Free Two for Protection by Marissa Dobson Page B

they deserved to
know, especially Courtney. Mom always said you have to go into the mating with
no secrets.”
    “It
wasn’t your secret to tell.”
    “That
might be true, but you weren’t going to do it. No one else was here who would
do it. Tate and Hazel might know, but they would never say anything. Hazel
might have adopted Tate and accepted some of the shifter ways, but she doesn’t
understand mating. She doesn’t realize the undeniable draw to your mate, the
need to be with her. So she couldn’t understand the need to be completely
honest either.”
    Tad
ran his hand through his hair, shaking off the snow. “For someone who isn’t
mated and doesn’t want to be, you sure understand the connection.”
    “You
said it yourself, there’s nothing like it and there’s no way to deny it.
Keeping something that made you the man you are a secret will only lead to
problems. Courtney might be taking this well right now, even accepting there
are shifters, but you start lying, even by omission, and it’s not going to go
over well.”
    He
wanted to punch his brother. She was his mate. Did being raised in the
human world differ that much from how he was raised? His family was secretive,
so much that the children barely left the island until they were adults and
could keep their secret. Even then, only Devon ventured off for supplies, while
the rest stayed on the island unless they began to get desperate to find their
mate.
    The
brothers had duties to the Alaskan Tigers, and their kind. They traveled
frequently to the Alaskan Tigers’ compound, and on missions. They rarely had
contact with humans who were unaware shifters lurked in the shadows, living
their own lives. If he was honest with himself, he knew very little about the
way humans were raised. It had never been important for him to find out until
now.
    Whatever
differences he had from Courtney needed to be addressed before it caused
problems in their mating. Milo had spent years among humans; surely he’d help
Tad.
    With
no anger left within him, Tad let out a soft growl of frustration.
    “All
I’m saying is stop interfering with my mating, unless you want me to do it when
the time comes for you.”
    “There’s
no reason for me to interfere any longer. Just remember she’s been through a lot
and you need to be straight with her. Lisa raised her right, and she has a good
head on her shoulders. She’ll keep herself safe. You need to focus on Jeffery
if you want to eliminate the threat to her. If you watch over your shoulder to
make sure she’s not doing something stupid, you’re going to get yourself
killed. Losing one brother already this year was enough. I also don’t want to
drag your heavy body home and explain how you got your dumb ass killed to Mom.”
Without another word, Turi brushed past him and into the house.
    Anger
spewed forward, sending the bear within him close on its heels. He wanted to
grab Turi by the neck. Turi might be an adult now but he wasn’t too old for Tad
to give him a lesson he wouldn’t forget. Young bears needed to mind their
elders if they wanted to live a long live. He threw his head back and let a
deep growl escape, shaking the ground and sending snow falling from the trees.
The beast within him wanted to shift, to run off the irritation at Turi. The
only thing that stopped him was the sound of the door opening behind him.
    “Stay
inside, Turi, I’ve had enough right now.”
    “Courtney
is worried about you. Your growl shook the whole damn house,” Milo’s deep voice
called out. He never noticed before, but the sound of his voice was like
echoing thunder. So much command and compassion held within those syllables.
    He
turned to find his mate alone. Movement by the window caught his gaze. Turi was
doing his best to drag Courtney away from view, which only sent his beast
growling again. No one should lay hands on her.
    “Don’t
get upset with Turi, he’s only doing as I asked,” Milo said. “Courtney standing
by