Page 11 of Shifter Mate Magic
She loved the idea that she turned him on, but she knew it wasn’t just her charming self. “I’m sorry about the shifter-mate pheromones thing. I’ve been thinking about a spell to mask it. I don’t want to be a magnet for every horny shifter within smelling distance the rest of my life.”
Princess chose that moment to kick twice in her belly. “Damn, child, give me a break.”
After their brief visit to the Laramie truck stop, she opened the new Wyoming map she’d bought and tried a new spell she’d been thinking about. This time, she spoke their desired destination, then waved her hand over the map. The fastest route showed up as a yellow line, and the safest route showed up as a blue line. The lines disagreed on which exit to take, but they converged at the foothills, where the road began curving into the switchback canyon. The only alternate route, shown in green, would take them on a long and circuitous path north, west, and then east.
She showed the map to Trevor, who had her put it next to the threat map on the clipboard he’d rigged for easy reference. She made the traffic map into a talisman that displayed continuously.
He grinned at her. “After we get out of all this mess, I’m hiring you to do that for all my maps.”
It was nice having her small magical talent valued instead of disbelieved or laughed at. “Gladly, but your money’s no good with me, mister. I owe you more than I could possibly repay.”
His smile faded. “You don’t owe me for doing the right thing.”
She didn’t know how to respond. She downed the last of the chocolate milk and flattened the small carton for the trash.
In her experience, damn few people did the right thing just because. The people in the rural hometown she’d fled wouldn’t know the right thing if it smacked them upside the head. A statistics professor at her junior college traded grades for cash and made a mint because most students flunked the class the first time. Her fellow university students assumed she’d gotten her scholarship because of the color of her skin, not her flawless academic record. As a certified public accountant, she’d lost count of the number of clients who squirmed when she wouldn’t sign off on dubious tax shelters or unethical financial deals.
Still, her mother held her head high and helped people in need, even when they’d been viciously hateful to her. Her boss respected her opinion and backed her every time a client wanted to switch to a more “flexible” accountant. And compassionate, sinfully sexy Trevor helped her, instead of turning away or taking advantage. Every additional minute she spent with him had her reevaluating her plans for her future, because she wanted it to include him.
She looked away from his handsome profile to focus on the rocky slopes outside the passenger window. She hadn’t told him everything, and he might not want anything to do with her once she did. The last six months had destroyed her belief that she’d always do the right thing, no matter what.
He cleared his throat. “What do you know about true mates for shifters?”
She glanced at him, but he was focused on taking the sloping exit for the fastest route to get to the winding road to Kotoyeesinay.
Unease curled in her gut. “Roehm told his pride there’s no such thing, and the only thing females are good for is sex-mating for cubs, but he lies about everything. The pride’s cheetah shifter cuts himself every night until he passes out from blood loss, crying for his dead mate.” She slid one hand over her rounded stomach. “Barry said he was my mate.”
She tightened a fist to keep the tears at bay. She’d already cried too much for the life she could never go back to. “I thought he’d been kidnapped for the auction, too, but then I overheard the staff saying they had to sell me quick. Seems the leopard who’d delivered me forgot to mention I was pregnant, which they figured was why he’d taken such a low price.” She unclenched her aching hand and flattened her fingers on her thigh. “So, if that’s what a mate is, I’ll pass.”
“That’s not what a mate is.” He shook his head and drummed fingers on the steering wheel. “No more than a sleazy, cheating slimeball human with two families and a mistress on the side is a husband.”
“Hah! You must have met the former mayor of Weirtree.” She made a hissing sound. “The only reason he’s not still the mayor is his pregnant mistress shot him in the ass when she realized he wasn’t leaving his wife. Then she told the state’s attorney general about the dock on the gulf where he kept his boat and his slush fund.” She shook her head. “Before all this, I was saving every penny, so I could move my mother to live in Houston, away from all that holier-than-thou, good-old-boy crap.” Her eyes ached from unshed tears. “I can’t ever go back. Who knows what Barry told them. Everyone probably thinks I’m dead.”
“That totally sucks.” The truck slowed to a stop at the intersection, and he glanced at her. “I won’t pretend shifters are angels. We’re driven by dual instincts, man and beast. Prides, packs, and clans have to maintain secrecy to protect us from human fear and enforce the discipline that human society can’t. We have our share of greed and evil, just like any other magical species, though I can’t say we flattened a forest in Siberia like the arctic elf and winter fairy war did.”
He turned left toward the higher mountains and picked up speed. “But mates…” He waved his fingers and took a deep breath. “True mates—some call them fated mates—are part physical, part mental, part destiny. They’re our survival. Mated shifters gain better control of their nature and power, meaning they’re more likely to settle down, less likely to get themselves killed doing reckless things. It’s more than just smokin’ hot sex, though that’s a part of it. Shifter mate magic is life-changing.” His jaw tightened. “A true-mated shifter wouldn’t abandon his pregnant mate unless he was dead. And maybe not even then.”
The deep conviction in his voice struck a resonant chord. It was still possible that Barry was innocent, that some other leopard shifter had sold her to the auction house, but in her heart, she knew he’d done it. When she’d finally realized no one was coming to rescue her, and the poorly insulated mobile home had been so cold she couldn’t sleep, she’d come to realize Barry had treated her like a favorite sex doll to play with when he was in the mood, or shove in the closet when he wasn’t.
“Barry wasn’t my mate.” It felt so good to say it that she repeated it. “Barry Wills was a selfish, conniving bastard who couldn’t even remember my birthday, and he wasn’t my mate.”
Trevor nodded. “And I’ll lay odds that Roehm is as damaged as his pride. He probably can’t even feel the mate bond in others, so he thinks it’s a myth. He’d have gotten rid of any mated pairs first because their bond made them stronger, and their very existence proved he’s defective.”
“He’s way beyond defective.” She turned away from the memories of how he’d treated his people. “He’s violent and dangerous, and he’ll want me back. Don’t underestimate him.”
“I won’t.” Trevor’s expression morphed into grim distaste. “I thought you were ‘owned’ by Ricardo and Ruben.”
“I was.” She really didn’t want to have this conversation, but she couldn’t continue to keep Trevor in the dark. He deserved to know, and to make his own choices.
“I worked my way into cleaning for everyone except Roehm, who didn’t trust anyone in his space. I mimicked the submissive behavior of the other captives, so the pride would think I was harmless.” She caught herself rounding her shoulders even as she mentioned it. She only noticed it now because she hadn’t felt the need since Trevor had come to get her after the accident.
“About two months ago, Roehm needed to impress another shifter leader he wanted to do business with. He realized his office and personal area now looked like shit compared to the rest of the compound. He ordered me to do for him and watched me like a hawk the whole time. He’d just torn apart one of the lynx-shifter boys that morning, so I didn’t have to pretend to be terrified of him.” She took a deep breath and blew out the flash of fear. She was in a nice, cozy truck with a big, protective bear. Man. Whatever.
“After that, he had me come in every other day. A couple of weeks goes by, and I’m still meek and scared. He’s bored watching and starts leaving me alone for longer and longer. I started snooping whenever I could. That’s when I found his ledger.”
“Ledger?” asked Trevor. “That sounds more organized than I was giving him credit for.”
“Yeah, me, too. He makes a big show of keeping important papers and floppy disks in a walk-in safe in his office. It and his personal computer have mundane and magical alarms, and he mentions them often. That’s the distraction.” She made a flourish with her fingers like a stage magician. “I found the ledgers in the middle of some old paper files from the former leader’s days. Roehm has been robbing the pride blind, while keeping them at barely above poverty level, with occasional big parties when the grumbling gets too loud.”
