Engulfed by the chilly night air after climbing out of the helicopter, Reif realized he hadn’t taken the time to pack a bag; all he had was the clothes he wore.Of course, ifwe can patch things up it won’t matter because we’ll be spending most of our time naked,anyway. But considering the cold shoulder he received from Brian in the chopper, Reif had a feeling Kieran was right about him having to grovel before anything else would happen.
Once inside, he leaned against the front door, watching his mate start a fire, after which he disappeared into another room which he was guessing was the bedroom. Reif waited, but other than hearing some slamming of drawers, there was no indication his mate was even there with him. Sighing, he walked over to the chair near the fire, flopping down, wondering what to do next. It seemed his mate’s silence was going to continue.
Reif’s previous efforts to apologize while they were in flight to the cottage had been met with grunts, at best, until he finally fell quiet hoping Brian would be more receptive after they landed, but his offers to help had been ignored. Now, sitting alone, he was unsure what he should do to convince his mate he’d made a mistake when he left after the kiss, that it was ignorance, and nothing else. The problem was it didn’t explain why he rejected Brian when he spoke with Kieran. And when he found out his mate loved him, he suddenly understood the emotional turmoil he’d been suffering ever since the kiss. How could he ever explain his stupidity when he should’ve known better at his age? It was just a muddled mess.
“Are ye hungry?” Brian asked.
Lost in his musing, it took Reif a moment to realize his mate was standing in front of the fireplace, waiting for an answer to a question he hadn’t heard.Shit! “Uh…”
“I asked if yer hungry.”
“Yes, food’d be great. Can I help?”
“Naw, I’m guid,” Brian said, walking to the kitchen.
Staring at his mate walking away from him yet again, Reif was pissed off; he decided it was time to put an end to the silence. Following Brian, he sat at the island, watching his mate as he moved around the small kitchen. “Come here, much?” Reif asked.
“When I can,” replied Brian.
At least he’s talking to me.But considering the short answers, he was betting his mate was still angry.Fuck this.“I didn’t know my kiss would claim you…had I known, I’d never have done it.”
Whipping around with the frying pan in his hand, Brian spat, “Guid to know ye did nae want me.”
“What? I didn’t say that!”
“Ay, ye did. What I canna understand is, if ye did nae want me, why were ye on my boat?”
“I do want you!”
Banging the frying pan down on the stone countertop, Brian spat, “That’s a lie. Ye kissed me and then, without a how-do-ye do, ye left me…to DIE!”
Reif’s jaw dropped when Brian shouted at him. Then, shutting his mouth, he was at a loss at how to apologize for something he never knew would hurt his mate. If he had only understood what it meant when he kissed Brian, he wouldn’t have left—but his mate thought otherwise. Remembering Kieran’s advice, Reif began again. “I live on an island called Angelopoulos. It was given to my people by the gods in exchange for our promise never to steal again.”
When he saw Brian’s eyes narrow, Reif continued, “You see, we were created by a god who wanted his own private band of thieves who would do hisbidding…which mostly meant our job was to steal from other gods. Sometimes it was done by trickery, but usually we just concealed ourselves.”
“Ye can become invisible?” asked Brian, curious in spite of his anger and hurt.
“Yes…well, not exactly. The god gave us the ability of camouflage; I can blend into my surroundings. Someone could walk right by me and never know I was there,” Reif explained.
“What about yer scent? Can ye hide that, too?”
“If I want to…only on land, not in the water” said Reif. “I can also conceal my footprints.”
“What magic do ye use for that?” growled Brian.
“The god gave my people other attributes…like anti-tracking.”
“Ye have that?” Brian asked, skepticism in his voice.
“Yes,” Reif snorted in disgust, “we’re perfect thieves. We can blend in even while moving and avoid anyone who tries to track us. I know it sounds great, but let me tell you, it was a miserable existence because the god played a cruel joke on us…he gave us a strong sense of guilt. So every time we stole something, there was always an internal fight with our conscience. As you can imagine, it tore us up so one of my ancestors decided enough was enough and he got himself caught, exposing us to the rest of the gods.”
“Ay, strange. So what happened?” Brian asked, now fascinated.
Snorting, Reif said, “Huh! There was hell to pay and, at first most of the gods wanted us destroyed, but then one spoke in our defense, saying we were the victims of the god who had created us and should not be punished forwhat he did. For several days our existence hung in the balance, but, finally, the gods decided to let us live, only if we swore never to steal again. In exchange for our word, we were given Angelopoulos where we were supposed to live in peace.”
“I sense a ‘but’ in there somewhere,” said Brian.
Nodding, Reif said, “The gods wanted to make sure no one could ever use us for thieving again, so Angelopoulos is hidden from the world by the same camouflage the god gave us. Our island is a thriving community with over a thousand shifters but if someone flew over it or passed it on a boat, they’d never see it.”
