He turned his head and took a deep breath, expanding that impressive chest even more. He’d always been big, but in his teens, he’d packed on a lot of muscle. He finally looked back at her.
“You should go patrol.”
“Yeah.” She paused though. “Are you okay?” It wasn’t like him to express such a range of emotions. He was usually very calm and unreadable.
It was a bad idea, she knew better, but she still rested her hand on his blue shirt near his heart. Warmth from his body seeped through to her palm and fingers. “Is something wrong?” She’d braved doing something reckless like touching him only because they used to be very close. “You can still talk to me. Anything you say will stay between us.”
His big hand wrapped around the back of hers so fast she startled, and she expected him to tear it away from his chest. To touch a clan member who wasn’t family or a very close association wasn’t permitted—unless they had to grab you for some reason. Like to keep you from falling over if you walked into them, as Kira had. Decker had made that law. His touch had been warranted but hers hadn’t.
It was a surprise when he just clasped her hand to keep it in place.
It was stunning when he actually stepped closer and lowered his head to peer at her. “I’m under a lot of stress.”
“I’m certain the other clan leaders are aware that not everyone knew what Decker had planned. I can’t see them attacking us.”
“It’s more than that. My brother was ordered to go visit a Lycan pack last week, and while there, he found his mate. She’s handling some family matters first but then he’ll bring her here to claim.”
Her heart felt ripped out of her chest.
Lorn’s father had helped write their clan laws, and would insist his sons follow them. Some were downright barbaric. Lorn didn’t need to say more.
Lavos was younger—Lorn would be expected to mate before his brother could.
Kira forgot how to breathe. The idea of the man she loved tying himself to someone else for life actually made her sway as her knees threatened to give way.
“Kira?”
She recovered but closed her eyes, lowering her chin to her chest so he couldn’t see her emotions. “I need to go,” she whispered. “I promised my father I’d be home before dark.” She tried to jerk her hand away but his grip only tightened to the point he easily could have broken bones.
“Look at me.”
She couldn’t do it. He’d see the tears she tried to suppress.
He suddenly gripped her face and forced head up. It was so surprising, she opened her eyes. His widened in response as she blinked rapidly to clear her vision of the tears.
“You care,” he rasped.
She tried to turn her head but he refused to allow her that dignity. She did lower her gaze. It was pure torture forming the questions when she knew the answers could possibly cause more pain. “Do you know who? Did you find your true mate?”
“No.” He paused. “My father insists I mate now. He sent word to another VampLycan clan and they found a candidate. There’s a woman who lost her true mate to death before they bonded. She’s desperate enough to agree to settle with me.”
Kira couldn’t bring herself to ask him if he found the woman beautiful. Most of the clan women were. It was in their bloodlines. The men were always sought after for their strength but the women were pursued for their beauty. They made for handsome children who grew into striking adults in the VampLycan culture. It wasn’t much different for Vampires. They appreciated attractiveness and only turned others they found beautiful. It would be a given that whoever the woman was, she’d want Lorn. Not only was he handsome but he was big, strong, and had gained a reputation of not being someone to mess with. Any prospective mate would appreciate all those traits.
Bitterness surfaced and Kira couldn’t stay silent. “Your father was alright with Lavos’s mate being pure Lycan?”
“Yes.”
It figures. The clan would accept a pure-blood Lycan over someone with human blood. It made the pain worse for her.
“Kira?”
She still refused to look at him. It broke her heart. All those nights she’d spent dreaming about him, hoping that somehow they’d end up together, haunted her. It had been stupid and foolish to even consider that somehow she’d be the one to get to spend her life with Lorn. He was a VampLycan and she was mostly human. Few of her father’s traits had been passed down to her, except a heightened sense of smell and she aged slower than a human. She’d never be able to shift forms or grow claws. The strength wasn’t there either. She’d taken more after her mother.
All the carefully constructed protective walls crashed down with Lorn’s hands on her, and being so close, she could feel his heartbeat under her palm. They’d played together every day as kids until that fateful trip to the river when she’d been fifteen. She’d never been a good swimmer to begin with but then a log had slammed into her from the strong current.
That day replayed in Kira’s mind. The air had been knocked out of her and she’d been pulled under water. It had taken her seconds to fight beyond the pain in her side before she could struggle to reach air. The other problem was part of the log had snagged on the shirt she wore, holding her under. She couldn’t break free. Death seemed imminent—but then Lorn had been there. He must have seen what happened and had come to her rescue. His strong arm had wrapped around her waist and he’d torn her away from the log. How he’d gotten her out of the water was a blur, but they’d ended up on the river’s embankment.