Zane looked to see if his wolf knew, but found him curled around David’s wolf, both of them sound asleep. Any information his wolf could give him would have to wait until morning. But his gift wasn’t the only thing on his mind—nope, he needed to know about the sparks that flew every time he touched his mate. Even now he could feel them—not as he did during their claiming—but a subdued version. Even so, nothing like it occurred with anyone else he ever fucked.So why with my mate? Too many questions and not enough answers!Refusing to think any more, his exhausting day finally caught up with him and he drifted off to sleep next to his mate, determined to find the answers tomorrow.
~/~/~/~/~
In the dingy, musty room he’d rented, Michael looked around, curling his lip at the stained and peeling wallpaper, the ratty threadbare carpet, and the lumpy bed.Striding over to his makeshift desk and turning on his computer, he sat down waiting for it to boot up. Looking at the rain-splattered window, he silently cursed, pissed to be stuck in this filthy hole instead of sunny Italy.And whose fault is it? That fucking whore who couldn’t even do one thing right! Shit, you’d think Brenda would be on her knees sucking my dick for giving her a new life. But no, she was too busy getting her cookies off caning and torturing her slaves.He had been willing to turn a blind eye to her sadism, but that ended abruptly when she let David escape.
Michael had spent years searching before finding a child fitting the description listed in the old book a witch had given him. He had no regrets about spending most of his money on his pursuit because the endgame would make it all worthwhile.David…my ticket to untold riches and what does the bitch do? Let him escape!Now his entire plan was in danger. Drumming his fingers on the chair arm, Michael decided Brenda had to go; it was time to replace her with someone without an attitude who would do his bidding.
Picking up his phone, Michael scrolled through his contacts until he found the perfect person for the job. Then, hitting the number, he waited.
“What?”
“Got a job for you.”
“Send me the details.”
“Right away.” Ending the call, Michael quickly sent off a text. If everything went according to plan, Brenda would be out of the picture by tomorrow night. He grinned as he opened up a program on his computer,entered a password and found what he was looking for. “Gotcha!”
~/~/~/~/~
David’s eyelids fluttered before opening wide. He saw the darkness outside as his nose first picked up his mate’s scent followed by the smell of sex. He grinned, knowing it’d be his second favorite scent of all time. Lying there quietly, held in place by his mate’s heavy arm and leg on him, he felt loved and protected—something he’d searched for and wanted his whole life. Now he had it, all because his mother encouraged him to run away.
That thought was bittersweet; his mother was still caught in the darkness surrounding the High Priestess. Sighing at his seemingly unsolvable predicament, David could only hope Zane would be able to help once he told him everything.My mate trusted me enough to claim me but now it’s time to come clean. But what if he rejects me after finding out about me?
Just the thought of losing Zane caused a sharp shaft of pain to pierce his chest, giving him an answer he didn’t want—he would die of a broken heart. Trembling at the fear filling his body, David was seized by a sudden panic attack; he couldn’t breathe enough air into his lungs. The harder he tried, the more futile it became and he began to feel dizzy from lack of oxygen. Darkness edged his vision as he tried to use breathing exercises a doctor had taught him, but it only became worse.
Zane woke to the sound of his mate’s distress. Quickly realizing what was happening, he rolled David over. “Look at me, babe! Focus on me!” Gripping his mate’s arms and shaking them, Zane raised his voice. “Look at me!” When David failed to respond, Zane felt timestanding still. Yelling sharply at his mate, he commanded, “LOOK AT ME, NOW!” David’s eyes fluttered before finally connecting with Zane’s. “Babe, keep your eyes on me. I’m here and nothing will happen to you. Everything will be fine. Just keep looking at me.”
David felt his body calm down and, blinking several times, he felt his panic recede allowing him to breathe normally again. Seeing the worry in Zane’s eyes, David said, “I’m better now. How did you know what to do?”
“One day a friend of mine had a panic attack at school and Colton just happened by and immediately took charge. When it was over, I asked my brother to teach me so I’d know what to do if my friend had another attack.”
“Lucky for me!”
“What brought on your attack? The last I knew you were sleeping.”
“I was but I woke up and I was thinking about different stuff especially how you’d react once I told you about myself. The more I thought about it, the more I worried you’d reject me and…”
Cupping David’s face between his hands, Zane kissed his mate’s forehead. “Babe, listen to me. Please stop worrying about it. There’s nothing you can tell me that would make me reject you. Nothing, do you hear me? Nada! My decision to claim you was made by me and my wolf because we know who you are. I don’t care if you never tell me anything about yourself because I know everything that’s important to me already. Tell me or don’t…it will never change how I feel about you, I swear.”
“But how can you say that? What if I’m an evil person?”
Chuckling, Zane said, “Babe, you can be no more be evil than I am. I know this about you, and so does my wolf. And my wolf is never wrong.”
Giving a slight smile, David said, “I still think it’s important you know why these people are after me.”
“Fair enough. Go ahead.”
Chapter 24
Taking a deep breath, David paused, trying to quell the butterflies in his stomach, threatening to make him throw up. He dearly wanted to believe what his mate told him, but after a lifetime of disappointments, it was hard to do. He looked down at Zane’s thumb rubbing circles on the back of his hand, taking comfort in that simple gesture, before he began. “I was born in the mountains of Northern Italy during winter. My mother was alone when she gave birth to me during the worst blizzard ever and how she managed, I do not know, but I survived. I don’t remember much about my first years of life except they were filled with love and fun.
“My mother had that way about her…always smiling and joyful. She called me her ‘miracle baby’ and I felt cherished. Looking back now I can see it was a hard life but no matter what chore she had to do, she’d make a game of it for me, so my life was filled with laughter.”
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?” asked Zane.
“No, I was the only child my mother ever had. I never met my father. It was always just me and my mother. She was my universe until I was five.”
“And then?” Zane asked.
