Fighting for Keeps (Rocky River Fighters 2)

She nodded, her heart leaping. She tried to squash it down, but he spoke like they had a future, and she wanted it so badly, she hurt with longing. “Go ahead.”

Scrubbing his free hand down his face, he said, “I was born into a clan of leopard shifters. Very old school, lots of strict rules. Most of it was archaic, really. My family was at the top of the hierarchy. My bloodline is pure, and I come from a long line of alphas. I was in line to become alpha one day. But when I was seven, I was kidnapped. Taken by a rival clan for ransom.”

“Oh my God. Seth…”

Shaking his head, he squeezed her hand before continuing. “They didn’t hurt me. Didn’t scar me in any way. I was actually treated well while they had me. My family paid the ransom, because their honor demanded they do so. But I was forever changed in their eyes, in the eyes of the clan. I was considered tainted. Anyone who leaves clan lands is considered an outcast. I was shunned, ostracized. I couldn’t live with my family anymore, and no one else would take me in, so I lived on the streets, begging for food.”

“But it wasn’t your fault. You were taken against your will, you didn’t ask to leave.”

“It didn’t matter to them,” he replied, his fingers tightening reflexively on hers. He glanced at her, and she could see the pain in his blazing golden gaze. “Those were the rules, and they don’t bend them because of circumstances. They must be followed to a T. So I waited a few years, until I felt I could take care of myself, and I left. Roamed around for about nine years, and then found Ian and the others when I was twenty-one. And the rest is history.”

“So you left your clan when you were twelve, and spent the next nine years alone?” she asked, quickly doing the math in her head.

“Yeah,” he said with a shrug. “I did all right for myself. Started using humor to avoid serious discussions, or even feeling. Most of the time I’m a total ass, because I say stupid shit, trying to be funny. My leopard didn’t want to leave. He thought I was a pussy for bailing on the clan, even though they wanted nothing to do with us. He thinks I’m a quitter, and he’s been an unmanageable dick since I ran. Insults, taunts, fighting me over everything. When I fight, he gets very vocal with it. That’s why I have a hard time winning when I fight. He didn’t speak to me in a normal way until I met you. You’re the only thing we truly agree on, although we’re working some things out now. It’s not as bad now, because of you.”

“Until you met me?” she asked in surprise.

Seth took a deep breath and blew it out before answering. “Let me start by explaining something. Shifters have someone called a mate. It’s like a human marriage, but more intense. More absolute. There are no divorces with shifters and their mates. It’s forever. When you find your mate, your whole world changes. Everything revolves around her. You’d do anything for her, anything to make her happy. It’s… hell, I don’t know how else to explain it other than to say a shifter’s mate is everything to him,” He paused for a moment and stole a look at her. “And that’s what my animal told me right after we met. That you’re my mate.”

Seth told himself to breathe, but he could barely manage it, his nerves eating him alive while he waited on Amelia’s reaction. Her eyes were wide, and she didn’t look like she was breathing either. He still didn’t care for the way their relationship started, but at the same time, it had been real for her too, right from the beginning. That eased a lot of his anger and hurt. They could get past that.

And because they could, he wanted to let her know what she meant to him, what she meant to his animal. And the way she said she wanted to fight for him. Her words had hit him with the force of a wrecking ball, and he still felt dazed. She wanted him enough to fight for him. That was fucking everything to him.

“I’m your mate? All that you just described… I’m that to you?” she asked, voice shaky.

Turning to her, he took both of her hands in his and waited until she met his eyes before he spoke. “Yes. You’re all that, and more. My leopard says you’re my mate, and he’s right. And the man in me loves you. I love you, Amelia, more than words can possibly say. And I don’t want you to go back to England. That’s so selfish of me, I know, because you have a life there, an amazing career, but—”

“I don’t want to go back to England,” she rushed out. “I didn’t have a life there, not really. All I had was my lab, and I can find that here. Besides, I was born an American. I have nothing holding me there.” Pausing, she searched his eyes and took a deep breath. “I love you too, Seth. So much. More than I thought was possible to love someone. But I need you to be sure you can get past what I did. I’m a horrible person for even thinking for a moment that it was okay to do what I did. And I don’t want you to say it’s okay right now, or try to force it, only to realize down the line that it was too much for you. But if you really mean it, if you’re really willing to forgive me—”

Seth crushed his mouth to hers, unable to hold back any longer. Relief swept through him at the feel of her lips against his, her body against his, and it felt like she was reaching inside him and touching his soul. This, her—it was everything. When he finally pulled back, they were both breathing heavily, and her cheeks were flushed, her gorgeous hazel eyes dazed.

“I guess that means you forgive me,” she said with a breathless laugh.

“I guess it does,” he said with a wink before he got serious. “You’re not a horrible person, Amelia. You were curious, and you wanted answers. I’m not a big fan of how you went about it, but I also know we wouldn’t be sitting where we are now if you hadn’t. I was resisting my leopard’s claim. You pushed me into realizing that I couldn’t. We’re together because of you. Because of that, I know we can get past how we started. I’ll never resent you for it, or hold it against you. I promise you that.

“I want to claim you,” he said with a deep breath, trying to calm his pounding heart. “It would solidify the bond we have between us, make this permanent. I would do it with a claw mark to your skin. But I need you to know that it would turn you. You’d have a leopard inside you after that. You’d be a shifter, like me. So think long and hard on this before you decide. You don’t have to do it, Amelia. I want you to know that, too. You’re my mate either way, and I will always love you, no matter what you decide.”

Eyes huge, she stared at him, mouth making an adorable O of surprise. “Become one of you? Have a leopard inside me? I… I don’t… whoa.”

“Take your time, honey. It’s a big decision, and I don’t want you to rush it. But now you can see how very serious I am about putting the past behind us. A shifter doesn’t claim a mate unless he’s positive he wants her, because it can’t be reversed.” His eyes dropped to her lips, watching as her tongue made a pass over her lower lip, and desire heated his blood as his dick perked up, taking notice. ?

??I love you. I needed to say it again. You’ll probably be hearing that a lot.”

“I have no objection to that,” she said, her own eyes dipping to his lips before meeting his gaze again. “I’ve never had love, or loved someone else before. I don’t know how good I’ll be at it, or if I’ll be able to show you enough, or show you right. But I love you too, and the words are so easy to say to you. That’s one thing I know I can do right, so you’ll be hearing a lot of it, as well.”

Heart swelling impossibly big in his chest, he pressed his lips to hers in a heated kiss before he swept her up, carrying her upstairs to the bedroom. He was holding the most precious thing to him in his arms right now. His world, his life, his everything. He never could have imagined having what he did now, but he knew he’d die before he ever let her go.

The early years of his life were rough, painful, and just plain shitty. But he’d live them again and again if Amelia was waiting for him at the end.