Free Mates Since Birth (Half-breed Shifter Series) by Miranda Stowe Page B

say. Feeling soft toward him, she reached up and caught a piece of his dark, silken hair before she brushed it across his forehead in an affectionate gesture.
    “I like how you took charge of the situation when you heard about the purebloods coming. I like how you thought of the entire community and took steps to save them. They’re all strangers to you, but you care about their well being.”
    He let his eyes fall half closed as she continued to play with his hair, occasionally scraping her fingernails against his scalp. “You’ve lived here twenty years. I figured they must be close to you.”
    “They are,” she assured.
    A beat of silence passed. Dane opened his lashes, his gaze swimming with tender emotion. “Thank you for jumping between your father and me to protect me when we were fighting. But don’t ever do anything like that again. It was stupid and dangerous.”
    Tender moment dissolving, she scowled. “I’ll protect you whenever I feel like it.” She began to remove her hand from his hair.
    He caught her wrist and tugged her against his chest. “I can protect myself, Ari. Don’t ever needlessly put any part of you in danger, especially because of me.”
    As his dark gaze brewed with irritability, the truth slammed into her yet again. He still cared for her. After all these years. It warmed her.
    With a smug little smirk, she announced, “I’m still not going to flee with the rest of the community. I’m staying to fight with you and Dad.”
    His nostrils flared. “The hell you are.”
    She batted her lashes in a playful manner. “Well, goodness me. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were worried about me.”
    “Of course I’m worried. As impetuous as you are, you’ll probably find yourself in trouble before they even get here.”
    Lips twitching, she shifted closer, rubbing against him. “You really do care, don’t you? Why is that?”
    He narrowed his eyes suspiciously even as he stepped back, putting an inch of space between them. “Why do you care if I care? You don’t even remember me.”
    “Ah, but I think I do. Except I think it hurt so much to lose you, I had to block it.”
    He dropped her hand and started to turn away with a disbelieving snort. “You don’t remember.”
    She reached for him, brushing her hand across his scalp, just behind his ear. “You like to be scratched here whenever you’re in your cat form. I remember that.”
    He sliced her a sharp look. “I hate to be touched when I’m in my animal.”
    She merely grinned. “Really? Is that why I remembering petting this huge, speckled cat for hours and hours upon end? Is that why I remember how you would purr louder than any kitten I’d ever heard?”
    He scowled, his lips tightening. “Only you were allowed to do that.”
    “Why?” Her eyes glazed with approval.
    His glower grew darker. “Because I thought you were special to me, okay? I thought…Christ! Why do you keep asking me these questions? What are you trying to wheedle me into saying?”
    “I want you to confess I’m still special to you.”
    “Well, maybe you’re not.”
    “And maybe I am.”
    He gritted his teeth and fisted his hands. “Goddamn stubborn-headed she-wolf.”
    Just a little more prodding and she’d get him right where she wanted him. She could sense it in her blood.
    “Yes, I honestly thought you were something special to me,” he hissed. “From the first moment I heard your fetus inside Jaycee speaking to me, I thought you were mine . You want me to confess that? Fine, I’m confessing it.
    “ But listen to this ironic little twist. Jaycee was simply the first pregnant woman I ever encountered. Turns out, I can hear the voice of every unborn child. It’s one of my shifter gifts. I ended up becoming an OB-GYN because of it. I midwife for shifter families and deliver their young.”
    Ari drew in a sharp breath, bitterly disappointed to learn she hadn’t been a rare case for him after all. Licking her lips to gain