Authors: Shelli Stevens
“Hush. It was amazing, as usual.” She kissed his neck. “Just being with you is perfect, whether it’s a quickie or an all-nighter.”
“You know, you’re right. I
am
amazing.”
She laughed and poked him in the stomach. “Your ego has no end.”
“I’m just saying,” he couldn’t resist teasing. “I really believe I saved you from a fate of lusting after some sulky musician named Tree.”
“
Leaf
. Oh fine, call him Tree, and I never lusted after him.” She blushed and bit her lip. “I think I was crushing on his music more than him. You showed me the error of my ways,” she conceded. “And for that I’ll thank you.”
He arched a brow. “Just for that?”
“Oh there are other things, I’m sure.” She gave a lofty roll of her eyes. “Maybe that minor little detail where you saved my life a time or two.”
“Yeah, that minor little detail.” He tickled her side and she squirmed away with a giggle.
“I’m going to shower. I assume you’ll join me?”
He stood up and swept her into his arms. “Absolutely, sweetheart.”
Sage stood in front of the mirror, observing her naked body and running a hand over her stomach. It wasn’t hard to imagine it swollen with a baby.
He may have gotten her pregnant with that hot episode in the living room. Amazing to think she could be a mom by this time next year.
The idea was still somewhat of a mind trip. Just last month she’d been resigned to a life of mating with a man she didn’t love. And now here she was, head over heels, mated and married, and life was pretty damn good, all things considered.
She loved the Pacific Northwest and was acclimating to the weather and location just fine. Though she probably would’ve moved to Antarctica if it meant being with Nate.
With a content sigh, she finished dressing and then threw some mousse into her curls. Leaving the bathroom, she went to find where Nathan had disappeared after the shower.
She heard his voice before she saw him. He was at the front door speaking to someone, but before she could figure out who, they left and Nate closed the door again.
The expression of pure shock on his face had her rushing forward.
“What’s going on? Are you okay?” She gripped his hands, squeezing when he didn’t reply. “Answer me? What is it?”
“It’s Jocelyn Feloray.” He paused and gave a small shake of his head. “She’s dead.”
Sage stared at him for a moment, absorbing that statement and the shock that came with it.
“Are you sure? How?”
“Drug overdose. The P.I.A. handled the recovery and disposal of her body, of course.” He released her hand and walked past her to the couch, where he sat down. “But since she’s well known in human circles, the media is being told she fell off her luxury yacht in the Pacific and her body was never recovered.”
She followed him, lowering herself to the couch they’d so recently made love on. Amazing how the energy could change from sensual to so dark in an hour.
“I didn’t really know her,” she said carefully, “but that surprises me. You seem skeptical. Do you believe it was suicide?”
“No.” He gave a slow shake of his head. “Jocelyn Feloray was too damn selfish and ambitious to take her own life. She was driven by revenge.” He paused. “The P.I.A. wanted to take her down, but we didn’t have the evidence. It sounds like she made some powerful enemies elsewhere.”
“You’ve been through a lot with her. You all have,” Sage murmured. “Do you know why she hated you? Hated the P.I.A.?”
“I have a pretty good idea now.” He pulled an envelope from the back pocket of his jeans. “It’s a one-page file the P.I.A. kept in their classified records. With her gone now, they wanted me to have it.”
Sage stared at the envelope and a wave of unease washed through her. It wasn’t good, whatever it was.
“What does it say, Nate?”
“Who Jocelyn’s father was.”
The foreboding grew. “Who was he?
“My grandfather,” he replied quietly. “She says he raped her mother.”
“Oh God.” Sage pressed a hand to her mouth as her stomach revolted. “That would make her your aunt.
Jocelyn is your aunt
.”
“Technically, yeah.” He looked just as flummoxed. Disgusted.
What kind of person set out to torment, avenge their own blood? Even if Nate’s grandpa was guilty of what she accused, Nate was innocent. She hated the woman even more now and cheered the fact the bitch was dead.
“Did you know about this? Do you think it’s true?”
He shook his head, appearing completely confounded. “No. This file was the first mention of it. My grandma, my grandpa’s mate, died before I was born. Grandpa was a widow. He never remarried.” He paused. “But it appears he took a lover named Rose.”
“A human one.” Sage put the pieces together. “Jocelyn’s mother.”
“Yeah. Getting a human lover pregnant is bad now, but back then it would’ve been epically bad because it was before memory wiping was used.”
“So it wasn’t rape?”
“No. The report indicates my grandpa cared for this woman quite a bit, and bought a house for her to live in nearby. He stayed in a secret relationship with Rose, raised Jocelyn and her twin until they were two.” He glanced down at the envelope. “And then Rose realized what he was. What her children were.”
Oh no
. Sage’s heart sunk. She knew this was bad. What would happen to a human who discovered the truth about shifters before memory wiping was invented.
“Was she killed?”
“No. She killed herself before it came to that. And so my grandfather raised them until they were eighteen, and then they both were sent off to college. They always knew what they were, though. That they had shifter blood in them.”
He opened the envelope and pulled out another, more weathered sheet of paper.
“It must’ve been later in life that Jocelyn decided there was a more sordid truth. Apparently Rose left a note for her twin daughters to discover later in life. She twisted the story so that her girls would think their birth was the result of a rape. She encouraged their vengeance on the shifter community.” He shared a glance with Sage. “Guess which twin found it.”
“Jocelyn, and apparently she did exactly that. What happened to the other twin sister? I’ve never heard anything about her.”
“From what I understand she embraced our lifestyle after falling in love with a full-blooded shifter. They had two kids before they were killed in an…accident.”
He paused and closed his eyes. “Only it might not have been an accident at all. There are signs that their death came at Jocelyn’s hands.”
“And what happened to the two kids?”
“Jocelyn raised them. Grace and Aubree.”
“Grace?” she repeated slowly. “As in the agent who works in your unit? The one we went skiing with last week?” More pieces of the convoluted puzzle slid into place. “Oh my God, Nate. They’re your cousins.”
“Yeah. Jesus, this is going to be some crazy news to break to them. To everyone.”
She rubbed his shoulder, concern making her frown. “Are you okay? This is a lot to take in. Want me to pour you a whiskey? Or get some of that memory wiping stuff to make you forget all this?” She forced a laugh. “That last one was a joke.”
He didn’t even crack a smile.
“I know. I’m fine, oddly enough.” His jaw flexed and he shook his head. “I will never think of that heinous woman as my aunt. This will be the one and only time I acknowledge her as such.” He paused, and his expression softened. “But Grace and Aubree…they’re family whom I intend to claim.”
Of course. She’d only met the two a handful of times in the past few weeks, but both of them had been so supportive and friendly.
“And you should. They’re both amazing individuals.” She sighed. “I’m just surprised the agency didn’t tell you any of this earlier.”
“It was classified. It doesn’t surprise me at all. It’s how the P.I.A. branch of the government works.” He gave a small shake of his head. “Besides, decades ago when this file was made, I wasn’t even alive. They couldn’t have predicted we would all end up with circles overlapping.”
“That makes sense, I suppose.”
Nate stood suddenly, and grabbed her hand. “Hey, let’s get out of here.”
She didn’t even hesitate, just rose to her feet and followed him to the door.
“Where are we off to?”
He grabbed his keys off the table near the doorway and gave her a slight smile.
“We’re going to invite ourselves to dinner at my cousins’ house.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Nathan walked silently and alone through the woods on Grace’s property. Any other time he might’ve shifted and allowed himself to run in the massive growth of trees that led up into the mountains.
But tonight he felt strangely human. His emotions did at least. A little more raw. Vulnerable. Complex.
He’d broken the news to Grace and Aubree, and they’d seemed suitably shocked. Maybe even happy. But, shit, who really knew. It was a hell of a lot to take in.
Maybe that explained why he’d always been a little more protective of Grace. Good thing she’d ended up with Hilliard, because he was a damn good man.
Aubree, well, she was still young and now expecting a baby. With the father dead, she was looking at a future of single motherhood. At least until she met her true mate. And until then, she’d be under not only Darrius and Grace’s protection, but Nathan’s as well.
He’d make sure of it. Though if he read the signals right, Darrius’s college-aged brother might be nursing a crush on the soft-spoken, lovely teenager.
Footsteps crunched in the fallen leaves behind him. Nathan turned to face his company, but knew it was Sage before he saw her. He could pick up her presence and scent before she was close now.
“Hey, you.” She fell into stride beside him and cast him a sideways glance. “Are you doing okay?”
“Yeah. I’m good. How are Grace and Aubree?”
My cousins
. He hid a smile.
“They’re doing good too. Actually, they’re doing really good. I get the impression Grace isn’t the type to cry, but there were tears in her eyes. Happy ones, of course.” She gave a wry laugh. “Even if she’s a little daunted about being related to an alpha.”
“She’ll get used to it.”
“Of course she will, and you’d better get used to being invited to Sunday dinners or the equivalent, because I’m pretty sure you’re the only family Aubree and Grace have left too.”
“That would be…kind of awesome actually.”
He stepped over the stump of a tree that had fallen on the path, and reached back to help her over. Once she was safely on the other side, though, he didn’t release her hand. It seemed more natural to hold onto it.
“The last six months have been crazy, Sage.” He finally voiced the uncertainty that had been racing through his head all day. “We’ve been fighting to take down this revenge-driven bitch for a while now. I’m not even sure what happens next.”
“You go back to your day job, leading your unit and fighting more bad guys.” She stepped in front of him and stopped, bringing him to a halt. “Because you’re damn good at it.”
His lips quirked. “You think so, hmm?”
“I know so. Everyone knows so.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “And maybe, if you got me properly knocked up this afternoon, you’ll get to focus on being a dad too.”
Damn, but he loved the sound of that. More than he ever would’ve thought.
“You know, we can always try again. If today didn’t work,” he murmured, before brushing a soft kiss across her sweet mouth.
She met his kiss with a soft intensity, before pulling back an inch after a moment. “What’s that they say? That if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again?”
“Yeah. Something like that.” He pushed a wayward curl off her forehead and then wrapped her snuggly in his arms. “I love you, Sage. You saved me.”
“We saved each other.” She rested her head against his chest, her arms wrapped around his waist. “You once told me you’re nothing like what I write about in my books. That your nobody’s hero, Nate.” He heard the tears of emotion suddenly thick in her voice. “But you’re wrong. You are my real life hero and always will be. Yes, it’s different, but so much better than the books I write.”
He closed his eyes and drew in a ragged breath, his heart pounding with emotion now. With her cheek against his chest, he knew she could hear it.
Sage was his woman. His mate. He never could’ve seen it coming.
“I never believed in fate,” he confessed. “Until I was forced to run from everything I’d ever known, and was led straight to you. Maybe I’m your hero, Curls. But you’re mine.”
“
Ine
,” she correctly. “I’m your hero
ine
.”
“So technical.”
After laughing softly, she drew her nails up his chest and gave a lopsided smile. “Not technical. It’s just a matter of you having a penis.”
“Right, and I’m not afraid to use it.”
“Clearly.” She lifted her head and met his gaze, her eyes dancing with desire and happiness. “Maybe after dessert we can go home and have a little more dessert.”
He brushed his thumb over her swollen lips. “And this, my love, is why we work so well together.”
She rose to her tiptoes, meeting him halfway with a kiss that he would never ever tire of.
About the Author
Shelli is a New York Times Bestselling Author who read her first romance novel when she snatched it off her mother’s bookshelf at the age of eleven. One taste and she was forever hooked. It wasn’t until many years later that she decided to pursue writing stories of her own. By then she acknowledged the voices in her head didn’t make her crazy, they made her a writer.
Shelli currently lives in the Pacific Northwest with her daughter where she writes various genres of romance. She’s a compulsive volunteer, and has been known to spontaneously burst into song.
Look for these titles by Shelli Stevens
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Savage
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