“How did you even find me?” She asked, disbelievingly, turning her eyes back toward him to stare at him with admiration. “I thought I lost you in the mountains. I…I was hiding from you.”
Another wave of guilt spiked into her veins, but Tav was not holding a grudge against her.
“You almost did lose me in the mountains,” Tav agreed. “But I wasn’t going to give up on you.”
Why would you keep looking for me? She wanted to add, but she didn’t need Tav to answer that for her. It was crystal clear now. Tav had already understood it from the moment he had found her. They were mates, and he was never going to give up on her.
“How did you find me?” she insisted.
“It was a hunch,” Tav confessed. “And my brothers helped.”
Relief overwhelmed Lora, and she nodded slowly.
“I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Me too,” Tav admitted, staring deeply into her eyes. “I was worried that I might have lost you. My Hummer flipped back there, and I thought he had gotten away.”
Lora turned her eyes back toward the spot where Oliver had been standing, mere moments before and asked the inevitable question.
“Is…is he dead?” she asked, slightly perplexed. “I-I didn’t think shifters could be killed that easily.”
“If he’s powerful, he’ll rejuvenate. If not, he’s dead. In either case, he will not be a problem for you again. I promise you that.”
There’s that confidence I should have taken faith in from the first time I saw it, Lora thought, gratitude and affection swelling inside her. She vowed she would never again take advantage of her good fortune.
“I believe you,” Lora told him earnestly. “Truly this time.”
Tav chuckled and kissed the top of her head, shaking his own head.
“I don’t understand so much of what happened,” Lora sighed, tilting her head back to stare at him. “I mean, I don’t know why Oliver acted the way he did…”
Tav gave her a sympathetic look and exhaled.
“I’m afraid that you’ll have to accept that you might not have answers to some of what happened,” he told her gently. Lora nodded slowly, even though she was not sure that would suffice.
It might take some time, but I’ll uncover how it came to this, she swore to herself. In the interim, she had some making up to do to Tav, and she told him as much.
“I don’t want to think about Oliver right now,” she said firmly, purposely looking away from the being who had tortured her for so long. “I only want to focus on you and me. I think I have some lost time to make up for.”
“I’ll take it,” he agreed, chuckling. “But we should get out of here before highway patrol comes out this way. Should we head back to the cabin?”
She did not answer, but Lora did not argue. And when Tav shifted, his monumental body twisting into the mythical creature of medieval folklore, she wasted no time climbing upon his scaly back and allowing him to soar above the clouds.
She had never felt more alive or more secure, riding on the back of her mate as he swooped along the bordering states, looking for a safe place to touch down. Everything was exactly as it should be, and Lora would never forget that again.
Epilogue
The sound of something crashing and then the sprinkle of raucous laughter caused Lora to open the door to the bedroom and pad into the hallway.
Instantly, Tav’s face appeared at the bottom of the stairs, and he looked up apologetically.
“I’m sorry,” he said contritely. “It’s Drea. He’s gotten into the whiskey.”
Lora chuckled dryly.
“It’s fine,” she told him honestly. “I was just taking a break from studying anyway. Mind if I join you?”
Tav’s eyes brightened, and he shook his head.
“Of course not. I was going to come up and bring you a snack anyway. We just ordered a pizza.”
Lora made her way down the floating stairs and into the living room where Andreas and Rhodes lounged against the couch. Andreas instantly gave her a bashful smile.
“Did I interrupt your studies?” he asked sheepishly. “I was just reenacting the basketball move.”
“There’s a reason you’re not an athlete,” Rhodes said flatly, rolling his eyes at his younger brother. “Please ignore my socially inept sibling.”
“How is school going?” Andreas asked as Lora sat on the loveseat, Tav curling at her side. She relished the feel of his fingertips trailing lightly over her bare arms. It didn’t cease to amaze her that even after all these months, he could still light a fire inside her from the second he touched her flesh. She wondered if that would ever stop, and she sincerely hoped not.
So far, so good. I know for certain that no one has ever had this effect on me. Then again, I have never met my mate before.
“It’s hard, but it’s good,” Lora confessed, in answer to Andeas’ question. “It’s harder than I thought for sure.”
“I should hope that being a doctor is difficult,” Andreas laughed. “I wouldn’t want it to be easy.”
“Not a medical doctor,” Lora corrected him, grinning at his silliness. “A psychologist.”
She knew that the other brothers sometimes gave the youngest sibling a hard time for being such a playboy, but Lora found him endearing.
Or else, I find his psychology endearing, she corrected herself. She found that she had been learning a lot about the people around her since hitting college. After what she had gone through with Oliver, Lora discovered that she wanted to understand what made criminals tick and behave the way they did.
At first, Tav had tried to argue with her, not liking the idea of her seeking out the psyche behind such beings. What had happened with Oliver had left a deep scar on him as much as it had Lora, but she was determined.
“Why not leave well enough alone?” he begged. “Oliver is gone, and he’s not coming back.”
“I know that,” Lora had assured him. “That’s not why I’m doing this.”
“Why are you then?” he pressed. “Why not just move on and forget about the whole horrible affair?”
“Because there are so many more Olivers out there, men with these dysfunctions, men who need help. Shifters, humans, everyone. If I can reach one of them, I might be helping another woman like me.”
Tav had been wary.
“And you want to help these men?” he pressed.
“I want to understand them,” she replied. “And I want to help the women they abuse and stalk.”
“To what end?” Tav sighed, sensing that he was losing his argument.
“To whatever end it takes me,” she replied.
The truth was, Lora had not given much thought about how she might apply her schooling after it was all said and done, but every day, she was learning more about the inner workings of the mind, and she felt like she was taking control of her life when she had lost control of it for so long. In the end, Tav had supported her, even if begrudgingly, and Lora loved him even more for it.
“I think it’s great,” Rhodes told her honestly, bringing her back into the living room. “In this day and age, people should be more in touch with what makes them tick. With all the resources out there, why not?”