Page 40 of Until Forever Comes
“Ethan?” Richie said. I flicked my gaze to his. “I’ll make sure to let Crissy know you’re well and that you’re leavin’ town.”
His request came through loud and clear. Having me so close would be an ongoing source of conflict, which could only hurt my kin.
“Thank you, Richie,” I said as I blinked back tears and leaned into Miguel’s side. “I’m grateful.”
I clutched Miguel’s arm, needing his support, and he walked me past the nervous humans and out the door into the night.
Chapter 17
“TALKto me,” Miguel said once we were back in his makeshift den.
I looked up at him and opened my mouth, but no words came out.
“Ethan, baby, you haven’t said a word since we left that diner. You’re starting to scare me now.”
“I’m okay,” I said, none too convincingly.
“You’re shaking.” He brushed my hair off my face and kissed my forehead. “How about we lie down? A lot’s happened tonight, and I think some rest will do you good.”
“Okay.” I nodded and reached my trembling hand to my top shirt button. Unfortunately, I couldn’t control my fingers enough to get a grip on the button.
“Here, let me do it,” Miguel said. He moved my hand away and quickly had my white shirt unbuttoned, untucked, and on the ground. Then he divested me of my ragged jean shorts and sneakers and lowered me onto the mattress.
“Aren’t you going to lie with me?” I asked when I saw that he was still fully dressed.
“Of course I am,” he answered.
It didn’t take but a few seconds for Miguel to strip out of his black shirt and jeans and drop his briefs to the floor along with them. Then he kneeled down on the bed, unashamedly naked, and looked at me, his adoring gaze saying what he had yet to speak with words.
“I’m so sorry you had to experience that, Ethan. I know how much you care about your family.”
My bottom lip trembled and I focused hard on holding back tears. “Richie doesn’t think like his father, you know. And my folks, they ain’t like that either. You’ve met Crissy so you’ve seen how wonderful she is, how much she loves me.”
“Yes, I know, baby,” he answered softly as he combed his fingers through my hair. He lay down on his side, propped himself up on his elbow, and continued to pet me gently. “But they didn’t even tell the other shifters that you’d gone to be with me. You’ve told me that I’m your true mate and that shifters consider that rare and special—”
I turned my face and kissed his palm, the tightness in my chest loosening. “Yes,” I mumbled against his skin. “I’m real blessed to have that, Miguel, to have you.”
He sighed deeply. “Having me means they’ve essentially thrown you out of the pack,” he said regretfully. “You do know that’s what Richie was saying there at the end, right?”
“I do,” I answered. “But if you feel regretful about that, Miguel, don’t. I ain’t never fit right in the pack. This isn’t your fault.” I moved my hand to his chest, skating it over smooth brown skin, enjoying the feeling of muscles rippling beneath the surface. “You’re so beautiful,” I whispered as I eased forward and kissed his nipple.
Miguel took my chin in his hand and tipped my face back so he could meet my gaze.
“Knowing what we do now, how they plan to treat you, we don’t have to help them keep that land. They should be grateful we told them the land was being sold at all. Left on their own, they wouldn’t have figured it out until it was too late because they think they’re too good to talk to humans,” he scoffed. “They can buy whatever they can afford and deal with humans owning the rest.”
“No,” I gasped. “Please, Miguel. We said we’d help them. We gave Richie and Crissy our word.”
He looked taken aback. “Our word isn’t binding. Even if I had some old-fashioned notion of honor—” He paused and looked in my eyes. “—which I don’t, if the shifters won’t let you onto pack lands, they’ve changed the rules of the agreement. They can’t possibly expect us to buy land and let a bunch of shifters who won’t let you onto that land use it at no charge.”
“Sure they can,” I said. “They’re my pack, my family.”
“After what they said tonight?” he asked disbelievingly. “Even though they’ve kicked you out?”
“Well, yeah,” I said with a shrug. “That’s the thing about family. You stand by each other through the hard times.”
“They’re not standing by you, Ethan.” Miguel’s voice took on that angry note.
I gave him a small smile. “No, they ain’t,” I said. “But if I took care of them only when they were being good to me, well, that’d be right simple. Standing by them when they’re turning their backs on me….” I took a deep, calming breath, and then I looked into my mate’s eyes. “Well, these are the hard times.”
