“What? I thought all shifters do.”
“It’s a long story…”
“Give me the cliff notes version.”
“My father beat it out of me.”
“Why would he do that?”
“He was ashamed of what I was.”
“Why, because you’re gay?”
“No…he hated that I was a white buffalo.”
“That’s it? A white buffalo?” Kahn asked, failing to understand why color would matter. “Oh shit! He didn’t like that you’re an Omega!”
Reeve’s eyes widened. “No…no, that’s not it. I’m an Alpha! A white buffalo is very rare among my people and my father looked at me as a freak.”
“Well, that’s just plain dumb,” Kahn said. “You’d think he’d be proud his son was so special.”
“Proud? My father never felt that about me,” Reeve muttered. “I was always a dirty little secret and he made sure no one ever found out about me.”
“What a fucking asshole!”
Reeve chuckled. “You couldn’t have described him better.”
“Yeah…well I know a thing or two about asshole fathers.”
“About that,” Reeve murmured. “How are you doing?”
Sighing, Kahn let his head fall back against the door frame. “Honestly? I haven’t really had time to sort out my feelings. Between worrying about my mother and dealing with my sisters who blame me for their father’s death…”
“It wasn’t your fault!” Reeve growled.
“Iknowthat…Josiah brought this on himself…at least that’s what my mind tells me.”
“But your heart tells you he’s still your father,” Reeve said, softly.
“Yeah…something like that,” Kahn replied. “Dumb…isn’t it. My father was a mass murderer…he killed my young cousins and yet I can still remember him when he was different. My mother told me yesterday he loved me very much, but it’s hard for me to accept that when it’s the same man who killed so many people in cold blood. Was he capable of loving someone when he had so much hate in him? I just don’t know and maybe I’ll never know, but I’ll have to figure out how to live with the incongruity of it all. Maybe he had two sides to him, like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”
“It’ll take time, but in the end, you’ll make peace with it.”
“I hope so.”
“Boss…you okay?”
Glancing down the hallway, Reeve saw one of his men standing at the top of the stairs. “I’m okay.” Then looking back at Kahn, he said, “We have more to talk about but I’d prefer to do it in private…if you don’t mind.”
Untangling himself from his mate, Kahn stood up first and then grabbed Reeve’s hand, helping him to his feet. “How about my bedroom?”
“That’s good.”
Picking up the bag he’d dropped, Kahn followed his mate into the room, closing the door behind him. Then leaning against it, he indulged in ogling Reeve’s body, imagining the pleasure it would give him. Everything about the man was perfect for him and he wondered why he hadn’t noticed it before. And that thought led him to ask, “How long have you known we were mates?”
“From the first day we met.”
Raising an eyebrow, Kahn asked, “Why didn’t you tell me? Were you waiting to see if I was involved in Josiah’s crimes?”
