“It’s a good sign you have all your memories back. We were wondering what you would remember.” Matthias gives me a meaningful look.

“I’m not going to tell anyone. I promise.”

“That’s good, Lana. It’s not only Teddy’s secret. Our entire family’s safety depends on your silence.”

“I understand. I’d never say anything. I know how to keep a secret.” I fold my hands like a good little girl repeating what the adults want to hear. Teddy seems so much more tense since getting back to the cabin, and something tells me it’s not just because he’s trying to track down the assassin. Sharing a secret of a lifetime is a big deal.

“Good.” Matthias adjusts his glasses, and the angle makes the lenses opaque, hiding his eyes. “Because if you do, there will be consequences.”

I gulp.

“I don’t want to scare you,” Matthias gentles his tone, “but we have to take our privacy seriously.”

“Of course. I take it seriously too. I promise.” I twist my fingers together. I thought Teddy and his other brothers were badass, and Matthias was the smart, scholarly one, but I’m squirming under his stern gaze. He could crack a terrorist in two minutes, no show of force necessary. “Are there any other humans who know?”

“A small handful. Most of them are mates of shifters.”

“Mates?”

“Shifters have mates.”

“Like a soulmate?”

“Similar. The concept of a soulmate in the human world is a cute idea for romantics, but for us shifters, it’s the most important thing in the world. A shifter’s mate is the one person in the world meant for him or her. When a shifter finds a mate, the animal self accepts the person immediately. They’re meant to be together. For life. It’s Fate.”

“Fate,” I repeat in a whisper.

Hadn’t Teddy muttered something about fate after the first time we had sex?

I squeeze my arms around myself to contain the giddiness welling up in me. Am I Teddy’s mate? The only one in the world meant for him? It would be the most wonderful thing that’s happened to me. I want it to be true.

I want to ask a million questions, but they can wait for Teddy.

“All done?” Teddy’s in the doorway, holding the phone he borrowed from Matthias.

“Patient’s checked out. All good.”

I give Teddy a little wave and beckon for him to come to my side. The line of his shoulders is rigid, but he prowls to me right away and drops to the couch to tuck me into his side. Immediately we both relax.

Mate. The word bounces around my skull, filling me with warmth and drunken butterflies. I sensed a connection with Teddy from the beginning. Does the mate thing go both ways?

“I have good news, and I have bad news,” Canyon says. “The good news is we found the drones and destroyed them.”

Teddy groans. “Is at least one of them in one piece?”

“No,” Hutch says. “Canyon invented a new game called ‘Smash the drone with a branch into a rock’.”

“It’s like baseball, but the ball is shooting at you,” Canyon adds.

“Sorry.” Hutch hands Teddy a cloth sack full of clinking contents. “We got a little carried away.”

Teddy reaches into the sack and pulls out a shiny black shard that's smaller than a phone. The sad remains of the drone. “Damn it. We could’ve used this to track the assassin.” Teddy scrubs a hand over his close-cropped head. “I’ll give this to the Black Wolf pack and see what they can do.” Teddy tosses the piece back into the bag. “Was that the bad news?”

“Uh, no,” Canyon says, “there's more.”

“Where's Bern?”

“He's with Everest. Did you call your Black Wolf pack crew about cleanup? Because I have some other coordinates for them. Longitude and latitude.”

“What did you do?” Teddy growls.

“It was Everest,” Hutch says. “He meant well. He's the one who pointed us towards the drones. He heard the explosion and saw them hunting you. We took them out.”

“Yeah,” Canyon interrupts. “It was awesome. They were whizzing around, and we were all like–” He karate chops the air, making “pew pew” shooting noises.

“Canyon.” Hutch makes slashing motion across his throat.

Canyon stops his dramatic re-telling of events, dropping his hands when he notices Teddy’s glare. “Sorry.”

“Anyway,” Hutch continues. “Everest told us about the explosion. He was watching from the woods. In fact, he's the one who said that the SUV smelled a little funny when he brought Lana to it in the first place.”

“Then why did he bring her and leave her there?” Teddy bursts out.

I put a hand on his back, rubbing it, and he falls silent, closing his eyes and squeezing the bridge of his nose. “Nevermind.”

“Well,” says Hutch, “Everest went ahead and followed the scent trail. So while the assassin was sending his drones after you, Everest was hunting him.”

“Please tell me you got him.”

“Sort of.” Hutch shoots a guilty glance in my direction.

Tags: Lee Savino, Renee Rose Shifter Ops Fantasy
Source: readsnovelonline.net