Win her back,his pegasus insisted.Our mate cannot leave us now.
Our mate can do whatever she wants,he shot back.But I don’t need to ‘win her back’. I need to find out what’s going on.
“So you have a shifter mate waiting back home for you,” Chloe said, swallowing visibly, her fingers starting to slacken around his own. “I… I understand.”
What? No!
Ethan saw immediately where he had messed up – he’d just said that shifters had mates, without specifying that that bond could be with a human.
Chloe’s face continued to fall as she tried to turn away from him, and it was the most terrible thing he had ever seen.
He tightened his grip ever so slightly, gentle enough that she could still move away if she wanted to, but firm enough for her to understand that he had more to explain.
She turned back, looking surprised, but still not meeting his eyes.
Before his pegasus could berate him further, he spoke again.
“I phrased that badly. Let me try again.”
He took a slow breath in and out.
“Every shifter has a mate, although most of them never find their mate, and settle happily enough with someone else.”
Chloe seemed intrigued enough that she was at least looking back in the general direction of his face, though his heart broke when he saw the sheen of tears in her eyes.
Hating the thought of her suffering even one moment longer, he went on, “Most shifters have another shifter as a mate. But sometimes, very occasionally, a shifter’s mate will be human.”
Chloe stared at him, blinking her big beautiful eyes, as she tried to take this all in. The beginnings of understanding dawned on her face, but he could tell that she was trying not to get her hopes up.
Tell her now,the pegasus said.Or I will shift and tell her myself.
I’m getting there,he snapped back.And shifting into pegasus form and whinnying at her willnothelp the situation.
“Chloe,” he said. “You are my mate. You’re the person I’m meant to be with.”
Her fingers twitched spasmodically in his grasp, tightening and loosening, and now her gaze finally met his, her eyes searching his face as if trying to work out whether he was telling the truth.
Apparently finding him at least somewhat convincing, she breathed, “But how do you know?”
Ethan’s heart soared. Chloe hadn’t told him to get lost. She seemed interested. She seemed…hopeful.
“Do you remember when we first met?” he asked, realizing how inane it sounded. It was only… what, yesterday? It felt like a lifetime ago.
At her nod, he went on, “When we shook hands, I knew it. The touch of your skin. That’s how shifters know.”
Her eyes widened. “That electrical feeling?”
He nodded.
“Okay. Wow.”
Chloe looked a little dazed, and Ethan couldn’t say he blamed her.
He watched her closely as he waited, giving her time to get used to the idea. Her forehead was creased in thought, but at least the sadness of earlier seemed to have dissipated.
After a few more moments of contemplation, Chloe slowly, deliberately pulled off her gloves, tucking them into her pocket.
Confused, Ethan watched on – and was taken off guard when Chloe suddenly rose up on her tiptoes and grabbed his face, pulling him down into a searing kiss.
