And now, here he was, barely twenty-four hours later, discovering that not only was his mate a human. She was also one who had a healthy death wish.
“You’re gonna get yourself killed,” he said to her. “And then where will you be?” What he meant was, where will I be? He couldn’t exactly say that to a stranger, though.
His mate gasped softly, her perfect mouth falling into an O of anger. “Forbid me? Who the hell do you think you are?”
“Oh, little darling,” he growled low, “you don’t want to know who I am. I guarantee you that. Try not to die before the day is out, will you?” Because if you do, I’m going to be in a world of hurt.
Valens had to get the hell out of there before he did something stupid. Sure, his brothers were the Sheriff and the Mayor, but if he kidnapped a human, he was pretty sure his family connections wouldn’t be able to do much to save him.
What a weirdo. Isa’s words echoed through his brain as he slammed the door behind him.
Valens could not believe it.
This had to be some kind of sick twisted joke that his brothers were playing on him to prove a point or something dumb like that. He grabbed his phone from his back pocket, taking his favorite stress ball into his hand. He squished it with all of his might. The little squishy tiger’s eyes nearly popped out of its head.
“What do you want?” Oz barked into the phone.
“How did you do it?” Valens barked right back.
“Do what?”
“Get my tiger to react to her. The woman who was just here.”
Oz grumbled something to his assistant and laughed. “Wait just a minute, now. Are you telling me that a tourist walked into your office to see a doctor, and she ended up being your mate?”
“You knew. This isn’t real. It can’t be.” Valens was sort of hoping he was right.
As beautiful as Isa was, he couldn’t deal with having a mate who was not only a human but one who did dangerous things for fun. That was a sure ass way for him to get gray hair and have a major coronary before he turned thirty-one.
He was a few months away from that birthday.
“Valens,” Oz chuckled, “you know as well as I do that’s not how it works. There is no way to recreate the mating call. If your tiger reacted to her, you know what that means. You’ve found your mate.”
“Not a fucking chance. She’s this daredevil nutjob. She called herself something dumb. Dev-Isa or Devil Woman or something.”
Oz gasped. “Are you telling me that the Daredev-Isa is on our mountain?”
Valens’s heart sank. “You know who she is?”
“Of course, I do. She’s a big deal on social media. She has millions of followers. She travels all around the world doing these insane stunts.”
“Why would she do that?”
Oz laughed. “I don’t know. Maybe she finds it fun to travel for basically free.”
“It won’t be free if she has to pay with her life.”
Valens could all but hear his brother rolling his eyes.
“She isn’t going to die. Don’t get me wrong. That’s almost happened a few times, but she has a team with her. Tarrah and Luke, I think their names are. Did you meet them? Oh, we need to have her over for dinner. I wanna pick her brain about everything.”
“Not a chance. This isn’t real. I need to hang up now. I have to call Egon and see if he is behind this.”
Oz whistled low. “Nope. He can’t. You know. Isa is your mate. We can’t fuck with that. Even if we had wanted to.” He laughed. “You really should have kept your mouth shut last night. You stepped in it this time.”
“It’s just not possible. There’s no way fate brought this insane woman to me in a day.”
Oz clicked his tongue. “You’re right. That means she was always gonna be yours. You just need to get over your hatred of humans and get with your lady.”
Valens grumbled. “I do not hate humans. I’d be out of a job if they didn’t exist. I’m just confused. Why would she be my mate?”
“Beats me. Maybe spend some time with her, and then you’ll understand. I don’t know how any of this shit works. Talk to Mom and Dad. Or better yet, talk to Egon. He’s the one who is mated to a human now.”
Before Valens could respond, Oz hung up, effectively ending their conversation.
He looked down at his favorite stress ball, only to see that he had destroyed the thing during the call.
“Damn,” he said. “It was the best one.” He gently placed it on his desk and watched the flattened tiger sponge try to retake its shape.
It wouldn’t.
It would never be the same. It was ruined now.
Much like he was going to be ruined now that he had found his mate — and she was human.
“I feel your pain,” he told the inanimate object.
You’re losing your mind, and you’ve barely been around Isa, his tiger pointed out, ever helpful.
Oh, yeah. He was in for it, all right.
4
ISA
“I really don’t think we should do anything else today,” Tarrah argued, jumping off the boat and landing on the dock. “We’re out of gas anyway.”
Isa arched an eyebrow at her friend. “You’re lying. You’re just on Luke’s side.”
Tarrah blushed. “It’s not so much about being on anyone’s side. It’s more about trying to keep you alive. How can we build your brand and your followers if you die?”
Isa rolled her eyes. “I’m not gonna die. I have a job to do.”
“Right. And if you were employed by anyone else but yourself, they would send you home to rest after a work injury.”
“If I don’t work, none of us get paid.”
“But you already did your stunt for the day. And you know you go viral every time you fall. This is gonna be fine. Let’s just go back to the cabin and take it easy for the rest of the day. I can make eggs and waffles for dinner.”
“I’m not a kid. That won’t work with me.”
Tarrah grinned. “It does, though.”
“Right, well, the doctor pissed me right off. I need to do something.”
“What did the doctor do?” Luke asked, his features darkening. “Did he hurt you?”
“Settled down,” she told him with a wave of her hand. “He was fine. He just didn’t understand the importance of my work.”
“We’re out of gas,” Luke repeated the lie he and Tarrah had no doubt agreed on before she returned from the doctor’s office.
“So you said. What about that plastic gas can we have back at the cabin?”
Luke’s jaw ticked. “No.” He turned on his heels, leaving the dock.
Tarrah shrugged at her before running after Luke. Isa watched them go and muttered “traitors” under her breath.
Didn’t they realize that unless her numbers were up, she couldn’t pay them? She didn’t really know why a talented driver and a gifted video editor were still following her around the world for pennies. It could be loyalty, but Isa had another theory.
Tarrah only stuck around because she was in love with Luke. As for him? Isa didn’t really know why he stayed. He had his own following as a result of her own internet fame. When Isa had to go back home for so-called family obligations, Luke would take jobs driving for other people. The man could be a professional stunt driver. He had even been featured in a few movies before doing private security and ultimately quitting that to be her driver. He insisted on staying on her crew for fuck knows what.