Page 25 of Whisker me Away
Kieran shoved the phone back in his pocket and continued his patrol, his tiger's agitation making his movements more predatory than usual. By the time he reached the town center, the sun had fully risen and early businesses were opening their doors. The scent of fresh coffee drifted from Twyla's café, mixing with the earthy smell of corruption that seemed to cling to everything now.
He was heading toward Bloom & Blossom to check on the shop's exterior when he spotted a familiar figure sitting on the bench outside. Rowan Ashford, his usually neat appearance disheveled with exhaustion and something that looked suspiciously like defeat.
Kieran's tiger perked up with interest. If Rowan was here instead of celebrating an engagement, something had gone wrong with the dinner. Something that made hope surge through his chest before he could squash it down.
"Morning, Rowan," he said, approaching with carefully neutral friendliness. "Early start today?"
Rowan looked up with brown eyes that held confusion and hurt in equal measure. "I've been here since about five. Wanted to catch Freya before she opened the shop."
"Trouble sleeping?"
"You could say that." Rowan's laugh was hollow. "Hard to sleep when the woman you're supposed to be planning a future with cancels your dinner at the last minute and won't explain why."
Canceled. Kieran worked to keep his expression sympathetic while his tiger practically purred with satisfaction. "That doesn't sound like Freya. She's usually direct about things."
"Usually, yeah." Rowan scrubbed his hands through his chestnut hair, leaving it even more disheveled. "But she's been different lately. Distracted. Like her mind's somewhere else entirely."
Or on someone else entirely. Kieran sat down on the bench, maintaining the careful distance of casual acquaintances rather than rivals. "The corruption's got everyone on edge. Maybe she just needed more time to process your proposal."
"Maybe." Rowan's voice carried doubt. "Or maybe she's finally figured out what everyone else in town already knows."
"Which is?"
"That there's someone else she'd rather be with." Rowan turned to look at him directly, his brown eyes holding more perception than Kieran had given him credit for. "Someone who makes her light up in ways I never have."
The words hung in the morning air between them, charged with unspoken accusation. Kieran kept his face carefully neutral, but his tiger was practically vibrating with territorial instincts. This was it. The moment when polite pretense dropped away and they acknowledged what they both knew.
"I'm not sure what you're implying," Kieran said carefully.
"Aren't you?" Rowan's smile was sad but knowing. "I've seen the way she looks at you, Kieran. Hell, I've seen the way you look at her. Like she's the most important thing in your world."
"Freya's a friend. We're working together on the corruption investigation."
"Right. Working together." Rowan leaned back against the bench, his posture deceptively relaxed. “Is that why she smells like your cologne when I see her after these work sessions? Or why her magic gets all fluttery when someone mentions your name?"
Kieran's hands clenched involuntarily. The idea that Rowan had been tracking Freya's scent, noting her magical responses, made his tiger snarl with possessive fury. "You're reading too much into things."
"Am I?" Rowan stood, his usually gentle demeanor hardening into something more determined. "Because I've beenpatient for a year, Kieran. Hell, longer than that. Courteous and understanding and everything a proper suitor should be. But if you think I'm going to step aside just because you've decided you want her..."
"This isn't about what I want." The words came out rough, his alpha nature bristling at the challenge. "This is about what's best for Freya."
"And you think that's you?" Rowan stepped closer, close enough that Kieran caught the scent of earth magic and barely controlled anger. "You think a woman like Freya needs someone who can't commit to anything longer than a weekend? Someone whose idea of a relationship is charming his way into bed and disappearing when things get complicated?"
The accusation hit its mark because it was true. Or had been true, before everything changed. Before mate recognition made the idea of being with anyone else physically impossible.
"People change," Kieran said quietly, rising to his full height. The few inches he had on Rowan shouldn't have mattered, but his tiger's presence made the difference feel more significant.
"Do they?" Rowan didn't back down despite being outsized by someone who could shift into an apex predator. "Because your reputation says otherwise. And Freya deserves better than being another conquest you'll get bored with."
"She's not a conquest." The words came out with enough alpha authority to make Rowan take an involuntary step back. "And if you think that's all she is to me, you don't know me at all."
"Then what is she to you?" Rowan's voice carried genuine challenge. "Because if you can't answer that question, you have no business interfering in her life."
Kieran stared at the other man, feeling the weight of truth settle in his chest. What was Freya to him? His mate, obviously. The other half of his soul. The woman who made his tiger purrwith contentment and his human heart race with possibilities he'd never dared imagine.
But saying any of that would reveal the mate bond, would put pressure on Freya to choose based on supernatural destiny rather than her own feelings. And despite his possessive instincts, Kieran wanted her to come to him freely.
"She's someone worth fighting for," he said finally. "Someone worth changing for. Someone worth being better for."
