Rejecting My Shifter Boss by Skye Alder

Twelve

Roman

My mate is curledup on the couch reading a book. I watch her from the hallway, taking a second to appreciate her natural beauty, silhouetted in the soft light coming from the massive front window. Her cheeks are milky white, dotted with freckles. Her button nose scrunches up as she reads something, and I grin at how adorable she is. Kiera’s gorgeous red hair fans around her, glowing as the light tangles in the strands.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” she teases, looking over at me. I smile and shake my head as I walk over to the couch and sit down. I adjust her so that her feet are on my lap, and begin gently massaging them. “What’s this for?” she asks, her eyes fluttering closed as I continue rubbing the arch of her foot.

“Because I saw you sitting here, all beautiful and tempting, and wanted my hands on you in some way.”

Kiera rolls her eyes, but her cheeks flush, letting me know she likes the idea as much as I do. After a week of living with my mate, I’ve discovered she’s as hungry for me as I am for her. Good thing, too. We can’t seem to get enough of each other.

I’m damn glad I decided to build a gigantic cabin. Peyton has her own wing with several rooms, a bathroom complete with a jacuzzi, and a kitchenette. She can’t hear Kiera and I when we’re getting lost in pleasure. I made sure of that.

So far, having Kiera by my side has been more incredible than I ever could have hoped. She’s sweet, strong, caring, and has a body I’m completely addicted to. We’ve settled into a nice routine and I can’t wait for the day my mate tells me she’s pregnant. With how much we’ve been going at it, I’m sure the good news will come soon.

Kiera sighs and relaxes, sinking deeper into the couch as she surrenders to my touch. I move my hands up her legs, massaging her ankles and calves. I’m about to grip her thighs and spread her open for me, but her phone rings, interrupting us.

“Ignore it,” I growl, my nostrils flaring as I smell her arousal.

“It’s Peyton.”

I let her go, though I’m not happy about it. However, I know how important her sister is, and I’d never keep her from answering her call.

As soon as Kiera answers the phone, I know something is wrong. With my heightened senses, I can hear Peyton’s trembling voice. Seconds later, I catch the scent of Kiera’s fear and anxiousness. My wolf whines and paws at my chest, wanting to comfort her and fix the problem.

“What happened?” she asks Peyton. After a pause, Kiera’s face drains of color, her green eyes going wide and shining with unshed tears. “You saw him? Isaiah?”

Anger, adrenaline, and the fierce need to protect my mate and her sister tear through me. I leap off the couch and pace in front of Kiera, urging her to keep Peyton talking. She knows I can hear their conversation, which helps move this along quickly.

“Where are you?”

I listen for Peyton’s answer and then pull out my phone and call Stryker. He’s close to the office, which is near the coffee shop Peyton is currently hiding in. Kiera keeps talking to Peyton, calming her down with soothing tones, while I wait for Stryker to pick up.

“What’s up?” he answers.

“I need you to go to the coffee shop on the corner of Sixth and Timber Way and pick up Peyton.”

“What? Why?” He says it with a little too much force to be casual. His tone isn’t angry, necessarily, just frustrated and a little annoyed. I wonder what that’s about.

“She’s in danger.”

“What the fuck?” he growls. I hear papers scattering in the background, followed by a chair scraping against the floor and then hitting the wall. “What happened?”

Interesting. First he’s frustrated, and now he’s growling possessively over the thought of Peyton being hurt. I don’t have time to pick that all apart, however.

I’m not sure how much he knows about Peyton’s past, if anything, so I give him the shortened version. “Kiera and Peyton ran away from a cult. Peyton saw the leader a few minutes ago and ran inside the coffee shop. Can you get her or—”

“Yes,” he answers right away. There’s a brief pause, and then he curses under his breath. “I’m going now. We’ll be at your place in fifteen minutes tops.”

He hangs up without saying goodbye, which is just fine by me. I turn back to Kiera, who is now pacing in front of the couch. She’s still talking to Peyton, keeping her on the line until Stryker shows up.

I walk up to her, holding out my arms. Kiera melts into my embrace, letting me hold her while she talks to her sister. Combing my fingers through her hair, I kiss the top of her head, breathing her in. She’s scared, but not nearly as terrified as I thought she’d be if her past ever came back to haunt them. I hope it’s because she knows I’ll always protect her.

Stryker and Peyton show up in just under seven minutes, which means Stryker must have sprinted the whole way to the coffee shop and sped all the way here.

As soon as they step in the door, Kiera wraps Peyton up in a fierce hug. The girls move to the couch and Kiera drapes a blanket over her sister.

I head to the kitchen to grab a glass of water for the trembling Peyton. When I return, Stryker grabs it from me and shoves it in Peyton’s face. She looks up at him, and the most miraculous thing happens. His face softens, and his deep blue eyes glow slightly around the edges. He gently takes her shaking hand and wraps it around the glass, handing it to her with all the care in the world.

Stryker backs away immediately and runs his hands through his hair before blowing out a breath. I watch from the corner of the living room as he paces back and forth, trying and failing not to look at Peyton. Every time he does, his jaw tenses and his nostrils flare.

I’m pretty sure they are mates, though Peyton seems to have no idea. I glance at her neck, noting there isn’t a bite mark. Strange. But not the time to ask questions.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Kiera asks Peyton, her voice soothing as she rubs her sister’s back. Stryker immediately stops pacing, turning his full attention on Peyton.

“I w-was walking back to the office after running an errand,” she starts. “I felt it, you know? Felt his eyes on me.” Peyton gives Kiera a look, and the girls nod, knowingly. I hate that either one of them had to ever experience paranoia from their past. Stryker growls softly, though I think I’m the only one who heard him.

“Yeah,” Kiera agrees, encouraging her sister to continue.

“I stayed close to the shadows like you taught me, waiting until I was hidden before looking around.” Kiera nods her head. My heart breaks all over again thinking about these two on the run. My brave, protective mate is incredible, and the more I learn about her, the more I love her. “I caught his eye in a store window,” Peyton goes on.

“Did he see you?” Stryker grunts, clenching his fists.

Both girls look up at him in shock. I have to suppress a grin. Oh yeah, Stryker has found his mate, alright. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.

“I don’t know,” Peyton whispers. “I’m so sorry,” she says to Kiera, her voice cracking.

Kiera hugs her sister close, rocking her back and forth. She’s going to make such a great mother.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” Kiera reassures her. “None of this is your fault. It’s them. Him. He’s sick and twisted, but we won’t let anyone hurt you ever again.” Both Stryker and I grunt, making Kiera smile. She must be picking up on whatever is going on between Peyton and Stryker as well.

“Who is he?” Stryker grits out. “Who did you see? Why do you need protection from him?”

Peyton gives her sister a look. Kiera nods, letting her know it’s okay to share.

“Kiera and I grew up in the First Coming cult,” Peyton says. Stryker looks shocked, and for once, he stops his nervous pacing. “What’s worse is that when I came of age, the leader, Isaiah, decided he wanted me as his tenth wife.”

“Not gonna happen,” Stryker promises. His tone is deep, dark, and unflinching.

“Agreed,” Kiera chimes in.

“Anyway,” Peyton continues. “Our mom left when we were young, leaving us in the care of our father. He’s almost as bad as Isaiah. I mean, he was thrilled to give me over to Isaiah, despite my many protests. So, that’s when we left.”

“Yup,” Kiera confirms. “We’ve hopped around from city to city, but we can’t seem to shake off the members of First Coming. They find us wherever we are, forcing us to move again and again.”

I can’t stand being this far away from my mate any longer. I kneel down in front of her since the couch is too small to fit my large frame. Taking her delicate hands in my much rougher ones, I rub my thumbs over her knuckles, drawing her attention to me.

“You’re safe here. Both you and Peyton.”

Stryker grunts his agreement. “I’ll call Archer. You want us to assemble the packs?”

“What?” Kiera and Peyton ask at the same time.

“Yeah, I’ll be there in a second. We’ll head out in ten,” I tell him before turning back to the girls. “You two are going to stay here and get comfortable. Everly will be here soon to hang out with you guys. Throw a movie in, grab some snacks, whatever you want. The packs, Stryker, Archer, and I are going to look into this a little more and see if we can pick up any scents that don’t belong.”

“Be careful,” Kiera says, her eyes pleading with me.

“Always,” I whisper, leaning over to cup her face and gently brush my lips against hers. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

Kiera nods and I give her one last kiss on her forehead before heading outside to meet Stryker. It’s time to get to the bottom of this so I can get back to my mate.