Free A Mate's Submission: (Hot Paranormal Shifter Romance) (Ozark Mountain Shifters Book 4) by P. Jameson Page A

thing? Was that why he was able to…
    “No. I didn’t love her. I wanted to. I tried to. An Elder from my former pack told me if I tried hard enough, I could make her see. But all it did was push her further away. She crossed the pacific to get away from me even after I told her I’d never claim her.” He laughed humorlessly. “Why should she trust a wolf?”
    Avan froze. “She’s not a wolf?”
    “She is. She’s a shade. Never shifted. Didn’t know a thing about shifters until I tracked her down.”
    Avan eyes went wide. A shade . They were so rare they were almost mythical. Raised as a human, they usually didn’t shift until they met another of their kind. And then, years of stifled animal instinct came busting out all at once. They were dangerous. To themselves, but most especially to others.
    “Now you know,” he said, shrugging his shoulders and letting his hands slap against his thighs. “All about me. And why you aren’t just another romp in the hay. You’re the one my wolf chose, and the one I would’ve chosen had the decision been mine.”
    Avan went to him. She had to. She touched his arm and he jerked in surprise. “I…” She didn’t know what to say. Her head filled with so many possibilities. What she wanted to tell him warred with what she should tell him.
    She didn’t get to finish her thought though because he crowded her against the wall, and kissed her. His lips on hers were urgent, pressing. An emergency. Emotion poured from him as he worked her mouth, and she responded. She couldn’t say what she wanted to. She couldn’t accept what he offered either. But she could show him how she felt in this moment. That was within the realm of her power.
    So she did. Kissing. Pulling him closer, until she could feel every plane of his hard body pressing into hers.
    But she wasn’t ready to go all-in yet. Truth was, she might never be. She needed to think about the pack and how this would affect them. She needed to… think .
    She broke away from his kiss to stare into his sweet, smiling face.
    Fuck. She was going to be sick. The idea of hurting him felt like acid on her insides.
    “Lex, this isn’t a good idea.” His smile faded. “Not right now. I—“
    “I know. I know it all. I’m a distraction. I’m not submissive. You don’t have time for this. You want me to surrender all power. You want to play by rules I can’t hope to abide by. I know . But…” He cradled her face, gently sweeping his thumb across her blushed cheek. “I’m yours,” he whispered, his voice breaking with emotion. “And I desperately want you to be mine. I want to hold you through the night and wake up kissing you. I want to share hopes and secrets and dreams.” His smile returned, carefully, and it rubbed her heart so raw it must be bleeding. “I want so many strings that no one can ever separate us. We… we don’t have to be alone anymore.”
    Why did his declaration scare her so fucking much? Why was she rooted to her spot, unable to move, and terrified that if she didn’t, there would never be another chance?
    She wanted to cling to the hope in his eyes. To believe this could work. But he saw what she couldn’t hide. The hesitation. The uncertainty. The fear.
    He pulled away, trying to cover his hurt by looking anywhere but at her. Slowly, as if someone had pressed the slo-mo button on her life, she watched him walk to the couch and pick up his baseball cap.
    His voice came out strained. “I’m going to stay in my own cabin until after the challenge. You’re right, you need to focus. But… think about what I said. Okay? And… if you don’t want the same thing, I’ll leave you alone.” He let out a sad laugh as he stalked to the door. “You have my word, you won’t need to cross an ocean to get away from me.”
    When he was gone, Avan sank to the floor and let every emotion she’d bottled up beat her to a pulp inside. When morning came, she still didn’t have an answer. But one thing