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Liza looked even more confused as she stood and shoved her hands into her pants pockets, taking a step closer to me. She wasn’t trembling. Wasn’t scared. I liked her courage. I liked it even more that she leaned into me.
Stone looked as if he might say something else about the two of us, but I held up a hand and stopped him.
“Meet me in the back parking lot,” I growled, my jaws clenching so hard that they ached.
“You bet.” Stone forced a smile and looked at her. I wanted to gouge his eyes out so he could never look at her again. “I’ll see you around, Liza.”
The fuck he would.
He walked around the side of the building. Once he was out of sight, I grabbed Liza’s hands. “I’m sorry for the interruption. Stay put.” I kissed her gently on the lips.
“Maybe you shouldn’t… here.” Her voice was soft, tentative almost, and I wanted to reassure her as much as I wanted to kill Stone.
“Don’t worry. I promise, everything will be okay. I’m just going to have a chat with Stone. Don’t leave without me.”
She pulled her lip between her teeth and nodded, then sat down again. Liza quickly grabbed several napkins to clean up her melted ice cream mess. Bewildered as she was, she didn’t hesitate to heed my wishes.
Liza trusted me, which only increased my guilt at hiding the truth from her.
I thought of her as I walked, thought of the man she thought I was: honest, honorable, decent. I was none of those things, and I was about to prove it.
I tried to keep a level head, but by the time I reached him, I couldn’t rein in my rage.
I shoved him into the SUV parked behind him, satisfied when the metal dented in the shape of his back. I grabbed the collar of his shirt and brought his face close to mine. “Stay the fuck away from Liza.”
Stone’s eyes were ablaze with fury. “You’re a bastard! If you had any decency, you’d end your mating bond with Liza immediately.”
What the hell? How did he know that Liza and I were fated mates?
I released his collar and took a step backward. “What the fuck do you know about the two of us? Have you been following Liza? Following me, you piece of shit?”
Stone scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Seriously? I don’t have to follow you to know what I know. Any fool can see it. Your scents are all over each other, and your auras are starting to intertwine. It’s obvious you’re trying to mate with her.”
This motherfucker could sense our auras? As an alpha, I could pick up on bonds once a couple was fully mated, but not before. I’d never heard of any shifters with that ability.
“How the fuck do you know about our auras? That’s impossible.”
Stone smirked and leaned back against the black SUV, nonchalantly hooking his thumbs through the belt loops of his jeans. “I suppose old Daddy dearest didn’t tell you everything after all. I guess he wanted to keep some of the delicious details to himself. Figures. He’s a shady prick who twists the truth to serve himself.” He paused and looked around, seeing if anyone else was in the parking lot. “The Wylde pack was known for their special gifts. Legends say that the elders made a deal with the Devil, certainly with a demon for the powers they had. Who knows? Maybe they were on to something.”
I had no clue what Stone was referring to, but I glanced at my watch. If we were going to fuck each other up, I wanted to get it over with because I didn’t want to leave Liza alone for too long. I twirled my finger in the air. “And?”
“The gifts were revered and celebrated, but for every gift there was a price to be paid. The pack had very low fertility rates.”
I really hoped my dad hadn’t kept this from me on purpose. I had to hold on to the hope that he knew nothing about this, otherwise, the motive for decimating the pack was very different from what he’d told me. Of course, I couldn’t think of why I would believe this fucker over my dad, but it was a lot to sort through.
“I was the first to be born in almost twenty years, and I came out of the womb with the gift of sight. I can sense things others can’t. Things that are invisible to the commoner’s eye.”
Interesting. He had my attention now. “What other gifts did your people have?”
“They had other similar gifts, but when it was obvious no other children were being born, we all felt that the gifts would die with me.” He paused and shot me a pointed look. “That’s why Liza’s birth was celebrated the way it was. Her parents were the most gifted of all and, considering what they gave birth to, Liza was seen as the golden child.” Now I understood his anger. I was stealing from him. A birthright.
Before I could ask or accuse, a man burst out of the ice cream parlor, his hands flailing in the air. “Hey! Get off my car, you asshole.”
We both turned to face the man who was ready to punch Stone in the face. If I didn’t step in to defuse the situation, the police would be called, and I would miss out on the opportunity to get some real fucking answers.
“Whoa.” I held up both hands and stepped in front of Stone. “He didn’t mean any harm. We’re just having a conversation.”
“Oh.” The guy looked at me and blinked, his eyes opening wide with recognition. “Sorry, Ty. I didn’t recognize you from the window.”
