Shifters on Fire: A BBW Shifter Romance Boxed Set (36 page)

Kolani

There was a reason I didn’t block Raya from texting me anymore. She was a friend of the family and thought, before she knew better, that she would be the one to mate with me. It made sense. Her family and mine spent holidays together and took vacations together. It was expected.

But she didn’t know what I had known since I was seven.

And then my father saw potential in bringing back the excommunicated clan of Talia’s people. Their women were fierce and protective. Their males known warriors and some said their bravery was derived from the demons they worshipped. It was all bullshit, of course. None of them worshipped demons, but it made them sound bad ass.

They were dying off—her clan. Some of them left clan life and denied their shifting ability and the rest were left to carry on a clan that had no hope or future without a good selection of males and females to make new clansmen.

Talia was one of the last.

It wasn’t known who her father was—or wouldn’t be told.

“I picked Constantine. You can pick next.”

My mate, who looked like the fierce warriors she came from with hardly any light in the room, chucked my water bottle at me, not caring that it struck me in the chest. “What happened to ladies, first?”

I shot her a snotty look. “Hey, I tried to let you pick the movie. You decided to fart around downstairs and you took too long. Losers forfeit.”

She giggled but quickly covered it up. “Well, now I know the rules at least.”

I nodded and threw an Oreo piece at her. “Now you know. Get ready. Constantine is freaky.”

~~*~~

We’d stayed up until four in the morning and Talia had fallen asleep with a handful of Oreo popcorn in her hand. It took me almost ten minutes to pry it from her hands. Funny how something that she originally turned her nose up at had become her addiction.

“It’s eight, sweetheart.” I whispered before my breath caught in my throat. My wolf reveled in the term of affection, but I hadn’t meant to allow such things—yet.

“Eight, schmeight,” she grumbled and nuzzled in closer to me, convincing me with each breath to forget we ever had to get out of bed.

And God help me, I allowed it until minutes later, the doorbell rang.

A jolt passed through my body, waking me up with the realization that this would be the end of my time with Talia alone. It wasn’t enough. Deep inside, I knew that no amount of time would ever be enough with her.

“It’s your mother,” my mates raspy voice broke through my sudden anxiety. “I’m getting in the shower.” She pulled away, but I stopped her, needing just one more second.

“You look like an angel when you sleep and waking up next to you might be the best damned way to start the morning.”

She huffed out a laugh. “Might? Please? I’m a goddess in the morning.” Proving the depth of her sarcasm, she pointed at her ruffled hair and the darkened crescents below her eyes.

“I stand by my words.” I yelled after her as she padded on the floors to the bathroom.

If I only had time to join her.

Talia

Watching Kolani and his mother back and forth was like watching a ping-pong match where neither player ever backed off the ever-strengthening shot of their opponent.

Kolani had spoken so endearingly of her before—I thought they got along great.

If someone put a cheetah and a lion in the same cage, that would be the scene in front of me.

“Mom, give me a break. We’ve been mated less than a week. We have time to plan corporate parties and vacations another time.”

There was no reason for me to have to impress this female, but the knot in my stomach told me that I would even if I didn’t have to. But it wasn’t for me. It was for Kolani. Even if it were for a blip in time, I could be his mate—to the best of my ability.

Not that it would be hard for him to find another mate after me—hopefully his true mate. People mated all the time just because they were tired of waiting for the right person. They got lonely—thought they were getting too old to have young—lots of reasons.

If anyone deserved to find their true mate, it was him.

“Talia—Talia—are you there?” The touch of his hand brought me back to reality. Shit, they had been talking to me. Now his mom thinks that I’m a flake.

“I’m here. Sorry. We didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”

Kolani turned an obvious color of red and his mom smiled and sipped her coffee with a shit-eating grin. “I didn’t mean—oh never mind.”

She flicked her pinkie in the air. “Oh Talia, don’t be so bashful. We shifters aren’t shy about our prowess. No need to blush like that.”

My cheeks didn’t care that she gave permission, so I changed the subject. “What are we doing today? Is there something you wanted to do Maarit?”

She put her cup down and by the lowering of her smile, I thought for sure, in one fail swift, I’d ruined the day. “Actually, I’ve got a lunch appointment with someone and then I’m going to do some shopping. Would you like to join me?”

I’d diverted my gaze to Kolani while she spoke. He met my stare second for second. Something had changed between us the day before. He’d hinted at it in words, but I felt it full force within me. And my wolf had her own, almost violent, opinion on the issue.

She wanted this male for her own and tapering her down was a real issue. I’d never had trouble taming my beast before now. I ran when I could, but for the most part, I kept her dormant.

As Kolani’s eyes bore into mine, I could practically feel her claws from the inside out—wanting him—salivating at the thought of him.

“Talia, sweetheart, I think she means you. Shopping is not really my thing.” He reached out and tapped me on the nose.

I looked at my mother-in-law and scrunched up my nose at her suggestion. “I’m sorry, but shopping isn’t really my thing either. In fact, I kind of hate it.”

Her eyebrow cocked and I felt the impending doom in the air. “Really? You’ve married the richest bachelor on the island, maybe even the state, and you don’t want to go blow some money?”

It wasn’t a real question—it was a test. But her test was failed on me. I had no desire to spend money that wasn’t mine, married or not.

I shrugged. “When you’ve been dirt poor most of your life, blowing your mate’s hard-earned money sounds like the opposite of a good time. Kolani, didn’t you say something about the movies and lunch today?”

He didn’t miss a beat, bless him. “Yeah, I did. Mom, I’m sure you can spend money without my mate, right? You’re good at that.”

Ouch.

“I can. Thank you. Give her a couple of years, Kolani. She’ll get tired of the nights you spend at the office. And eventually she’ll find retail therapy is her best friend. That and cocktails. Such a glorious duo. I’m going to get dressed. See you two for dinner or am I excluded from that as well?”

The veins in my mate’s arms were pulsing. Maarit had hit a chord with him and if my wolf was correct, the male she’d claimed as her mate was pissed beyond sanity.

I had no choice but to break in. “I’m actually going to cook tonight. Some of my mom’s recipes. I hope that’s okay.”

“Of course. That actually sounds nice.” Her tone said everything but nice.

Crooking my neck to make sure she’d made it all the way outside and was on her way to the guest house, I reached across the table and caught his attention by grabbing the tips of his fingers and shaking them. Touch was a big deal for shifters—and I knew he needed it.

“Look at me.” He finally did and after a few seconds, he threaded his fingers with mine. “Welcome back.” I smiled a bit and waited for him to come down from his frustration. “She doesn’t bullshit around. I’ll give her that.”

“I knew it was bad between them, but I’ve never heard her bad-mouth my father before.”

Hell if I knew what to say to that. I expected it. I had shitheads for step-fathers and had never heard my mother say anything
good
about them.

I grabbed his hand and he let me. “Let’s forget about it. I’m sure she’s just having a bad day. We all have those, right? Plus, now you know I’m not a gold digger—well, tuition money aside.”

Part of the deal was Kolani paying for my tuition. I didn’t want half of his money or his home or whatever. I just wanted school paid for.

He nodded but his face told me he didn’t like it. “I already knew that. I never thought you were. But if you were—there are more valuable things you could take from me. And that’s what—never mind. I’m going to take a shower. You need to get to the market, right? Dinner?”

He’d blindsided me. My gut twisted with the sincerity in his words.

“Yeah. Kolani?”

He had gotten up from the table and stopped with his back to me, the muscles in his arms rippling as he fisted his hands over and over. “Has something changed? Is this all still okay with you?”

Hands balled into fists. “No. It’s not. But I don’t really have a choice, do I? Anyway, you don’t want to be mated to someone who is also married to the office, do you? It’s fine. Two months, twenty-eight days, and counting.”

Last night he stroked my hair and rubbed my shoulders while he thought I slept and today he’s doing the final countdown.

Maybe this was a mistake.

A tear slipped from my eye as my wolf stirred within me. She knew better than I did. It was a known fact that when in doubt, refer to your wolf. Our wolves didn’t have the constraints of humanity. They didn’t second-guess things or allow society to take precedence over their raw emotion.

They felt and they trusted it.

They loved and they relied on it.

They trusted without hesitation—and my wolf trusted Kolani—recognized him for her true mate. The knowledge that she pushed into my conscious bowled my over with a pureness that couldn’t be argued with.

I slammed my fist down on the table.

Shit. Now I’d done it. That male walking up the stairs was right.

~~*~~

“What are you making?” He asked when we got into the Jeep. He insisted I drive since it was now my vehicle. “For dinner?” He clarified after I shot him a knowing look.

I flexed my hands on the steering wheel to relieve some of the tension. I was nothing short of twitchy sitting next to him now.

“I—I don’t know. Anything your mom doesn’t like?” Stammering was a kind word for the jibber-jabber that just came out of my mouth.

“What’s up with you?” He put his hand on my thigh and I swerved off the curb. My wolf had insisted on center stage today, not willing to be suppressed any longer. Being in my human form was a struggle. So when he touched me, we both flew into a flurry. “When I gave you this, I assumed you could drive.” He chuckled, but I found nothing funny. “Pull over. You’re killing me.”

I slowly parked on the curb and moved to the passenger seat when he got out and rounded the front of the Jeep to take the driver’s seat. This shit had to stop. My wolf would just have to deal with disappointment. His clan would never approve of a female with a career or getting a formal education. It just wasn’t done.

She whimpered, like I had a second-self in my chest.

“What’s with you today?” He repeated the question and ticked his head to me in between watching the road.

“Nothing. Just thinking.”

“Got it.” That seemed to silence him for a while. We pulled into the parking lot of the market and we stayed wordless until I realized we’d been in the store for an hour and hadn’t gotten any groceries.

“Talia, what the hell?” He grabbed my elbow and pulled me out of the way of an older woman who had become peeved at my lack of paying attention.

“Will your clan ever change?” I whispered. “Will there ever be a place for someone like me—a female who wants more than pushing out babies?”

He zeroed in on me. “Why would you care? You’re gone soon. You haven’t even unpacked your suitcase. The future of my clan is none of your business.”

Damn, that stung. The heat between us palpitated, a churning of wanting and anger that fueled my wolf on and made my stomach pull taut.

I couldn’t help it. The cognizance of who this male was had flipped everything on its head.

“Nothing. Shit. I don’t even know—just never mind.”

He pulled a little tighter, forcing our torsos together and I swore I heard a growl come from somewhere deep inside him. “We need to talk later. It’s not nothing. I can…” He rubbed his fist over his chest. “In here it’s not nothing. You understand?”

I nodded, mostly because the muscles in my head and neck were the only ones not refusing to seize up.

“My mom likes Salmon, by the way. And salad. She’s one of those no carb people. Know how to make that?”

Right then I didn’t even remember my name. I nodded, but barely. “Um, yeah, sure, Salmon, fish, Kale.”

We must’ve stood there for at least ten minutes. In the corner of my eye, I could see macaroni and cheese behind him and if I really wanted to piss his mom off, I’d make three huge pots of that—and only that.

The thought cracked me up and he gifted me with one of those smiles—the ones I wished were only for me. “What are you thinking about now? Woman, I didn’t know you were so—weird.”

“Weird?” I pushed away from his chest but then couldn’t bring myself to remove my hands.

“Yeah, weird,” Removing one of my hands and kissing my knuckles, he chuckled. “Weird is good.”

He pulled me after him and by the time I’d come out of the Kolani haze, he’d filled the cart with everything we needed and more.

The man was speeding like a demon and we got back home in no time. He shooed me away from bringing in any bags and put all the food away.

“We need to talk.” He broke the silence. “Before we have ears around here.”

“About what?” My voice was taking the nonchalant route.

He sat on the chaise lounge, the chair that was bigger than any chair I’d ever seen but somehow he managed to dwarf it.

“Why are you concerned about my clan?” Words unspoken and shared knowledge hung in the air between us. He knew there was something up and I knew there was more in his words than what they said.

There was no point in shading anything now but I tried anyway. “Your aunt—she wouldn’t be shunned if it weren’t for those archaic rules and expectations. I was just worried about her. She seems to mean a lot to you.”

He blew out a weighted breath. “I’ve had plans to make some changes for a while. It’s going to take a while, but it needs to be done. We haven’t had an alpha who actually did anything in a long time. But those things will have to wait.” There was more he wanted to say, the way his voice trailed off at the end made me think so.

Anger bubbled to the surface. “Wait for what? Haven’t females like your aunt, like me, waited long enough? You think we don’t have dreams—plans of our own?”

He sat up like he was one of the females that needed to be heard. “I know that. You’re not telling me anything I don’t know. But I can’t do it alone and…just…like I said, it’s none of your concern.”

“Can I help—I mean, while I’m here?”

He grunted and wouldn’t look at me. I almost choked on the tension.

“This clan needs a female of honor—one they can look up to—one with some power—to speak up for them.” I moved forward as though I was volunteering but then backed up just as fast. Kolani still wasn’t looking at me. His upper lip was curled in a wolf’s snarl. “But not you. You’re not going to stay with me. You’re leaving.”

My breath of a voice asked, “Why should I stay?” If ever there were a pathetic, baiting question, that was it. I couldn’t even believe it came out of my damned mouth.

His mother chose that moment to bust through the front door with more bags than I thought three women could carry.

“Here, Mom, let me help you.” He took the bags from her, not even blinking at their size or the quantity of them. He was used to it.

Maarit flounced into the nearest chair and did the whole Pretty Woman thing where she blew out an exhausted breath, completely satisfied with herself for a day well spent.