Her mouth fell open. What? Joy, relief, and fear churned inside her belly. “You don’t have to do this.” What was she saying? She should be happy that he’d want to claim her, but she was so fearful of the outcome of such a challenge her belly felt like a million butterflies where trapped inside.
“Yes, I do.” He stared at Keegan before continuing. “She told me I was her mate and…” He peered at her. “…I’m in love with her.”
Keegan sighed. “I see. Dani, is this true?”
Trembling, she nodded. “Yes . He’s my mate.”
Jared fumed, “It’s too late. He can’t take care of her. Look what happened yesterday. He didn’t even know she’d left the cabin. And he’s human.”
His alpha male bullshit pissed Danica off. “That’s bullshit, Jared! I’ve lived in this cabin for the last four years. By myself! And that human sees more than my scars.” She got in his personal space and poked him in the chest. A low growl came from his throat. Nevan shifted beside them. “I love him, and I’ve already chosen. It’s him. Not you.”
A smirk lifted the corner of his lips. “I challenge him to a hunt.”
“I accept,” Nevan growled.
Nevan could feel the fear rolling off Danica at his acceptance of the Hunt. He wanted to go to her, to comfort her and let her know that it would be okay. But that would only show weakness on his part in front of the males in front of him.
“Do you understand what you are getting into?”
Nevan met the Alpha’s stare. “Yes.”
The Hunt is a challenge of strength and wills. Nevan and Jared would hunt a single prey. His oldest brother, Cale, had told him once that most the time it was deer, because they are fast.
Jared gave a short nod. “Good. We begin at twilight.” He turned and left.
Keegan moved toward the door then turned back. “You need more time?”
“No. I’ll be ready.”
Without another word, the Alpha walked out the door.
When Nevan turned toward Danica, he dropped his shoulders and held out his hand. She didn’t take it. Instead, she glared at him with her lips pursed. “What are you doing? Jared is a very skilled hunter.”
“And you don’t think I am?”
She opened her mouth and closed it then whispered, “I don’t know.”
He took her hands and drew them in to rest over his heart. “Do you really believe my brothers went easy on me because I’m human?”
Her green gaze lightened. “No. They would have pushed you to your limits.”
“And they got scolded by Momma every time.”
She laughed. “I’ll bet. Blaine and Alec still get in trouble for the shit they put Shay through. They call it training. Keegan wants to keep her under glass.” She sighed and pressed her cheek to his chest.
“I wish you would have let me challenge him.”
He lifted her chin with a finger to peer into her eyes. “I meant everything I said. I want to keep you, and if I have to win a Hunt to do it, then that’s what I’m going to do.”
She studied him closer, and he could almost hear the thoughts tumbling around in her head. Her eyes narrowed, and she smirked. “You’ve been on a Hunt before.”
It wasn’t a question, but a knowing on her part. Whether she sensed it or had just figured it out, she knew.
“My brothers and I went on Hunts. Cale said it was a way to hone into my empathic abilities. I can connect with nature as well as people’s emotions.” Before she could ask any more questions, he captured her lips in a hard, passionate kiss. She snaked her arms around his neck, pulling him closer.
He scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom.
Chapter 7
“This will be the only form of communication.” Cameron’s firm tone drew Nevan’s gaze from Danica to the Enforcer handing a tiny earpiece to Jared. The large male rolled his eyes and put the device in his ear. Cameron glared at her brother. “I mean it. No mind linking. And no shifting.”
Danica held an identical earpiece in front of Nevan’s face. “Right or left?”
Nevan focused back on Danica’s green gaze. He smiled and reached for it. She jerked it back, shaking her head. “Let me.”
“Right.” Shifting to allow her to secure the earpiece in place, he ran his fingers through her hair.
She shivered and locked gazes with him. “I still don’t like this.”
“It has to be done. I’ll always be the human to them otherwise.”
Her shoulders dropped. “I know.” She leaned into him, pressing her breast against his chest. “But you’re my human.”
Snaking his arms around her, he captured her lips unconcerned of the others in the room until someone cleared their throat. They broke the kiss, and Danica stepped aside. Nevan gave her hand a light squeeze and moved toward the door.
He stepped out into the cold winter evening. At least it’s not snowing, again. He drew in a deep breath, taking in the crisp, clean mountain air around him. The only sound was the tops of the trees swaying in the breeze. It was as though nature knew what was about to happen and waited for the show to begin.
Cameron and Blaine walked around him and down the stairs. Blaine looked toward the sky. “Cam and I will watch the south boundary; the wolves have the north.”
Nevan walked down the stairs and took in the surrounding forest. The wolves Blaine spoke of were two more Enforcers, Hayden and Dane. Nevan had met them briefly when they arrived. For the first time, he’d sensed a tension between the males, but he brushed it off as being the difference between the wolves and cats. It was definitely going to be fun to witness how these different packs coexisted in one small town.
Jared stepped up beside him. In sync, they nodded and jogged off into the forest in different directions.
Nevan stopped several yards into the thick forest and listened, using his empathy to connect to the world around him. It was what gave him the edge and allowed him to meet his brothers head-on when they’d competed as teens. Apparently, he was one of the few humans sensitive to the energy levels around him. To people outside his paranormal family, he simple explained it as “just a feeling,” but to his family, and now Danica, he was free to use his empathic gift to the fullest.
Kneeling down, he placed a palm against the base of a large oak. A light thumping vibration met his touch. The deer. He smiled, stood and cut left as soundlessly as he could.
When he came to a small clearing, he stilled and listened again. A sound too heavy to be a deer drew his attention to the left. Jared moved silently through the trees. Just then a deer darted into his sight. Crouching down, Nevan prepared to chase the animal. But, the deer stopped, stood still as stone for a moment, and then one ear moved as if detecting something. Nevan remained crouched, trying not to make a sound.
Without warning, the deer took off. Jared ran after it. Cursing, Nevan chased them. Something was out there. “I’m picking up something. Do any of you see or hear anything?”
Blaine’s voice came through the radio first. “Not where I am. Hayden?”
“Nope, all clear. Dane and I will split up.”
“Jared?” Nevan prompted.
“Spooked, human?” Jared’s arrogant and taunting tone came over the radio.
Nevan clenched his teeth together. “No. There is another animal out here, bigger than the deer.”
The cat snorted. “We’re all animals, Doc. I thought you were smart enough to know that.”
Arrogant ass. He was about to send back his own taunt when Jared gritted out a curse out.
“Fuckin’ rogue!”