Chapter 2
Avi Sinclair was a firm believer in fate. He always had been called optimistic as a young male in the herd he’d grown up in. It was difficult to believe in fate sometimes, especially when life threw boulders and things got tough.
Like when he’d lost his mom just after relocating to her home herd.
He’d been adrift for a while before settling in New Jersey with Dexter and his human mate Nancy and the herd.
Now, Dexter was an elder of the recently created Little River herd, and Avi’s best friends—Crew, Ford, Grey, and Khyle—were members, living and working on the farm and for Dexter’s construction company in the off-season.
As he pressed lids on the metal travel mugs in the farmhouse kitchen, he thought about the beautiful female jaguar in the barn apartment, who’d come to the farm with fear in her eyes.
He’d immediately wanted to hold her close and destroy whoever had made her so scared. Not just because he was a stand-up male who took protecting people seriously, but because the dark-haired female who smelled like fresh rain and sultry nights was his soulmate.
So yeah. Avi was a big believer in fate.
How else could he explain a female he most likely never would have run into in his life because she’d been several states away with her jaguar prowl being driven to the farm where he lived and worked by the shifters who stayed at the safari park a half hour away?
It really defied explanation.
He left the kitchen and headed through the farmhouse and outside, where the first rays of dawn lit the sky from midnight-blue to pale gold. He made his way to the barn and up the stairs, his heart pounding and his stallion letting out a whistle of excitement to see Fallon again.
He gripped the mugs in one hand and knocked. “Fallon? It’s me, Avi. I brought you some coffee and wanted to ask if you’d like to take a walk around the farm?”
He suddenly questioned himself.
She hadn’t asked for coffee. And since he’d helped with the preparations to get the apartment ready for her with Nancy and Tatum, he knew that there was coffee in the kitchenette.
Did she even like coffee? Did she like it with milk and sugar the way he fixed it?
Doubt crept in as the seconds ticked by.
He listened, not hearing anything for long enough he wondered if she was still asleep.
And then he heard footsteps and the door opened.
She was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, and her eyes were ringed with dark circles.
“Oh,” she said, her eyes crinkling at the corners as she smiled. “That’s so sweet. I couldn’t get going this morning to make coffee yet. A tour sounds nice, let me grab my shoes.”
She pushed the door open wider and went to the bedroom area, and he walked inside.
“I thought I might have woken you up,” he said.
“Nah,” she said. “I didn’t sleep well. I slept some, just not much.”
“I’m sorry.”
She sighed and walked out from behind the screen that separated the bedroom from the main room. “It’s okay.”
He handed her the mug and said, “It’s still early, but it’s warm and the sun is pretty coming up over the trees.”
“Sounds great. Lead the way.”
They walked out of the barn and around to the gardens, where Zara had created a tea garden and Tris—the herd’s caretaker and stallion Khyle’s wolf shifter soulmate—harvested the other gardens and nearby trees for fresh fruits and vegetables.
They stopped at the split-rail fence where the cows and the herd mascot Daisy the goat grazed, and looked out over the farm’s territory.
“All this belongs to the herd?” she asked as she sipped on the coffee.
“Yes, we own a few hundred acres. A lot of it is forest, but we’ve cleared the pasture for the animals and also for planting crops.
I’m the one who handles the planting and harvesting.
Grey is the resident animal guy and handles the livestock.
Crew pretty much does everything—a jack-of-all-trades, so to speak—and Ford is the farm mechanic. ”
He told her about Zara coming from another herd, and how Grey had met Tatum when she’d moved to town to work at the local library.
“Tris and Khyle, and Dexter and Nancy, have homes about a mile down the road.”
“It’s nice that your herd is so close.”
They watched the sun slowly rise, bathing the pasture and trees in peaches and pinks. He really did enjoy watching the sun rise.
They moved away from the pasture and walked toward the man-made lake and fields in quiet, comfortable silence, making a loop around the lake before heading to the farmhouse and showing her around inside.
Tris was already in the kitchen with Zara working on breakfast, and after Tris was introduced to Fallon, he and Fallon sat at the table in the big kitchen and finished their coffee.
“What do you think?” he asked her.
“About what?”
“The farm.”
“It’s really nice here. I can see why you like it. Where do you go when you shift?”
“We shift in the barn and run around the pasture. The trees are pretty dense, so it’s not easy to run through them, but we can meander if we’re inclined.
We normally run at night when we shift as a herd.
We’re not compelled to shift at any particular time of the month, but Tris is a wolf so we usually go out on the full moons. ”
“I do love a good full-moon shift and run,” Tris said as she set a plate of blueberry waffles in front of them. The moment the plate hit the table, the other herd members joined them.
Everyone included Fallon in the conversation around the table, about the weather and the animals and the crops, the plans for the day and week ahead. She was mostly quiet, eating the fluffy waffles topped with blueberries, warm syrup, and whipped cream, along with sausage links and crispy bacon.
When the meal was over, Tris shooed everyone out of the kitchen and Avi rose to his feet and smiled at Fallon. “Would you like to hang out with me in the garden? Or you can go back to the apartment if you’d rather. The day is yours.”
Her brow furrowed for a moment, and then she smiled softly. “I’d like to hang out with you.”
They thanked Tris and Zara for breakfast and walked outside.
His stallion wanted to shift and run around in happiness, but he tamped the feeling down.
He didn’t want to rush anything with Fallon; she seemed like a doe about to bolt.
She watched everything like she expected someone to come out of the shadows and snatch her.
Somehow, he’d make sure she knew she was safe with him.
But for now, he’d just be there for her, however she wanted.
* * *
Fallon knelt on the other side of the row of tomatoes, picking ripe ones and setting them in a bucket as he did the same.
She hadn’t spoken much since breakfast, and he didn’t push.
He just worked beside her, pretending not to notice how she startled with every noise and kept one eye on her surroundings.
She stood and dusted off her jeans, and he followed her lead, pulling off his gloves and tucking them in his back pocket.
She looked around and her gaze landed on a wooden bench near the barn. “Want to take a break?” he offered.
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
The bench was in the shade of the barn and offered some respite from the sun.
She sat on the bench but he remained standing, leaning against the nearby split-rail fence.
“Do you know what happened before I came here?” she asked after several minutes of silence had passed.
“Not really. The alphas said you were in danger from an alpha jaguar and the park wasn’t safe for you anymore.”
She looked beyond him to the pasture where the cows grazed, her eyes unfocusing for a moment.
“Alpha Warren decided to step down and let his second-in-command, Dario, take over a few weeks ago. Our prowl wasn’t large, maybe thirty or so, and we lived in what had been a human campground in Shadow Rock, Tennessee.
I lived with my mom and my best friend, Sunny, who my mom took in when her parents were killed by her dad’s tiger pride because he’d mated with a human and had a hybrid child. ”
“Damn.”
Her mouth quirked at the corner. “One of the first things Dario did when he took control was kick Sunny out. Mom knew about the safari park and sent her there, and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because her soulmate, Seneca, was at the park. There was another alpha of a nearby prowl—Otto. He had apparently always wanted to take over Shadow Rock, and saw Dario being new in power as a good time to take him out. Then Dario made a deal with Otto to save his own neck. He promised me to Otto, bartered me like livestock so Otto wouldn’t kill him and take over the prowl and combine it with his own. ”
Avi’s stallion surged under his skin with a furious whinny. He breathed through the desire to shift and run down the males who tried to force Fallon into an arranged mating.
“I fled to the park. My mom wouldn’t come with me and I hated leaving her behind, but I had to get away.
Then the attacks happened. Dario sent his enforcers to try to find me, then he tried to force the park alphas to give me up.
Finally, he went after Sunny and her mate in the park, and Dario died during the battle. ”
“Good.”
She snorted.
He grinned. “I’m sorry, but I’m glad Dario’s dead. Assholes like him shouldn’t put other people in danger to save themselves.”
“No one knew if Otto was aware I was at the park, until flowers showed up there yesterday from him for me. So they smuggled me out and brought me here.”
She lifted her gaze and stared at him intently.
His jaw locked. Every instinct within him wanted to find this Otto and beat him within an inch of his life so that he never thought about Fallon ever again.
“No wonder you didn’t sleep well last night. That’s a lot for anyone to deal with.” He joined her on the bench, shoulders touching slightly.
“I was scared when I came here, but then I saw you.” She turned toward him, eyes wide, emotion clear on her face. “I know what we are.”
His heart pounded in his chest.
“I feel it,” she said, rubbing her fingers over her sternum. “The moment you stepped out of the barn last night, it was like getting struck by lightning. But I’m scared.”
“Of what?” he murmured.
“That I’m too broken with too much baggage. Someone is literally trying to force me to mate him, and I might never really be free of that cloud hanging over me. I don’t know how to be your mate when I feel like I’m still on the run.”
Her words flayed him alive.
He took her trembling hands in both of his.
“I knew what you were when you got here too, but I didn’t want to rush you, and I still don’t.
I believe you’re safe here. The park shifters were certain no one followed them, and we have tons of security systems in place.
But the only thing that will make you feel safe, I think, is time. ”
Her chin wobbled and her eyes brightened with tears.
She leaned forward and he pulled her close, holding her tightly as she cried.
“I’ve got you, Fallon. You’re mine and I’m yours, and we’ll deal with whatever comes on our terms. There’s no rush for anything; we’re just two shifters who’ve found their other half and that’s the only thing that matters. I’ll keep you safe, sweetheart. I swear on my life.”
She squeezed her arms around him tightly.
“I don’t know what I did to deserve a sweet male like you, Avi, but I’m glad I found you.”
“I’m glad I found you too.”