the males on the island placed so much hope on the discovery of every new female she couldn't help but be drawn into the disappointment that she was one of them and yet still not part of a mated pair.
It might ha
ve helped to know there was a missing male hiding out in the woods and that he could be her mate. She growled deep in her throat. There was no denying it--she was really pissed off.
She closed her eyes and tried to picture him. It had only been a few short moments they'd been together and yet she could picture his face clearly, as if his image had been embedded on her eyes.
Interestingly enough, the first thing she'd noticed had been his strong square jaw line. While all the Kane brothers were gorgeous to look at, Theo held a uniqueness she'd never seen in anyone else anywhere on the planet and it all started in his jaw. He'd clenched his teeth several times when they'd spoken and she'd been fascinated with the way his muscles had compressed from his jaw to his ear when he'd done so.
She wished she'd taken a moment to trace her hands up and down that jaw when she'd pulled him out of the freezing water. But she'd been so focused on not letting him drown that she hadn't taken the time to do any admiring.
But that didn't mean she hadn't noticed how his brown hair, kept shaved down on his head, was so dark it reminded her of her favorite time of the night: three in the morning. No light visible anywhere, pure darkness, it was the same color as Theo's hair and the stubble that covered his face. If they ever made love, it would scratch her in the most delicious ways.
If they ever made love? What the hell was the matter with her? She didn't think thoughts like that.
It's because he's your mate, silly.
Her wolf was in a perpetually good mood and never more so since she'd found Theo. Always near giddy, her furry half resorted to using childish endearments to refer to Faith. None of that could be considered in any way good news. The terrycloth brown tee shirt she'd just put on suddenly felt hot on her skin and she fanned herself a few times.
Cut that out.
Cut what out? Her wolf sounded way too innocent.
Making me feel hot and bothered. Faith wished she could throw something hard and breakable somewhere where it would be sure to smash into a million pieces. But there were no such objects available in the room.
That's nothing to do with me. It's because you're thinking about Theo.
It really could be infuriating to not be able to get away from her wolf. Just for a few minutes, to take a break. But it would be like trying to get away from her liver. It was simply not possible.
His eyes, brown mostly, held specks of gold that danced in his pupils, seemingly moving on their own. Long lashes had sat atop his lids, lucky bastard. She'd never have eyelashes quite like that. Placing both hands down on the dresser in front of her, she forced herself to gain control of her raging hormones.
There was one facet to Theo she still had yet to address. The long jagged scar that led from the bottom of his eye to the top right hand corner of his mouth. It looked hard and swollen, like he hadn't taken proper care of it, hadn't massaged it or oiled it so it wouldn't grow tight and cause him pain. What had happened? Everything Faith learned in the last year taught her that as shifters they healed very quickly with no evidence of damage.
Shaking her head, she pulled on her jeans and decided there was no doubt left. Something very powerful had destroyed the skin on Theo Kane's perfect face.
There was more than one story to demand she be told about her would-be mate who lived by himself in the woods. Dear gods, if she actually took him as a mate would she have to give up modern conveniences and go run around all day like a wolf with him? She swallowed at the thought. No way, no how was she doing that.
Every hair on her body stood at attention that could only mean Tristan had entered the building. Her Alpha's presence never ceased to cause her stomach to churn with anxiety. Granted, the first time she'd met him he had shifted her against her will in the middle of the Mexican jungle. Since then, she'd come to know him as fair minded and reasonable, but first impressions were hard to lose.
Checking her appearance one more time and finding nothing too horrible about how she looked, Faith turned and walked out of her room and back to the corridor that would lead to the meeting room. She sniffed the air as she approached, one of the assets of being a shifter. No one ever caught her by surprise. Well, no one until Theo anyway. All five of the Kane brothers that she knew--after Theo's unexpected arrival who knew how many there actually were--waited in the room as well as Cullen, Summer and Ashlee. The Alpha's mate's scent had recently altered slightly making her think the alpha-female was pregnant--again. Apparently the two felt they needed to repopulate Westervelt all by themselves.
The room where Tristan held closed-door pack meetings felt more like a conference room than anything else. Painted a deep burgundy, the walls held no windows, the only indication the things that went on inside of it were not for public consumption. From the worn looks on the brothers' faces, Faith didn't have to guess to know Summer told everyone the purpose of Faith calling this meeting, but it was the sad look in Tristan's eyes that made Faith pull back from the anger she'd felt earlier. Obviously this was something that caused them all a great deal of pain.
Tristan looked up from the table where he'd been staring, apparently lost in thought. He cleared his throat. "Well, Faith, I hear you ran into someone unexpected during your patrol this morning."
She nodded and diverted her eyes. Until Tristan gave her permission to address him, she couldn't be anywhere near him without feeling completely subservient. His brothers and Cullen walked a different line with their Alpha, but Faith and her wolf felt far too new to take any liberties. She also knew he was capable of causing pain, even unintentionally, if he wanted to.
"Look at me, Faith. You have permission to talk."
She raised her eyes as she listened to the rapid intake of breath from her wolf. This was where they differed. Faith needed to be aggressive, to assert herself and her place in the pack, while her wolf would have preferred to remain submissive.
"Well, my Alpha, as I assume you've just been told, I have just come into contact with a man who claims to be your brother. He calls himself Theo Kane."
Tristan nodded. "And he was in his human form?"
"Ah...yes." This hadn't exactly been the answer Faith had been anticipating. "He was in his human form. He claimed he was being chased, shot at, although I smelled none of that nor did I sense any danger. All of this was after I pulled him out of the lake. He came over the falls." The telling of the story was not doing the experience justice. She shook her head. Obviously she'd left out an important detail. But she wasn't sure that she wanted to admit to everyone yet that she and Theo were mates.
He can smell that you're hiding something. Everyone in the room can. There is still so much you don't listen to, don't understand and you won't learn about it if you don't listen when I instruct you. Lies, falsehoods, and misdirection all have a smell and a taste. Haven't you noticed that?
Damn it. She needed to get better at disguising her scents. Most of the time she couldn't smell what the Kane brothers were thinking, or if they hid something from her, obviously since she hadn't known they'd hidden Theo.
"I should tell you it was immediately obvious he and I are mates." There she'd said it. Gotten it out there. So why did she want to choke on her confession? It felt like a betrayal to have told all of these people without discussing it with Theo first.
"You're his what?" Tristan's eyes, always in their wolf form because he was the Alpha, got large. For a moment, she wondered if they would fall out of his head. Ashlee placed a hand on his shoulder for comfort and he visibly relaxed. Faith could still see a small vein throb in the upper right corner of his forehead.
Cullen sat back in his chair. If he hadn't been married to Summer, Faith would have found him pompous and intimidating, but the other woman made him more approachable. Just watching the way his eyes lit up when he looked at his pregnant mate made him ten times less of a bogeyman.
"I warned you this could happen."
Cullen had known? Faith rolled her eyes. Why shouldn't everyone know she had a mate except her?
&nbs
p; "You never told me Faith was his mate." Tristan's roar had her jumping backwards. In fact, every person in the room startled, with the notable exceptions of Cullen and Ashlee.
"I warned you Theo's mate could very well show up and complicate this 'leave Theo and let him be' attitude you all adopted last year. Did I know that it would be specifically our security expert? No, of course not. That would be ridiculous. I would have to own my mate's abilities to do that and I don't believe she foresaw this."
"I didn't." Summer's voice sounded calm but Faith could smell her tension.
"Um, if I could interject here, why is this a problem? I thought it was a bad thing I didn't have a mate. Now I have one."
Tristan rose, his chair flew backwards. "No one is upset with you Faith. It's just that Theo is complicated and it is the opinion of some people in this room," his gaze flew to Cullen, "that I have mishandled my younger brother's situation. He's only in his current condition because he rescued Braden. I should have gifted him with the role of my second. Instead, three months later, I found myself agreeing to let him leave the pack and go live in woods as an animal."
Gabriel rose and crossed to Tristan. He spoke low, he always did, but Faith could hear him perfectly. As the second oldest Kane brother, and the one they called the Warrior, Gabriel frightened almost everyone he came in to contact with. "Let's go get him back. If there really is a security threat, Faith could certainly use his help. Ironically, she has his old job. They're mated. That has to mean something."
Michael snorted. "It means the universe, again, placed two shifters who have a lot in common together. Much as they did with the four of you." He waved his hand at Cullen, Summer, Tristan, and Ashlee. "And the other three couples that recently formed." There was something that always spoke of pain when Michael communicated. Faith had never been able to put her finger on exactly what it was.
"Maybe he'll come back on his own now that he's found Faith and I can resume his treatment." Ashlee looked remarkably hopeful and sweet, as she always did, hiding the depth of strength and ruthlessness Faith knew she possessed within.