Chosen Mate: Lion Shifter Romance (Cybermates Book 5), Candace Ayers [big screen ebook reader .TXT] 📗

was already setting. I stopped to check on the construction at my place.

I’d managed to all but steal a property right on the beach. The big house was the northernmost home on the island and had been foreclosed on. I’d snagged it the day it was put on the market. There were already multiple offers, but my offer of all cash had sweetened the pot for the bank. I’d almost ignored the listing after seeing it was on Lovers Lane, because that was just a cheesy name, but the house was too good to pass up. I’d gotten it for pennies on the dollar. It needed a little work to get it in shape, but I knew James Construction was the best in the state.

I didn’t see Patton’s or Jake’s trucks when I pulled up, and when I sniffed the air, their scent was faint. They were gone for the day.

I sat on my front porch unable to get the image of Elin, the way she looked this morning, out of my head—bare faced with a fresh, wholesome glow. There was a sweetness to her that made my chest ache.

I’d hurt her majorly.

I wasn’t sure what to do to make it better, or even if I could. I still wasn’t convinced of my ability to be a decent mate. How was I supposed to figure out how to be a decent mate when I’d never seen it done? Judging by the way I’d handled things so far, I was piss poor at it.

There was no denying Elin and I were mates.

But, what if I was like my father? A shudder ran through me.

Swearing, I stood up and hurried to the side of the house. I stripped quickly and shifted, then sniffed the air, hunting for Patton’s scent. When I found it, I headed in his direction. The asshole was the closest thing I’d ever had to a brother and I needed to talk about how big of a dick I’d been. It was best to talk about it with someone else first, and get my thoughts clear, before talking to Elin—who didn’t want to talk to me anyway.

I ended up sneaking into the marina, still in lion form. That was risky, but few people were around at this time in the evening.

I leapt aboard Castaway. After I released a soft growl, Patton came stumbling up from below deck in nothing but a pair of flipflops and his birthday suit. I shifted back and frowned. “Jesus fuck, Patton, why are you naked?”

“Right back at ya’. What the fuck are you doing out here?” He looked up at the moon and rubbed his eyes. “What time is it?”

“I need to talk to you about something.”

“Oh, god.” He moved over to his beach chair and sank into it. Kicking the other one, he nodded for me to sit. “Well?”

I sunk into it. “I fucked up.”

“So? It happens.”

“No. Not like a little fuck up. A big fuck up.”

He leaned forward. “Did you murder someone?”

“What? Really? You think I’m a murderer?”

He shrugged. “I dunno.”

“Elin is my mate.”

He stared at me and didn’t appear surprised at all. He just nodded. “I figured as much.”

I cocked a brow. “So that mix up with you and Mariah both renting the place was a setup?”

He held his hands up. “I plead the fifth.”

“I knew it!” I frowned. “I was an asshole to her.”

“Yeah, you were. You pretty much rejected her.”

“It’s worse.”

He leaned his chair back. “What’d you do?”

“Well, in my defense, I didn’t know. I just found out.”

“Found out what?”

I sighed. “She’s pregnant. With my cub.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” He growled. “I should throw your ass overboard.”

“Do it.” Maybe it would make me feel slightly better.

“No. You’d like that, you twisted bastard. What happened?”

Scowling, I stood up and paced in front of him, giving him the run down.

“You just ran scared before you gave it a chance.” He rolled his eyes. “You’re going to get your ass handed to you for that.”

I deserved it. “I still… I don’t know, man. It’s terrifying. I’ve never known a lion to have a mate. We’re not supposed to have mates.”

“First you said she was your mate, now you’re wishy-washy. Are you seriously questioning it?”

“No, no, I know she is. I just don’t know how to wrap my mind around the concept of a mate.”

He shook his head and stood up. “Then, you’re just an idiot. I’m going back to bed. Stop fucking around.”

I rubbed my hands down my face and blew out a big breath. “I need advice. What the fuck do I do?”

“Fix it.”

“Great. Wonderful. Thanks, Ann Landers, for your expert advice.”

I shifted, made may way back to my clothes, dressed, and sat on my porch for a while longer.

There was a time when I knew my future would contain a Pride full of wives and children.

That was BE—before Elin.

AE—after Elin, my official rejection of any and all lionesses had spread quickly, courtesy of Brittany. Not in a bad way. Brittany and I had parted amicably. She never gave a shit about me. She just wanted to be the first wife of a wealthy, well-connected lion shifter. From what I heard she already became wife number one to Tom Morris.

Over the past two months, when I wasn’t stalking Elin, I’d been working like a mad man, taking every job I could squeeze into my schedule, in an attempt to keep my mind off her. It hadn’t worked. I’d been plagued by thoughts of her from the time I opened my eyes in the morning until I fell asleep from exhaustion at night.

The magnetism between us was just as intense today as it had been the first time I set eyes on her. Passion simmered just beneath the surface, even when she was angry enough to blind me with disinfectant.

I didn’t know how to make amends. Would she ever believe that staying away had been agony for me, but had been the only way I knew to protect her from my