Page 46 of Starting a New Life

“He’s terrified of shifters,” Levi said quietly, his eyes searching mine. “Ever since I met him, he’s been deathly afraid of shifters. I don’t know why, though.”

I sighed, my wolf yowling in distress. I didn’t want him to be afraid of shifters. Didn’t want him to be afraid of me.

But how did I prove to him that he didn’t have a reason to fear me if he didn’t even want to be alone with me? If he didn’t even give me a chance to help him?

“You’ve got your work cut out for you,” Rhett said with a laugh. “I think fate has a sense of humour. Giving you a mate who needs a patient and tentative approach is bordering on cruel.”

“Wait!” Levi shouted, his eyes wide as he turned to me. “Nix is your mate? And you threw him in a cell?”

I lowered my head in shame, rubbing my chest at the reminder that I’d royally fucked up my first encounter with my mate. “I didn’t realize who he was to me,” I grumbled, my wolf yapping.

I did.

But you didn’t tell me.

My wolf huffed, turning in a circle inside my chest. He was exuding unhappiness, and as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t fault him for that. Every step I took away from our mate was harder than the last one. My body and wolf both fought me, but what choice did I have?

I couldn’t very well sleep in front of his door, could I?

Maybe I could.

I’d need to post a guard in front of his room anyway.

My mate was a sneaky one, that much I knew. He’d not only managed to sneak into our territory and hide here for… I didn’t even know how long. I had no doubt in my mind that he could easily slip through our fingers if he wanted to.

I had an inkling he was good at running and hiding. The haunted look in his eyes and the way he kept flinching at the slightest things were proof of that. Something had happened to him. Something bad. And I intended to find out exactly what he was afraid of, so I could make sure he never had to fear it again.

Yes, my wolf agreed. Mate. Protect.

I would. But for the moment, I’d let him rest. The only thing I could protect him from right now was the thing he was most afraid of. Shifters.

Which included me.

The night was spent tossing and turning, and morning came way too quickly. Before I knew it, I was carrying a tray up the stairs, heading to the guest rooms where our newcomers were staying.

I could feel the pull to my mate. Hell, my wolf was urging me to skip my conversation with the new wolves in favour of tending to my mate. And damn if I didn’t want to.

I longed to talk to him, to find out why he was so afraid. Longed to see his face, all of it, not hidden behind knees or under hoods. I wanted to see how it’d transform when he smiled. Wanted to know what his laughter sounded like.

I also wanted to find out what he was hiding, what secrets he was keeping. I needed to know why he’d snuck onto our territory. Somewhere along the way, a couple of hours into tossing and turning, I’d decided he hadn’t done so with malicious intent.

It’d been wrong, and I’d certainly been angry last night, but… he wouldn’t have been enforcing our barrier if he’d planned something malicious, right?

Right, our wolf agreed. See mate.

I would see him, just… later. First, I had two other wolves to talk to.

Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door of one of the wolves.

“Yes?” came back immediately, but the voice was high-pitched and thin, the answer forced and rushed. I smelled his fear spiking as I opened the door and ducked to enter.

Wide eyes followed my every move as I stepped inside. I smiled and tried to keep my face open, while anger rose inside me. Jasper had told me he thought the wolves were young, but… fuck. This was definitely a teenager. Still all gangly, body mostly arms and legs.

“Hi,” I said, raising the tray a bit to direct his attention to his breakfast and away from my size. “I brought breakfast. And if you’re up for it, I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

The young wolf nodded. “Where’s Nick?”

“Nick is your friend?”