Page 25 of Brody
“I don’t know.”Haku’s expression softened with pity that made me want to scream.“But it’s wrong, Rozi.So wrong, that in all my years studying shifter communities, I’ve only heard whispers of it happening, like some kind of ghost story they tell cubs to scare them.”
I tried to laugh, but it came out strangled.“So I’m the cautionary tale now.”
“What did it feel like?”Haku asked quietly.“When you recognized each other?”
“It felt like finding something I didn’t know I’d lost,” I whispered.
Haku nodded.“And when he walked away?”
“Like he ripped out something vital and took it with him.”My voice broke on the last word.
“That’s because he did.”Haku’s eyes glistened with unexpected tears.“What that male did to you, it’s the cruelest thing one shifter can do to another.It’s worse than death, Rozi.In our world, it’s worse than death.”
I pushed the flask away, suddenly nauseated.The truth of her words settled into my bones, validating the wrongness I’d felt in that moment.It wasn’t just me.It wasn’t my fault.What he’d done was universally recognized as an abomination.
“I’ll never forgive him,” I said, the words emerging with a calm certainty that surprised me.
“No one would expect you to,” Haku replied.“No one.”
The memory faded, leaving me back in the present as I moisturized my face while leaning against the vanity, my fingers trembling.“Tomorrow, I’m just going to play nice with Brody, but absolutely no way that I’m giving in to our mating bond.”
And just when I thought I’d actually convinced myself, a vision of Brody’s hands snaking up my thighs and spreading them wide flashed through my mind.I shifted uncomfortably, trying to ignore the ache between my legs.
“Dammit.”I slammed my palm against the cold granite.“Don’t go there.”
For months after he’d walked away, I’d woken up gasping for air, drenched in sweat, with my heart trying to punch through my rib cage.Always the same nightmare, running through endless savanna grass, lungs burning, chasing his retreating shadow while my cheetah screamed in rage and pain.
Even now, my hands trembled slightly as my body remembered what my mind worked so hard to forget.
After his rejection, I’d spent years becoming a woman who didn’t need him or anyone.And now fate had thrown Brody and me back together in the one place I couldn’t escape without abandoning my research and the shifters who needed it.
I could do this.I could work with him without reopening old wounds.I could maintain professional detachment while developing treatments that could save unmated males in the Ridge.I strode out of the bathroom and pulled out my sleep shorts, tank top, and socks and put them on.Turning off all the lights, I slipped under the cool blankets.As I fluffed the pillows, a memory flashed unbidden—Kenya, Brody’s eyes looking at me with wonder, with hunger, with recognition.
“You’re my fated mate,” he’d said, voice rough with emotion.
And then, his cutting words: “Find someone else.”
I shoved the memory away, just as I’d done countless times over years.My being in the Ridge wasn’t about the past.It was about ensuring my research could proceed without interruption.Nothing more.
When Brody picked me up, there would be no personal discussions.No rehashing the past.Just clear professional boundaries.
I groaned when my cell on the bedside table flashed, and I grabbed it.Unknown Number (TEXT): Your grandmother sends her regards.Enjoy your last days of freedom, Dr.Dhahabu.
My cheetah surged forward with a snarl that vibrated through my chest.The animal knew what the human was only beginning to understand.I wasn’t in Black Forest Ridge just for research.
I was being hunted.
I wasn’t that helpless eighteen-year-old girl anymore.And anyone who thought they could take me without a fight was about to learn exactly how dangerous a Dhahabu woman could be.
I texted back two words.Bring it.
CHAPTER7
BRODY
After dropping Rozi off at the B&B, I strolled into Quinn’s kitchen through the back door and saw everyone either seated or standing around the huge kitchen island.Talking ceased.All heads—Jasper, Mack, Emmett, Rhett, and Quinn—turned to stare at me.
“Well, well,” Jasper said with a shit-eating grin, raising his Elysium bottle in mock salute.His eyes danced with that mischievous glint that had charmed half the women in the Ridge.“Look who finally decided to show up.We were just discussing how I’m apparently going to be the last pack member to find his fated mate.”He took a long drink and smirked, stretching lazily like the tiger he was.“Which means more women for me while you all become domesticated.My dating app matches are about to skyrocket.”
