Was that his voice, growing husky with old longing? Remembering the innocence of those times they’d shared, before he’d grown hardened and cold?
Sam cleared his throat. “We brought her to you, Jarrett. We knew how you’d felt about her, before you got mated…”
His Beta’s voice trailed off. Knifelike pain sank into Jarrett’s chest. Ariel gave him a questioning look. “You have a mate?”
“Her name was Chloe. She died in a fight with jaguars a few years ago,” Jarrett told her.
Ariel’s eyes grew a deeper shade of blue. That Fae quality, the ability to sense emotions, even tough ones he’d successfully masked. She touched his cheek. The contact trebled his pulse.
“So much pain. So much sadness in your eyes.”
Sadness? Hell, it wasn’t sadness. It was a cold tomb encasing him since he’d held Chloe’s bloodied body in his arms, begging her to live for him, for their unborn child.
Then watching the light fade from her eyes.
Claws dug into his heart. Not guilt. His guilt was gone and buried in the ground with Chloe.
A luminous glow shone in Ariel’s eyes. Compassion. The Lupine Fae cherished their ability to connect with those who hurt. Jarrett threw up the emotional shield that had helped him endure the past thirty-one years since Chloe’s death. He drew back from her concern. He was Alpha, and couldn’t be seen as weak. Especially before a lovely Fae who’d almost stolen his heart years before.
“What the hell are you doing here, Ariel? You trespassed. I deal swiftly with trespassers. Or slowly. Very nice… and slow.”
White lines of tension edged her full mouth. “I had no intention of coming here.”
Ariel struggled to her knees, fell back. He reached out, cupped her elbow. “Easy now. You’re in no shape to leave.”
“And I suppose your men intended on that.”
Her melodious voice was low and hoarse, as if sandpaper rubbed her throat raw. She cupped her breasts in a protective manner. Jarrett glared at his men, who shuffled their feet. “Talk. You know the rules. You’re supposed to chase any four-legged intruders out of our lands.”
Sam shook his head. “She smelled too nice to throw back.”
“I am not a fish.” Ariel glared at him.
“No, but you’re a gift. For you, Jarrett. We knew how much you craved her.”
Jarrett rubbed the back of his neck, feeling his muscles tighten with unwanted sexual arousal. Ariel Abidos. Years ago, the lovely Fae shifter had teased and tempted him to the point of panting, and then slipped out of his bed before they consummated their bond. She’d even fled her own beloved colony and never returned.
Until now.
He needed a mate. Jarrett concentrated on Ariel. Those huge blue eyes, innocent and wide, were watchful. Her skin was nearly translucent, blue veins running close to the surface. Heat filled him as he remembered nuzzling her neck, tracing the delicate shell-like ear, licking the tiny pointed tip while his hands stroked over her trembling body….
Never again would he fall in love. But a new mate, that was different. Ever since their release from prison six months ago, the males refused to impregnate their mates. It was forbidden until Jarrett took a mate. The Alpha’s duty to the pack was to provide them with an heir.
His dreams of happiness had died along with Chloe and their unborn child. But he couldn’t bear to see his people suffer any longer.
“We’d die for you, Jarrett,” Sam said, spreading his hands out. “We love you, man. You kept our sanity all those years in prison. You’d do anything for us, and we can’t bear to see you go on like this anymore.”
His men, strong and loyal to the end. Emotion tightened his chest. He went to Sam and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Go, back to your homes, all of you. I’ll call for you if I need you.”
The men nodded, spared a knowing glance at Ariel. Jarrett shut the bedroom door behind them. Ariel glanced up.
“I’m sorry about Chloe. What happened?” Her voice was so soft, so melodious and soothing. He closed his eyes.
She’d said her name. No one else in his pack even whispered it, as if they were afraid of his reaction. The dull ache always present in his chest deepened into a sharp knifelike twist. He walked to the window, lifting the lace curtain with the back of one hand. Chloe had sewn the window coverings. They were too feminine for his taste, but he couldn’t change them. They were a small connection to the past.
Emotion tightened his throat. Jarrett swallowed past it. He would never love again. It hurt like a bitch when you lost someone you loved. His heart hadn’t been broken when he’d held Chloe’s broken body in his arms. It shattered.
“One of the Ancients, the powerful soldiers who fight evil for the Society for the Prevention of Malevolent Magick, came onto my land looking for my sister. She’d killed hunters who had killed her mate while he was in wolf form. I found out the Ancient took my sister’s life, and went after him, then all hell broke loose.”
Every muscle in his body tensed as he remembered. “Chloe was killed when she rushed out to find me. She was terrified and wasn’t thinking, and she got killed by a jaguar. The jaguars said it was an accident. I’ve forgiven them.” Even though there had been so much blood that day, teeth, claws and violence. “My men and I went to prison because of the fight. So did the jaguars. We’ve made our peace and moved on.”
Well, his men had. It was time for him to move on as well. He whirled and saw Ariel sitting on the floor, delicate features marred with dirt and blood. Pity shone in her eyes.
He hated pity. Pity made him weak.
“Why were you on my land, Ariel? Don’t tell me it’s because you missed me so much. I’ve been back home for half a year. If you wanted to welcome me home, you could have knocked at the door instead of crashing through it.”
“I didn’t plan on running into you again. I shifted to scent out a trail on your territory. I need to see what’s up in that cavern.”
“Why?” He went to her, crouched down and trailed a thumb over her soft cheek, enjoying the silky texture. Too long since he’d felt a woman’s soft skin beneath his fingers. He couldn’t fall in love, but he needed a woman.
Needed a mate.
Ariel quivered beneath his touch, her skin flushing to a delicate rose. Arousal pumped hot and heavy into his loins as he scented her sweet, faintly spicy feminine fragrance.
“My people are vanishing. One by one. Something or someone is abducting them at night. Thirty are gone now.” Ariel pulled away, her breathing hitched. “No blood trail, no signs of a struggle. Just empty beds in the morning and a dark scent pervading the space.”
He studied his would-be lover. She’d never lied before. Then again, years ago she’d sworn she wanted him as much as he’d wanted her, leaving him hungry and panting. Teased him to the point of going mad.
And walked away.
Even with the dirt and ugly scratches marring her heart-shaped face, she looked tempting as a fresh peach dangling from a tree. Jarrett’s mouth watered as he remembered running his tongue over her bare skin. Before she’d left. Now she was back.
“I need access to that cavern, Jarrett.” Ariel’s mouth wobbled. “Something is taking my people at night. Cael, our leader, asked me to track down the source. I’m the strongest wolf shifter in the colony. We need your help, Jarrett. I have to see what’s inside the cave.”
“I’m no Boy Scout. I stopped assisting little old Fae cross the street years ago.” He flashed a grin, feeling his canines lengthen. “Now I just eat them.”
“Cael