Free Layla Nash - A Valentine's Chase (City Shifters: the Pride) by Unknown Page A

what I said. He needed to see my eyes and know I wouldn't tolerate any more of that bullshit. "I didn't. I thought I saw something and went to the balcony to look. Olga saw me leaning and she flipped out. She wouldn't listen to me. And then no one would listen to me, because I was just the crazy girl who tried to jump off the balcony and sometimes talks to herself."
    Smith nodded, and something flashed in his eyes. "I know that now. I should have said something sooner, Meadow, and let you know you're not alone in this. I'm sorry. I should have known."
    And again my eyes burned and I had to look away. He was the first person who told me I wasn't alone, and I believed him. A knot in my throat made it difficult to speak. "Well, I know now. So thank you."
    "Of course, my dear." He retrieved a dark bottle from the sideboard and poured himself a glass of something dark and fragrant, but when he offered me some, I waved it away. When I talked to someone about not being crazy and tried to figure out what kind of supernatural creature I was, I needed to be as clear-headed as possible. Smith sipped and studied the liquid in his glass, frowning. "We can talk more about this at length, but there is a book I would like you to read first. We can get into the practical details after you've got the basics down."
    "A book?" A laugh escaped before I could clamp my lips together, and I rubbed my forehead. "There's a book on how to be a muse?"
    "Well, there's a book of collected myths and stories about muses." He smiled very faintly and his pupils elongated into something surreal and disconcerting. "Not all fae are so lucky."
    "What are you?" I asked, sitting forward. The book could wait.
    He blinked and his eyes went back to normal. Smith shrugged one shoulder and took another drink. "That is something best left for another discussion. I am quite old, my dear, and there are a lot of misconceptions about my kind. So rather than dump all that on you at once, perhaps we should wait until another time."
    I wanted to pout. "Does Rafe know what you are? Does anyone?"
    "A few fae," he said, after a long a silence. "And no, the shifters do not know who, or what, I am. Some of my colleagues and compatriots know the full extent of my powers and reputation, but they are very few. It is safer, really, for them and for me, if we are all somewhat in the dark. The shifters only recently learned that the fae were more than simple fairy tales as well. They are still debating how we fit into their city, and though I mourn the loss of our anonymity, it may be for the best. We are stronger together."
    I searched my memory for any stories that matched Smith's demeanor or looks, but found nothing. Maybe he had more books laying around and I could find the answers there. I stifled a yawn and tried to focus on the questions still knocking around in my brain — and all of them had to do with the dark-haired man who'd called me his mate. "What does it mean, what you and Rafe were talking about? That I'm his mate? What is that?"
    Smith took a very deep breath, as if he had to draw the air all the way up from his toes and the earth beneath. "Yes. About that. It is a phenomenon unique to the shifters. Each one is born with a true mate, a fated mate. Sometimes they are lucky enough to find the mate, but it grows more and more difficult as the shifter numbers dwindle. Rafe believes you are his mate. For him, that means that you are a part of his soul. You're supposed to be in his life. And he, and his wolf, would do anything — move the world itself — if you asked. It's a love that I simply cannot fathom. I am not built that way, for that kind of emotion. But humans can come close, and the fae closer. So it is possible that Rafe is your mate, too."
    "But I didn't choose this," I said, slow. Uneasy. Rafe thought he owned me? That I belonged to him because of some trick of fate? I had plans, once I got back to school. And now that I knew I wasn't really crazy and could