Still, she refused to give him a reason.
An unrelenting determination goaded him to push for more. He crowded into her personal space, plastering his bare chest to her stiff back. He dipped his head to the curve of her neck, the same delectable neck he’d dreamt of marking for years, and inhaled her scent. The sweet tinge of honeysuckle wrapped around his senses, driving the Wolf inside him nuts. She attempted to move away, but he slid an arm around her stomach, holding her in place. He ran his lips along the column of her throat while his body absorbed the tremble passing through her frame.
“Why, Kate? Why do you keep denying me?”
For one flicker of a moment, he thought she might give him a straight answer. Instead, she choked out, “It’s not meant to be. Please, leave me alone. I’m begging you.”
Fuck, she always pushed him away. Always kept to herself. Never trusted him enough to speak of her reservations. No matter how hard he tried to convince her she could open up to him, she ran.
Always.
Did she have any clue how much her denials affected him? His heart could only withstand so many jabs before it shattered into pieces, and she didn’t seem to care one damn bit.
“Fine. I’m going home.” Stephen heaved a frustrated sigh and dropped his arm. For once, he was too tired to chase her. He’d just tell her what he’d come to say and be on his way.
He stalked to the edge of the porch and paused on the last step. “Some hunters from Collins have been snooping around after Marston. I found traces of a human trail near the pack’s territory earlier tonight when I ran the borders. Be sure to keep your doors locked and don’t venture into the woods alone until this shit is sorted out.”
With his warning delivered, he stepped off the porch onto the dewy grass, the dampness tickling between his toes. Her faint sniffle reached his ears, and he forced himself not to race back to comfort her. Instead, he worked on steadying his thrumming pulse. Pushing past low-hanging branches, he slipped into a dense copse of trees behind her house and halted long enough to hear the slam of her screen door. Tilting his head to the side, he waited for the flip of her backdoor lock. At the low click, he continued on his way home to another morning spent in his lonely bed without his mate.
Chapter Two
Kate swallowed a mouthful of beer and attempted to drown out the noise around her. As the only hole-in-the-wall bar in the shifter town of Los Lobos, the Den was packed to capacity tonight. And not a single person in the overcrowded bar garnered a speck of her interest. That is, no one except the man across the bar standing beside a pool table.
She peeked over her shoulder, and her grip tightened on her beer bottle. She gritted her teeth as Tanya, the perky, blonde skank of the pack, smiled and clung to Stephen’s arm while he spoke to his friend, Wes. Apparently, it hadn’t taken Stephen too long to move on to his next conquest. Not once had he bothered to look in her direction since she’d entered the bar an hour before.
What did she expect? She’d all but begged him on bended knee to leave her alone.
Of course, she hadn’t anticipated he would jump to the next piece of ass so soon, or that seeing him with another woman would sting as much.
But it did, damn it.
Irritated with him, herself, and the whole damn world, she rolled her eyes, faced the bar, and jumped when she noticed Gee standing in front of her. For a big man, he damn sure moved with stealth. He stared down at her, a frown tugging at his mouth. His penetrating gaze speared her where she sat.
“When are you going to do yourself a favor and just accept the man?”
Kate’s mouth dropped open. The large, Native American Bear shifter was friendly enough, but he wasn’t one to typically initiate conversation.
She picked at the label on her beer. “It would never work, Gee.”
He threw his bar towel over his shoulder and rested his tanned forearms against the edge of the bar. “Because you’re too stubborn.”
“I have my reasons.”
“Your reasons are stupid.” He scowled. “You’re not the first it’s happened to, you know.”
Her head snapped up, and she searched his dark brown eyes. No one knew of her inability to shift. Not even her brother, Jace. She’d gone out of her way to hide it from her family and pack since puberty when she’d learned of her affliction. For years, she’d used excuse after excuse to not shift in the company of her pack. Most, her family included, chalked it up to her being a bit out of the ordinary and desiring privacy. Thankfully, they’d all let her be and never questioned her weirdness. But it seemed Gee had guessed her secret.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She shook her head. “How about another beer?”
“It’s not as uncommon as you think. Many before you have suffered the same, and oftentimes there is a solution.”