Facing Off

I swallowed hard as I looked into his eyes, while my inner demon urged me to jump on him and mark him, but I wasn’t sure if he would welcome it. He turned his wrist before pulling me closer to inhale my scent directly from my neck.

“Mate,” he repeated, sending shivers down my back.

“I-I’m Tawnie,” I told him, my voice trembling with something I couldn’t put a name to as he pulled back slightly.

“I know,” he chuckled. “I heard every word you said to all of those other beings,” he growled, his demeanor changing to show his frustration.

“I…umm… But you didn’t come up to me,” I blurted, making him chuckle again.

“I had to make sure you were worth waiting for.”

“Umm, thanks. I think,” I mumbled as my face heated.

He smiled at me again as he reached out to touch my face, pulling back when my squirrel bit him and began to spit and chitter angrily at him. He narrowed his eyes on the small animal before rolling his shoulders back, still smiling at me.

“Your little friend is more than a little protective of you!” he mused, but I could tell he was furious.

“I’m sorry,” I said as I ran two fingers over the squirrel to try to calm him down.

“It’s fine. May I walk with you?”

“Yeah. I’d like that,” I gushed, beaming at him.

“Lead the way.”

I turned back around to head in the direction I had been walking in, while he fell into step beside me, eyeing my squirrel.

“Are we going to be friends, or am I going to have to eat you?” he asked, making my eyes shoot up to his angrily.

“He’s just a squirrel!” I snapped. “He can’t hurt you that badly! And I adore him!”

“And you’re my mate! I have every right to touch you!” he growled.

I recoiled away from him before turning to look at him. “I’m not someone you can boss around, so if that’s what you want, I’m not the one for you!” I told him sadly.

He took a deep breath before shaking his head. “I’m sorry, Tawnie. I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just that I never expected to find you. I’m almost 200 years old. I’ve been searching for you for 175 years. I never thought that I would have the chance to be with you.”

“I’ve been coming to the mate searches for the last 18 years. Why haven’t you come before now?” I inquired softly as I melted at his words.

He sighed as he stuck his hands in his pockets. “I took a chosen mate when I turned 150 years old. She recently died, which made me free again to look for you.”

My heart broke at the news, and I took a step away from him. It crushed me to know that he hadn’t wanted me as badly as I wanted him to wait, however long I had to find him. When my squirrel buddy nuzzled into my neck, just below my ear, I reached up to rub his tiny head.

“Tawnie? Say something, please,” he murmured.

“What is there to say?” I asked quietly.

“Anything. Just say something.”

“How did she die?” I inquired.

“Ummm, she was killed because she was not fulfilling her role as my mate,” he admitted, making me pull away from him again.

“Did you kill her?” I asked, startled.

“No. My family did.”

“Oh. Are they going to kill everyone that you take as a mate?” I pressed.

“No. They just want me to have the right mate. They want me to have you.”

“They don’t know me. How do they know I’m the ‘right mate?’”

He shrugged. “Fated mates are more likely to be able to do everything we need,” he told me as he took my hand, linking our fingers together. “And you’re my fated mate. That makes you the right mate.”

“Oh. I’m only 37,” I blurted.

He chuckled as he squeezed my hand. “I know. It’s okay. I’ve heard a lot about you. I know about the De Sangres. My father is a lion shifter in Vegas.”

“And what about your mother?” I asked.

“She was a hybrid—half vampire, half tiger,” he answered.

“Oh, that's cool. Can you shift?”

“Sadly, no. I didn’t inherit their ability.”

“Were they sad?” I continued to question him.

“My late mother wasn’t. My father, on the other hand, was severely disappointed. It’s why he left us.”

“I’m sorry. He sounds like an asshole,” I said.

“He was. He killed my mother because she refused to bear him any more children.”

I leaned my head on his shoulder as we continued to move through the forest at a slow pace. “So you’re all alone?” I whispered sadly.

“Yes.”

“Is he the one who killed your chosen mate?” I inquired.

“No, but it was his side of the family that did,” he told me.

“I’m sorry. You’re not alone anymore.”

He turned his head to kiss my forehead, and I had to reach up to grab my squirrel as he lunged at Jonas before he could bite him.

“I’m sorry about him,” I muttered, blushing again as I moved away from Jonas to a tree to put the squirrel on a low limb. I ran my hands over his body again before stepping back. “Thank you for your company.”

I went back up to Jonas, taking his hand as we resumed walking. As we weaved in and out of the trees, we talked about my family and everything that being a De Sangre consisted of. It was a lot, and I could tell that he thought it was overwhelming. I never thought my parents’ expectations for me were too much. I thought it was normal, but after talking to Jonas, I began to rethink it. I assumed it was normal to expect supernatural kids to learn the family business. I thought it was normal for all immortal children to learn to fight. I was absolutely gobsmacked to find out that it wasn’t. That had been the case for both me and my best friend, Storm. But then again, we had been raised by parents who ran the mobs in Las Vegas. I suppose that’s why our parents expected us to surpass the average child.

“Tawnie?” he called softly, drawing my attention back to him.

“Yes?”

“I was asking you if you wanted to start heading back to camp. It’s getting dark, and I can hear you being called,” he told me.

“Called? By whom?” I asked, and then I heard it. Osirus.

I grinned up at Jonas. “He’s always around me. I can’t wait for you to meet him! He’s great!”

“Who is?” he inquired curiously.

“Prince Osirus! He’s my best friend,” I gushed as I tugged him behind me on my way back to the camp.

“He’s your best friend, but you call him Prince Osirus?” he growled out, making me slow down.

“I call him that in public, but not in private.”

He pulled me to a complete stop as he glared at me. “What else do you do with him privately?”

My eyes widened as I shook my head. “Not what you’re thinking! I’m a virgin.”

He immediately relaxed as he nodded. “Okay. I’m sorry. It’s just, you know.”

“The mate bond. I get it,” I reassured him.

“Thank you. Come on. I want to meet this best friend of yours.”

I beamed at him before turning back to continue our journey back to the camp. We were almost there when Osirus bounded into the woods, tense and obviously ready to fight. He yanked me away from Jonas and turned me around in front of him, ensuring I was uninjured, while I giggled.

“I’m okay, Osirus!”

“I’ve been trying to link you,” he snapped. “You know I don't like it when you ignore me! What have you been doing? Or should I be asking who?!”

“I didn’t ‘do’ anyone. I spent time with my mate.”

Fire leapt into his eyes as he looked over my shoulder to glare at Jonas. “Are you her mate?”

He nodded as he held his hand out to him. “I’m Jonas.”

“I don’t care! If I link her, I fully expect her to respond!” Osirus snarled, making me elbow him in the stomach.

“Don’t talk to him like that. It’s not his fault. I didn’t feel you in my head. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again,” I reassured him, trying to cool his fury.

Osirus took a deep breath. “See that it doesn’t! You missed dinner, Tawnie, so I put a plate for you in our cabin. Go eat.”

I smiled as I turned around to take Jonas’s hand. “Do you want—”

“No one is allowed in our cabin except for us. Dad’s orders,” Osirus said, cutting me off.

“Oh, then I will move into his tent with him,” I responded, smiling up at Jonas, who had his eyes glued to Osirus.

“No, it’s okay, Tawnie. I understand his concern. We don’t know each other that well yet. You go sleep in the cabin, and I’ll come get you bright and early.”

“But—”

“It’s okay, Tawnie. I’ll see you in a few hours,” he told me.

I sighed. “Alright. Goodnight, Jonas.”

“Goodnight, Tawnie.”

After casting Osirus a furious gaze, I stomped off toward the cabins, ignoring him when he fell into step beside me.

‘What in the hell was that about?’ I linked him, too angry to verbally form words.

‘You shouldn’t be alone with him, Tawnie.’

‘Why not?!’ I snapped.

‘I don’t trust him. And neither should you,’ he replied sternly.

‘He’s my mate! He’s not going to hurt me.’

‘I hope not, but I still can’t shake the bad feeling I get around him. Just promise me you’ll be safe,’ he told me softly.

‘I promise.’

‘Thank you. Go eat, and then you can catch me up on what happened.’

‘Okay!’

As I bounded off to the cabin, I heard him sigh before whispering, “He’s not good for you, Tawnie. I can feel it.”