Page 15 of His Relentless Mate

Annika

“Iwant you,” she said simply. “I want you so bad.”

“I don’t know that I’ve ever wanted anyone or anything as much as I want you, but there are things you need to know. Things you have to understand.” He led her to the overstuffed sofa facing the fireplace. “What I’m about to say is going to be difficult for you to hear, but you need to know.”

“You’re scaring me.”

“No need to be afraid. I just think part of why we fell apart as kids was that we didn’t say all of the things that should have been said. I think we know better than that now, and I am making you a promise that I won’t not say things because they’re difficult. My niece told me one time that she is grateful for difficult conversations because that means you care a lot about someone—that you care enough to risk exposing yourself to them.”

“Your niece is a wise girl.”

Trace rolled his eyes. “You have no idea. But as much as I love her, she doesn’t know what I’m about to tell you.”

Annika took his hands in hers, looking directly into his eyes and seeing past the man who was willing to be vulnerable with her to the boy who hadn’t known how. “I’m right here, and I’m listening.”

“Any chance you’re one of those women who like to read paranormal shifter stories?” he chuckled.

“Who gave you access to my Kindle library?” she teased. For some reason, her quip seemed to make him relax.

“Then this might be a little easier than I thought.” He rubbed his thumbs along the top of her hands. Taking a deep breath, he said, “Have you ever wondered what it might be like if what was written in those stories was true?”

“Well, sure,” she answered, looking at him quizzically. “I think it’s why those books are so popular. The idea of being able to shift from one being to another is intriguing, to say the least.”

“Can I trust you, Annika? I mean really trust you? As in my life depends on it?”

She gripped his hands. “What is it, Trace? You’re starting to scare me. Are you dying?”

“No, but once upon a time I was.” He stood up, took her hand, and led her outside to the front porch. “When I was in the Middle East, we had an op go sideways on us, and we were trapped. As we were making our way back to base, we got jumped by an enemy patrol. I took the first hits…”

“Oh my god, Trace…”

“Let me finish, Annika. I knew there was no way I was coming back alive, so I charged them. My body shows scars from the wounds. I should have died, but I didn’t.”

He pulled his sweater over his head as he backed off the porch into the open area outside his home. There were a number of scars from what were most likely bullet wounds. But up on the top of his collarbone was a particularly vicious-looking wound that looked suspiciously like a bite mark.

“I was dying—sinking to my knees and everything was going black. My commander… he grabbed me and sank his teeth into me,” he continued.

She could feel the blood draining from her face. What he was saying couldn’t be true, could it? If it was, it could explain so much. Annika followed him off the porch and raised one hand, tracing the wound with her finger. He didn’t pull away; he just let her explore it. “Are you trying to tell me your commander bit you to save your life? Did he ask you first? In all the books, getting consent to turn someone is a big thing.”

“He didn’t have time.” He shook his head. “I thought the bullets hurt. The pain from his bite made those feel like mosquito stings. But almost immediately I could feel something zinging through my bloodstream. It felt like I imagined some kind of liquid lightning would. I passed out. When I came to the next day, the commander and I were the only ones left. We hid until nightfall and then made it back.”

Releasing his hands, she staggered back a step but then came forward to touch the wound again. Trace wasn’t joking. Even if it wasn’t true, Trace believed it and he trusted her enough to share it with her. “Was it…he… a wolf?”

He grinned. “Not all shifters are wolves. Some are, but not all, especially here in Alaska.” He looked down at the ground and then back up at her. “Thanks for at least not thinking I’m crazy.”

“I haven’t ruled out crazy yet. But if not a wolf…?”

Trace backed away. Closing his eyes, an enormous whirl of snow and fog began to spin around him. There was a sound of thunder as colorful shards swirled through the maelstrom and electricity crackled. The localized turbulence grew in intensity and speed as it enveloped him. When it fell away, where Trace had once been, a massive dragon now stood.

This time when Annika staggered back, she tripped over her feet and fell on her butt.

“Are you okay, Annika?” the dragon asked.

Getting to her feet, she nodded. “Trace? Is it really you? In most of the books, the shifters can’t talk when they’re not in their human form.”

“Which is actually one of the things they got right. However, dragons are far more ancient than most other shifters and so retained the ability to speak.”

“Ca… can you fly?”

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