Chapter Fourteen

I watched her leave, she was putting that pretty, sweet mask back on but it couldn't hide how fucking vulnerable she looked. I grimaced slightly as I followed her, unwilling to let her leave my line of sight or my reach of protection. My touch had caused her to have a full blown panic attack. I didn't know why or how but there it was. She had panicked and wheezed and I was reminded of Maricella when she would wake up panicking due to the demons inside her head.

The only saving grace was that I had been able to help her calm down. She had looked so utterly heartbroken and panicked that my own heart had seized in my chest. My wolf snapped and snarled in my head at the thought that someone out there had done something to cause that reaction, to hurt her in such a way that a touch would cause her to panic like that. I watched as her shoulders rolled forward slightly. She was uncomfortable and she was vulnerable and I hated that I had made her feel like that.

I kept in pace behind her as she moved down the stairs. She was ignoring me, I could feel it but I let it stand. I had pushed her too far and she needed space. My wolf disagreed, he wanted her wrapped in our arms. He wanted her to understand how much we cared for her, how much we would do to protect her. There was no lengths my wolf wouldn't go to ensure her safety and protection, the images he constantly flashed in my mind cemented that fact.

She was our future, the pack's future, and we both wouldn't abide by a single thing harming her. The Hunter had just been a warning. We didn't care about titles or positions or who a person was related to. If they harmed our mate we would react the same as we had with the Hunter. It was simply instinct. It didn't matter that I was aware I barely knew her, the bond was there and it made its demands known. I wasn't about to deny it either.

I watched as she hit the bottom of the stairs and looked around as if lost for a moment. "Study is first doorway down the kitchen hallway." I said it carefully and she didn't acknowledge my words but moved to where I had directed. I kept back a few feet from her, I let her have her space. She was a complicated creature. I had never seen anyone fight a mate bond like she did and if I hadn't known better, I would have been afraid she would win against it. However Gamgam had told me that the bond would adapt to situations. My little cat could fight the bond all she wanted but in the end it would useless. The bond would twist and change, wiggling into the cracks of her armor, ignoring her fighting, using it to her advantage.

My wolf didn't like how much she fought against it, against us but I understood her wariness. Gamgam had told me she was a Respingere Colector, a Collector of Rejection. Gamgam was certain she was unwilling in that department but I wasn't aware of how many rejections there had been. We hated that she had been rejected at all but the fact that the rejections had brought her to us soothed our anger a tiny fraction. Not enough to lessen it completely but just enough that it made us aware that if she hadn't been rejected by her previous mates then she would have never come onto our territory, she would never have been ours. I quite liked the thought that such a beautiful and smart female was mine.

She pushed open the door to the study and I moved closer to her, the instinct to protect her was strong. There were numerous wolves in the room and wolves could sense weakness. I didn't want to admit it but with her being so vulnerable, she was a target.

"So good of you two to join us!" Jovan's voice was amused as he looked us over with a knowing glint in his eyes. "Thank you for the drinks." He held up his glass before taking a large drink of the amber liquid. I wasn't quite sure about the councilman. They never came out to give lectures, they usually left it for the lower Hunters to deal with. His presence was making me and my wolf tense.

"You are welcome, councilman Edwards." I nodded at him and followed Pisică as she sat in a chair further away from the group of Hunters that stood beside the door. I glanced at the other empty chair. It was a seat of power but I glanced at my mate and knew it was more important to show my preference for her over power. Family before pack, before power.

"Please call me Jovan." His voice still held a bit of amusement as I moved to stand behind Pisică's chair. I could feel her stiffen but I kept my face blank as I glanced around the room, letting the people within it know just where I stood. I would always choose my mate over power and for some reason I knew that is irritated my cat to no end. "Will you sit, Alpha Sterling?" I could tell the old shifter approved of my stance, approved of me wishing to protect my mate's weakness instead of choosing a position of power.

"No, Jovan. I'm fine where I am." I rested a hand on the back of my chair. I wanted it to her shoulder but I knew better than to attempt the action with how she was feeling. I had a feeling she might retaliate by biting me or doing something unspeakable to me that would render me unable to have children. The thought had my thighs almost clenching in reflex.

"How's your drink, Jovan?" Her voice was sweet and polite as she turned her attention to the councilman. She seemed fond of him, it seemed pretty clear. My wolf was unsure of who to feel about it. On one hand he did not want her to be fond of anyone without her being fond of us first but on the other he enjoyed hearing her laugh and seeing her smile.

"It is wonderful, my dear. Would you like some?" He looked sincere and Pisică shook her head softly.

"Whiskey and I do not have a good relationship." There was a tinge of humor to her voice and I basked in it. "If you wish for me to let loose and demand everyone in this room to fight me and then carry through with that then I would have a drink but as it stands, I figure it is best to remain passive." There was a story with her words and I knew that Jovan could hear it as clearly as I could.

"You must have lived an exciting life. So have you ever actually won a bar fight you have started?" He looked amused, his brown eyes twinkling in his lined face. It was if he and Pisică shared an easy rapport.

"I've never lost one but that is a story for anther time, Jovan. Please, let us know why your presence was required here." She was very good at guiding conversations, keeping them on track and I felt pride fill my chest at the thought. She was the perfect Alpha Female. It was very clear that she had a massive amount of training, I just didn't know from where.

"Oh forgive me." He waved her off slightly as he set his glass down on the side table. "I am here because I wished to be. They could have sent any low level Hunter but I wished to come to deliver the message." He leaned back in his chair and I caught one of the Hunters shifting as if nervous. My eyes locked onto his form and the instant he caught my gaze he seemed to shrink under it, swallowing convulsively with nervousness. I made them all nervous for some reason. "I personally read your report and I figured anyone who could write such a detailed report knew exactly what they were doing with the Hunter." He steepled his fingers as he looked between us.

"It intrigued me but also let me know you weren't just some Alphas hellbent on destroying relations with the Hunters. There was a reason for it." The words jolted me as agitation rose up sharply. Of course there was a reason. I wouldn't kill without one.

"Of course there was a reason. He coveted what was mine and placed his hands on her without her permission." I couldn't help the growl that threaded through the words. They had all done something against my mate but he was the one who persisted. It was why he was dead. The eight Hunters in the room shuffled nervously, their hands moving to their weapons. I bared my teeth at them in a silent snarl.

Jovan lifted a hand in a gesture of peace, his brown eyes hard as he looked over the group of Hunters that had been sent to watch over him. "Alpha Sterling, I understand why you killed him. His immediate family doesn't but I do. They may bay for your blood until a second moon rises with the first but it will never come to pass." He grasped his glass once more and took another drink of his whiskey as he looked round before sighing. "To be honest, it wasn't truly you that killed him. It was his arrogance that did him in. He was arrogant enough to poke and prod at the instincts of an Alpha, believing his title and badge would protect him against your wrath. His arrogance made him forget that there is a reason we teach our recruits to deescalate situations with Alphas. Your instincts hound you and we never threaten an Alpha's mate. He bared his throat for you, taunting you to take a bite. He cannot be upset that you took the opportunity he provided you." He took another rasping drink of whiskey and seemed to relax even more into the chair. The old shifter looked ready to simply become a part of the furniture.

"Well I guess he could, if he was arrogant enough to taunt an Alpha then he would be arrogant enough to be upset at your for retaliating. Oh well, he's dead, he can't be upset about much of anything." He shrugged and winked at Pisică. "Much to your relief I am sure." I could sense her relaxing and I became aware she was smiling once more. It made me relax a fraction.

"His eyes wandered a bit too much for my liking. If I cared enough I would have felt sorry for his mate." Amusement tinged her tone and I couldn't help how my mouth twitched upwards.

"He was a foolish whelp, unwilling to make a bond. Said he liked the freedom that not having a mate meant." Jovan sounded almost disgusted and I had to agree. I hadn't wanted a mate because rejection had hurt, to refuse one to whore around with unmated females was pathetic.

"Did you know him personally?" Curiosity replaced amusement in Pisică's voice and I watched as she tilted her head. I fought back the urge to stroke my fingers down the back of her neck. The urge to touch her had grown instead of lessened like I had hoped.

"He was my great great nephew." Jovan said it flippantly and I froze, ice invading my veins. Michael and Ezekiel stiffened and slowly moved to sit on either side of the chair Pisică was sitting in. They needed to protect both of us from what Jovan would decide.

"Oh." It was a tiny sound that came from my mate as she glanced up at me in what looked to be worry. I had killed a Council member's nephew. That was not something that boded well. She turned her gaze back to Jovan who looked slightly irritated.

"Dear, don't give me that look. I know a little shit when I see one. I live by the mundane quote of 'the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.' I cannot choose who is born into my family and so it certainly means I can decided whether or not they are worthy of my attention." He rolled his eyes slightly before smiling as if trying to reassure us he meant us no harm. "I am not here to enact justice for his death. We are shifters, death is a part of our life. He knew the risks of his job. My family is well aware of my position on his death, they do not like it and have been harping on me about it, but I know sincerity when I see it." He looked unrepentant about his slightly cold words. He truly did not care that I had torn out his great great nephew's throat.

"I still apologize for the grief it must have caused his family." She said it carefully and Jovan waved the words off.

"No, you don't. I wouldn't. They assume that because of my position on the Council they can command and push others to do their will. I have very little to do with greedy little shits that use my position to their advantage." His brown eyes flashed with a dangerous fire as he tilted his head up slightly, taking my form in, silently judging him. "I thank you for bringing them pain. I thank you for giving me the opportunity to teach them that my position gives them very little power in this word. That it holds very little sway. I'm glad that he is dead. His was a stain upon my family tapestry, as is the rest of his family." A rather thick and old hatred coated his words and I watched him carefully. He looked two seconds away from shifting and taking a go at someone. I was not entirely at ease with that thought.

"Would you like some more whiskey, Jovan?" Pisică's voice was soft in the tense air and it cut through the tension so effortlessly that it instantly dissipated as Jovan smiled at her brightly.

"Yes, my dear. If you do not mind." His brown eyes locked onto her form as she stood up. I resisted the urge to stand in between them. I fought down the jealously and possessiveness that my wolf was putting off. I understood that the old shifter was no threat to our bond but my wolf was overly aware of how little the bond meant to our mate. I kept my gaze on her as she moved to the small bar and grabbed the bottle of whiskey and a second cup. My eyebrows rose slightly as she walked over to Jovan and carefully poured him a glass before deftly pouring some whiskey into the other.

Her movements were graceful as she gently set the bottle of whiskey on the table beside Jovan and moved back over to the chair. Much to my surprise she moved to stand beside me before taking a drink of whiskey. She held the cup out to me in a gesture that urged me to take it before her other hand slid across the middle of my back. I repressed an urge to shiver at the willing contact she had given me.

"Sterling, would you please sit down? You are making everyone nervous." My name felt wonderful coming from her mouth. True it was merely my last name but it was still part of it. It was like honey passing her lips and I fought the sudden urge to dip my head and press my lips to hers to see if the honeyed voice had left a lingering sweetness on their fullness.

I shook myself from the thought and bent my head down to hers, inhaling her scent deeply before I moved slowly away. I took the seat of power, my eyes lingering on my mate as she sat in her chair drawing her feet up onto the cushion. The vulnerability had slowly slipped off of her form and she looked more comfortable. She tucked a stray clump of hair behind her ear and I was struck by the perfection of her beauty. I couldn't understand why anyone would have rejected her. I brought my cup up to my lips and let the burning liquid move down my throat.

"Well I best be getting to why I came here." Jovan sounded bored at the topic as he grimaced. He looked at me with a pointed stare but his smirking mouth took all of the intensity of his expression. "Alpha Sterling, you can't go around killing other shifters for looking at your mate. People will be bound to look, she is beautiful. It is a fact you will need to live with. However, killing people for staring at her is something we cannot allow. I understand your need to protect what is yours but we don't have a large enough shifter population to withstand you killing everyone that stares at her." He chuckled slightly and winked at Pisică, who simply smiled before reaching over the side of the chair to run her fingers through Michael's fur. He sat down and leaned against the chair, his head automatically going to the armrest.

"I understand an Alpha's instincts are hard to ignore but unless a shifter places unwanted hands upon your mate, you are not legally allowed to kill them. You will not get off so lightly a second time." He waved a finger at me and I felt like an errant pup being scolded by an elder. I resisted the urge to growl at him.

"So I should have killed the Enforcer?" I raised an eyebrow and took another sip of whiskey.

Jovan looked highly amused by the statement. "Enforcer Savage has been reprimanded severely for her actions and her lack of duty. Your report had mentioned that the rogue she had been looking for was over two hundred kilometers away from your territory." He let out a sigh. "She has been taken off of the force for a period of three months for her assault on your mate. Regardless of what had been said, physical violence was not the way it should have gone." Jovan looked at me intently. "You had every right to kill her for her actions but you held yourself back. The Council thanks you for that. Enforcer Savage would be hard to replace."

For a moment he truly looked grateful before seriousness coated his expression once more. "However she acted foolishly and without thought. She has been informed that she is no longer allowed to come within a hundred kilometers of Fortis pack territory." Pisică chuckled, a warm, throaty sound that sent licks of fire through me.

"You put a restraining order on her for us." It wasn't a questions but more of a statement.

Jovan returned her amused look and I took another sip of whiskey, content to watch my mate's interaction with the older shifter. "For her safety not yours." At the response I became aware of Pisică's agitation.

"I know for her safety. If I had to get one more whiff of her arousal at the mention of my mate I would have finished what she was attempting to start and her ending would not be pretty." The possessiveness that leaked into her tone did not go by me unnoticed. She was still territorial where I was concerned and my wolf basked in the knowledge.

"That explains her lack of duty." Jovan actually looked partially stunned by the news. I hadn't cared what Julia Savage had wanted to do with me but I could see that it bothered my little cat on some level and I was almost positive she was annoyed with it.

"It explains a lot of her problems. My mate knows that if he ever thought of touching her I would remove his precious toys from between his legs." She rolled her head to the side to look at me, a rather deadly look on her face.

So territorial.

I wanted to smirk at her but I knew it would only make it worse. It would let her know I enjoyed being the object of her possessiveness and it would ruin it for me. I took another sip of the burning liquid, letting my eyes lock with her deep green ones that reminded me of the dark of the forest.

"I have no thoughts as to who she wants to sleep with, Pisică. I have you and that is more than enough for me." The words came out a bit more husky than I wanted them to and her eyes went wide. She turned her head quickly, breaking the tension between us. I had no use in thinking of Julia Savage because my mind was filled with images of her, my little cat.

"Would you like me to send her that message? Just to drive the point home?" Jovan was back to being amused and Pisică fell still, like a predator that spotted its prey.

"Yes and let her know that a shifter will rarely touch a mundie and certainly not one who works under the Council. She might get some action from a few rogues but she should know better than to lust after an Alpha. They have standards." Her voice was still sweet but they held and edge to them that hadn't been there before. She smiled sweetly but it looked almost venomous. "While you are at it, let the little bitch know that if I ever see her again, I will tear her throat out." The words were like pure venom coming from her mouth. Her tone demanding the justice for the actions against her.

She glanced at me before her eyes flicked back to Jovan. "Enforcer of not. Council or not. No one assaults me in my own home." Her own words must not have registered with her but they slammed into me. The words she had said with such conviction swirled around me.

Her home.

Not my home. Not a simple house but her home. The bond had sunk deeper into her skin than I had realized. It had used her weaknesses against her, used her tactics to fight back and I couldn't help the faint gleam of satisfaction I felt towards it. The bond was doing its job in securing itself a future for both me and my cat. I wouldn't let her out of it so easily.

"I can understand that, my dear. It must have been rather upsetting for you to experience that behaviour at the hands of those who are sworn to uphold the laws." Jovan sounded sympathetic, not even touching on the threat Pisică had just made against the Enforcer.

"More than upsetting." Her tone had an edge of mocking to it that Jovan seemed to ignore as he took a large drink of whiskey.

"However it added another concern for us at the Council." His face twisted slightly as if he had been reminded of something unpleasant. "Your grandfather placed a bounty on you four years ago and we can't ignore it." My eyes snapped to Pisică and she had stiffened the colour slowly draining from her face as she looked at the older shifter.

"What type of bounty?" Her voice shook slightly and her eyes were almost impossibly wide, she looked horrified and terrified at the same time. It created a highly unpleasant feeling in my stomach. I wanted to get up and comfort her but I knew it would be rejected so I tightened my glass on my glass as I watched them both intently.

"Find and return." Jovan winced slightly and I snarled, instantly on the offensive. There was no way anyone was going to take her from me. The Hunters in the room all reached for their weapons, preparing for an attack.

"She's not going anywhere." I growled the words out and Jovan lifted a hand in a peaceful gesture. The urge to shift and pace in front of my mate for her protection was immense. My two guardians picked up on my emotions and their hackles raised.

"I'm with him. I am not going anywhere near my grandfather. Phone him up and tell him under no certain terms that he is to ever come near me." Her voice had an edge of panic to it and I couldn't help but rise to my feet and move to her side. I wanted to hold her in my arms, to whisper to her than it would be alright but the memory of what happened in the office stopped the urge in its tracks. She didn't need to fall apart like that in front of anyone else.

"I wish I could leave it as it is but the bounty needs to be complete. As you have a mate we can't rightly take you away and give you to your grandfather but we are required, by law, to let him know of your location and status." Jovan looked pained and I pushed Michael away to crouch beside her chair. I wanted to hold her hand, to let her know that I was with her but I didn't want to deal with the rejection that would come with the action.

"Don't tell him. If you tell him he will try and take me." She was pleading and I realized that she was scared of whoever her grandfather was. It made my wolf snarl and I resisted the urge to repeat the gesture with every fiber of my being.

"He will not come near you, my pisică. I promise you that I will protect you." I said the words low enough so that only she could hear and her wide green eyes met mine.

"Don't make me empty promises." Her eyes told me not to, to not give her something to hold onto because she would be let down but she was my mate. I would protect her like I protected my pack, like I protected my mother.

"They are only empty if they aren't kept. I would fight against the whole of the shifter world to keep you safe, my pisică. Your grandfather is just one male." I watched as she rolled her eyes, retreating back into her shell, hiding behind her armour where I couldn't reach her.

"Stop being cheesy." With that the emotion she felt was gone. She was back to being the female I was trying hard to reach. Shuttering herself off, hiding away all the vulnerability that had shown from the mention of her grandfather. "Fine, Jovan. Tell him where I am but I wish to make a case against him. That male has never had a kind word or action for me my entire life. I don't want him near me." She lifted her head high in an action that dared the councilman to refuse her request. I stood up, standing by her side as I looked at the councilman as well. I supported her in it. I did not know who her grandfather was but I would protect her against him without question. If she had rather gone rogue than to live with him it told me more of the male than I cared to understand.

"Do you fear for you life in his company?" Jovan's expression was serious and Pisică folded her hands in her lap gracefully.

"He certainly doesn't want me to be breathing if that is what you are getting at." She said to so calmly it took a few moments before I could react. I growled deep in my throat at the thought of her own family trying to harm her.

"Why do you assume that?" Jovan lowered his eyebrows over his eyes and looked pensive.

Pisică shrugged as if completely unconcerned with what she had said. "I don't assume. I know." There was a slight reprimand in her voice. She didn't like him questioning her words. "I represent everything his son failed to be." She said it carefully, the only showing of her feelings was her hands tightening slightly on her lap.

Jovan's eyes narrowed slightly with confusion as he tilted his head. "And that is?"

"An Alpha." She said it quietly and Jovan sucked in a deep breath before coughing loudly. Realization etched lines into his face as he stared at my mate. I looked between the two of them, my eyes narrowing. Somehow Jovan saw something that I had missed about my mate.

"Your mother-"

"Is dead. Buried where she wished to be." The words were clipped as if she hadn't wished to say them at all but had been forced.

"Where is that?" Jovan prodded slightly and my wolf snapped his teeth in his direction. We both didn't like how he was interrogating out mate

"Altia." That jolted me and I looked down at her, realization flooding me at the admission. She had come from Altia in some aspect.

"That's where you learned the prayers, isn't it?" I watched as she flippantly waved her hand, as if brushing me and the words away.

"Some of them, yes. Others my mother taught me." She shrugged looking unconcerned with the conversation. Altia didn't let people just come in and learn their prayers. They were a territory dedicated solely to Mene and they didn't like letting their rituals leave their borders.

"Your mother was a priestess of Altia." Jovan looked interested and Pisică chuckled almost humorlessly.

"My mother wasn't a priestess. She was a banished soul seeking comfort. Thanks to my grandfather, she took refuge where she could. Altia was her home for a time, then my father came along." Bitterness coated the words and I frowned. I had wished to learn more about my mate but the amount of bitterness she was letting off was nearly oppressive. My wolf and I didn't like the emotion on her, we preferred her derision to her bitterness.

"Where is he?" Jovan was prodding again and Pisică tilted her head, silence falling for a moment.

"Dead." At the coldness of the word I flinched slightly. She had no one left but a grandfather who had mistreated her. I had known she had been alone I just hadn't been aware of just how alone she was.

"I am sor-"

"Don't be. My mother killed him for a reason." A thick silence fell as her words registered. I blinked in shock. Mates weren't supposed to be able to kill each other. The bond was supposed to prevent it. Pisică stood up abruptly. "I'm going to the kitchen to help prepare supper. Jovan would you like to stay for the meal?" All tension was gone from her frame. It was if the small interrogation and emotional outburst had never happened. I hated how she managed to brush everything off like it didn't phase her, how she was able to push it all away like it never happened.

"That would be lovely, dear." Jovan said it hesitantly and Pisică smiled at him brightly.

"You can even bring your puppies." She gestured to the group of Hunters and Jovan let out a small laugh that she returned.

"Sterling, I will be in the kitchen if you need me." She didn't look at me as she exited the room and I closed my eyes slowly. Trying to process the information that swirled around me.

"She looks just like her mother." The older shifter said it softly and I opened my eyes to look at him. I didn't know her family so I couldn't say one way or another.

"Does she?" I tried to imagine an older version of her but wasn't able too.

"Yes, the Lazera gene runs strong through her." He nodded and I wanted to smirk slightly. Lazera. Her last name was Lazera.

I suddenly froze as the name clicked in my head. "Her grandfather is Sulo Lazera." That male was entrenched in the Old Ways. So much so that it was said he had banished his eldest child for being born female. It had been speculation but if what Jovan was stating was true then that would mean my mate was the rightful heir to the Lazera Alpha Claim. It made ice flow through my veins because an Old Way Alpha would do anything to protect his claim. Even going as far as to kill the rightful heir.

"Yes." There was a bit of hesitance to his reply and my mind raced. I had to keep Pisică safe. I had to keep her away from her grandfather and her uncle. If they got close enough to attack her I knew they would. The power a firstborn held was far more than that of a second born. Her uncle would probably do anything to get a hold of it.

"I don't want him or his family anywhere near my mate. Do I make myself clear?" I couldn't help the order that lashed out, even my dominance surged through me at it. There would be no way I would allow Sulo Lazera to get his hands on her or anywhere near her.

"You don't have to demand things of me, Alpha Sterling. I know what it means. Sulo Lazera and his ilk won't be allowed near your territory." Jovan drained the rest of his glass of whiskey and let out a raspy sigh. "I am not a fan of the Old Ways and I know he would demand her fight to the death with her uncle. However a bounty is a bounty and he will be informed of the situation. She is mated now and is of no concern of his." He stood up and I let out a heavy sigh. I would keep my promise to make sure she was safe. Sulo Lazera was a cold and cruel shifter but he was still one male and I would protect her from thousands.

"Your mate is an extraordinary female, Alpha Sterling. She comes from a prestigious bloodline if you believe in such things. Sulo Lazera made a mistake in banishing his daughter from his territory. If he had been thinking she would have been a useful pawn in making an alliance." Jovan frowned slightly and I let out a small warning growl that had several of the Hunters moving forward. He threw me a dark look as he waved his hand at me in dismissal. "Enough. That came out poorly. Lazera's mate to blood. She is your mate because of the blood that flows through your veins. If you were to reject her she would mate to another of Alpha Blood. It is how their bloodline works. She would be useful because the blessing on their blood would ensure a strong alliance." I relaxed slightly. I still didn't like it but I relaxed, letting out a sigh.

"I understand, Alpha Sterling. Your mate bond is new and the instincts are hard to control. I remember being your age and meeting my mate. I am honestly surprised that we waited as long as we did before claiming the bond." He gently rested a winked hand on my shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze. "Wait until she becomes heavy with your first pup. If you think your instincts are bad now, that is a hundred times worse." He gave an amused chuckle and images of Pisică's belly softly rounded with a pup made me ache with longing. I wanted her to carry my pups, to carry the future of my pack but I knew better than to rush her.

I was just seeing the edges of what lay underneath her harsh exterior. I was becoming fully aware that someone had broken her, hurt her, a long time ago and it made my wolf howl in rage, banging against the bars of his cage. I agreed with him. I truly did. My mate was broken in a way I didn't fully understand but could feel. That much panic was caused because someone, during her life, had broken her heart. Badly. I had to be careful in my repair of her heart because no matter how gentle I was, a broken heart was a fragile thing and she had wrapped her in barbed wire and thorns, protecting it with the savage fury of a mother wolf protecting her pups.

She wouldn't be hurt again and she wasn't letting anyone close enough to try. It wouldn't stop the bond. The bond would breathe life into the broken pieces of her heart, setting her up to fall all over again. A hard fall towards pain and heartbreak. She would expect it to shatter again, to dash across the hard ground like refuse but I would be there and I would make sure it never shattered again because despite what my little cat wanted or thought, she was starting to carry pieces of my heart with her wherever she went. They beckoned my closer, whispered at me to give her more and I would without hesitation because I was falling in love with my pisică and nothing would stop me from taking the fall towards earth with her.