Page 13 of My Shifty Bodyguard

I stand there panting, stunned. Holy macaroni.

“Wow,” I murmur in my head. “Fear me, woodland creatures. Fear my wrath.” Oh, yeah, and guess what, daddy? I CAN TOO take care of myself!”

I look around me. I’m near the edge of the woods. Near pack headquarters. I’m not ready to face Dax, the man who rejected me, yet. I’m close enough to see a pathway, and on that pathway is Lane, the very kind mate of the Alpha.

Impulsively, I hurry towards her. When I burst out of the woods, she turns to smile. Quickly, I shift back, fur receding into my flesh, bones cracking and re-shaping, ears sinking back into my head. I rise to my feet, naked in the cool breeze.

Lane smiles at me. “Your wolf is beautiful,” she says.

“Thank you so much.”

She peers closely at me. “And, you’ve been crying. Do I need to kick Dax’s ass for you?”

I blink miserably. “He’s just being Dax. It’s fine. He doesn’t have to like.”

Lane shakes her head impatiently. “Listen, here’s the thing. Dax is a very decent person, but he’s been raised in the shifter equivalent of a military family. Generation after generation of them. The Rowan’s entire purpose is to protect the pack. They don’t learn how to do tact, or subtle emotional cues.”

“He kissed me and now he hates me! And he’s all I can think about!” I burst out, then I clap my hand over my mouth, shocked.

Her eyes widen. “Oh. Holy heck. You’re fated mates.”

“I’m sorry, what?” I gasp. “No. Is that why I’ve been feeling so weird since the minute I met him?”

“It absolutely is. Nobody in your pack ever told you about fated mates before?”

I shake my head. “Nobody talks about it. I think my mother and father were fated mates and when she died giving birth to me, it nearly killed him. I’ve heard he was almost comatose for the first year, other people had to step in and run the pack, and it took him years to recover. He married Drusilla when I was three, because their pack had valuable mineral resources but they were weak, and our pack is strong and could fight off other packs. They love each other, and all that, or at least they’re fond of each other and they enjoy each other’s company, but it’s not like an all-consuming thing. I think because of what happened, he doesn’t like any talk about fated mates.”

Lane’s eyes shine with sympathy. “I’m so sorry about that. But…wow. This is an interesting twist on things. Listen. I…think we shouldn’t tell anyone else about it just yet. Just be patient with him, Violet. Keep his upbringing in mind. This is just new to him. He is honest, loyal, and protective, and he will figure it out. And right now he’s probably out of his mind with worry about you. You should go back to his house.”

“Thank you for listening to me.” I smile at her. “I hope you’re right.”

“I know I am.”

And with that, I shift back into my wolf form, and turn and dash back through the forest.

Chapter Seven

Dax

Violet shifts at the edge of the trees—fur melting into perfect porcelain skin, big eyes blinking in the sunlight.

I never let her out of my sight – but she doesn’t have to know that.

I burst out of the woods behind her, shifting mid-stride, paws slamming into earth and then feet, breath ragged. She startles, then relaxes when she sees it’s me.

We walk side-by-side into the house.

“Dax,” Violet says. “I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about.”

“I shouldn’t have run off like that when you’ve been assigned to bodyguard me. I don’t want you to geti n trouble. But you know what happened? I faced down a bear today,” she announces proudly, hands on her hips.

I nod calmly. “That is very admirable of you.”

“You don’t sound surprised or upset or mad. That seems like the kind of thing that would make you go all growly and…” her voice trails off. She narrows her eyes. “Wait. Were you watching me the whole time?”

I lift one shoulder in a casual shrug. “Maybe I was. Maybe I wasn’t.”