MINE TO POSSESS

Lucas snorted. “No. I meant she’s the one you said Faith reminded you of back when you two first met. I’m right, aren’t I?”


Clay had snarled at Faith that day, almost gotten into a fight with Vaughn because of it. “Yeah. There’s not much resemblance aside from the height.” Faith was a redhead to Talin’s brunette, Psy to her human. “But they’re both stubborn and—” He shook his head. “They’re nothing alike. Maybe I just wanted to see what I saw.”

“Maybe,” Lucas agreed. “You’ve been hung up on this Talin for a long time. Thing like that can drive a man a little crazy.”

Clay had never spoken to Lucas about Talin. He stayed silent now, too.

Lucas stretched out one leg, braced his arm on the one that remained bent at the knee. “I don’t know her, but I know you. And I know when a man’s got demons chasing him.”

Clay waited.

“The pack women like you, actively seek you out. I don’t know why the hell they bother.” He grinned. “It’s not as if you’re pretty like Dorian.”

Clay growled but his mood lightened. Ribbing Dorian about his surfer-dude looks was a familiar pastime. “What’s your point?”

“That you’ve never been in a single stable partnership.”

“Luc, you’re a fucking gossip.”

A bark of laughter. “I’d be a bad alpha if I missed the fact that one of my best men, one of my sentinels, had never gone possessive over a female, not even a little bit.”

“You never did either until Sascha.”

“Exactly.” Lucas’s tone hid nothing of what he felt for his mate. “You were all over Talin.”

“What’s between us isn’t anything simple.” Too much history, too much pain, too many secrets. Zeke got desperate when I still wouldn’t talk … He bet Zeke had never figured out the real truth of why Tally had stopped talking. Clay knew. And it tore him apart all over again. “She fucking turns me inside out.”

“Women who matter have a way of doing that.” Lucas scowled. “We sound like a couple of women, talking about feelings. I think Sascha’s having a bad influence on me.”

“You started it.” But the discussion had given him the time he needed to wipe away the crap clogging up his mind. “She’s asked my help on something.” He laid out the facts about the disappearances. “I’ll need time off my regular duties.” He didn’t ask permission because that wasn’t how their pack worked. Lucas had chosen his sentinels because of their strength. They were all perfectly capable of running the show if things went wrong.

It said something about Luc that not one of those other dominant cats had ever challenged his rule. Clay had never even considered it—he was too used to walking alone, and an alpha was the physical and emotional center of his pack. “You want me to talk to Cian about the roster?”

“I’ll organize it,” Lucas offered. “Kit can do some of the easy stuff—it’ll be good for his training.” He was referring to the tall, auburn-haired juvenile who held the scent of a future alpha. “I’d pair him up with Rina, but he might see having his big sister around as a sign that we don’t trust him.”

Clay thought about it for a while. “If you switch my watch routes so the experienced soldiers do the outlying territory, Cian can run with Kit, show him the ropes.” The older man was both strong and patient. “He’d still be a sentinel if he hadn’t decided he preferred being a trainer and advisor.”

Lucas made a sound of agreement. “Should work. Kit knows Cian’s the one who trained me, so there can’t be any cries of babying him.” Another silence as they listened to the rhythms of the forest, their animal halves content. “Your Talin, she’s human. Fragile.”

And Clay, despite his control—control great enough that it was all most people ever saw—was brutally physical, even for a changeling. “I won’t hurt her.”

“She thinks you will.”

It didn’t surprise him that Lucas had picked up on Talin’s skittishness. “I’m no Prince Charming. She knows that better than most.” Twenty years apart had done nothing to diminish the blood-soaked bond between them, warped though it might have become. “She’ll get over it.” No other option was acceptable.

“Our animals starve without touch, Clay.” Lucas’s tone was a reminder of the consequences of such starvation. “It’s not healthy for you to be in a relationship with a woman who isn’t willing to give it to you. Ask Vaughn if you want to know how badly that kind of thing can screw up a man.”

“You and Vaughn both courted Psy,” he said. “At least Tally doesn’t try to hide her emotions.” She might make him furious but there was no doubt in his mind that her feelings for him were just as strong. “So back off.”

“Good point.” Lucas shrugged. “Your woman, your call.”

Yes, Tally was his. His to protect. His to possess. Of that the leopard was as certain now as it had been the day they’d first met. That didn’t blind him to the second vicious truth—that she had run from him and into the arms of other men.