He glanced at her and offered what he thought was his best apologetic smile. She frowned and looked away.
Crap.
That hadn’t been the reaction he’d been hoping for. Surely, she had to realize that a bit of roughhousing between brothers was perfectly natural. At least, it was in polar bear shifters’ houses. Didn’t she have any brothers or cousins?
“You’re lucky I don’t kick the shit out of you,” Brody said. “The only thing that’s stopping me is that I don’t want one of your mate’s first memories of you to be of you face planting and eating dirt.”
When his mate’s nose wrinkled, Sloane’s heart skipped a beat. That was the cutest damn thing he’d ever seen. She must have been scenting the air.
Her eyes snapped to his and another frown marred her brow. Couldn’t she smell that he was her mate yet? Perhaps he was downwind from her. Or maybe he needed to get closer.
“But just wait until we get home,” Brody continued. “I will kick your ass for sure, and I’ll get Alaric to help me do it.”
Sloane’s mate cut a glance at Brody and her frown deepened—she had to have heard what he’d said. Sloane wanted to reassure her that her brother hadn’t meant anything by that. Well, okay, he had, but they wouldn’t seriously hurt him at any rate. And shouldn’t she be impressed that his brother—who was quite big himself—would need help to overpower him? He puffed out his chest a little, just in case she’d missed that bit.
In all honesty, Sloane had thought he might never get to meet his mate. Most polar bear shifters lived in Alaska or Canada. It was extremely rare to find any so far south. The climate didn’t really agree with them. It had taken him years to get used to it, and even then he frequently got weird looks for shedding as many layers as he could. And some approving looks from ladies—but that was behind him now. He had eyes for no-one but his perfect goddess of a mate.
Polar bears shifters were highly unusual—and probably unique. They were the only species Sloane knew of whose mate was always another polar bear. Sloane had thought it was genetics or natural selection at work—a way of ensuring the bloodlines stayed pure because there were so few of their species left, but that was just a guess. The truth was, no one knew for sure why the rule applied, they just knew that it did. The same as why polar bears were one of the few shifters who could always tell another shifter on scent alone.
Sloane’s dad had died in a freak accident when Sloane, the oldest of his siblings, had been just eight years old. Their mom, who was a marine biologist by trade, had been offered a job in Miami, so she’d upped stakes and moved the whole family there, saying that Alaska held too many memories of the mate she’d lost.
Sloane, his two brothers, and his sister had all hated Miami at first. To begin with, it was far too hot—way hotter than they’d been used to. Secondly, it was incredibly difficult to find a place where they could shift into their polar bear forms undisturbed. It wasn’t too difficult to explain the odd sighting of a wolf or bear in most states, but a polar bear? Yeah, the person who reportedthatsighting would have been carted away by men in white coats. Sloane and his siblings had all settled in eventually and now, Sloane couldn’t imagine living anywhere else, although he had thought to make the move back up to Alaska one day when he was ready to look for his mate. Now he didn’t need to. He wondered what she was doing in Miami. Did she live here or was she just visiting? Did she find it as hot as he used to? Did she miss the company of her own kind?
“This used to be an upmarket bar,” the man Sloane’s mate was with said, glancing briefly at Sloane over his shoulder. “But it looks like they’ll let any old riff raff in now. Do you want to go somewhere else?”
Sloane froze. If the man even considered taking his mate away from him, he would not be responsible for his actions. Sure, he didn’t want his mate to see an unsavory side of his character, and he certainly didn’t want to spook her or come across like an asshole, but he could not, under any circumstances, let her walk away and risk never setting eyes on her again. The thought was too terrifying to even consider. And, of course, she would feel the same way, once she knew they were mates. His bear was worrying for nothing.
His mate seemed to mull over the question before answering and Sloane waited with bated breath for her reply. Sloane supposed he could just get closer and let her catch his scent.
“No, it’s fine,” she replied. “We can stay.”
Sloane let out the breath he’d been holding.
“I don’t think she’s your mate,” Brody said with a shake of his head.
Sloane rolled his eyes. His brother wouldn’t be saying that, or even thinking such a thing, if he could feel even the smallest fraction of the powerful emotions flooding through Sloan right now. There was no doubt in his mind.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said. “Of course she’s my mate.”
“No, really,” Brody said. “She can’t be.” His nose twitched a couple of times then he nodded his head. “She’s human.”
“Shut up,” Sloane snapped. “She is not.”
Brody just raised his eyebrows at Sloane and stared at him. So with a roll of his eyes and just to placate his brother, Sloane pulled in a deep breath, intent on telling his brother to do the same.
His eyes widened.
Her scent was strong and beautiful, but beneath the fragrant floral scent was undoubtedly the scent of human.
“Oh no,” he whispered. “You’re right. Sheishuman. How can that be?”
“Maybe you’re mistaken,” Brody said.
Sloane glared at his brother. “There’s no mistaking this. She’s my mate. I’m telling you.”
“Alright,” Brody said. “I believe you. But shit. I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
The man Sloane’s mate was with leaned across then put a hand on her knee.
