Chapter Twelve

Ronan got Scott to bed, cleaned himself up, and returned downstairs to see that Ellison was making Elizabeth coffee. Ellison at least had pulled on a pair of jeans. Ronan had as well, and here he'd been hoping he'd get out of his clothes for Elizabeth.

Ellison, once Ronan gave him a nod that everything was fine, enclosed Elizabeth in a swift good-bye hug then left through the back door. Ronan sat down at the big table and shoved the mug of coffee Ellison had prepared across to Elizabeth.

"He'll be fine," Ronan said. "Sleeping it off. The Collars hurt like a mo-fo, so Scott's going to be down for a while. Sorry about that. I didn't think he would react to us."

"Ellison said he scented pheromones?" Elizabeth sipped her coffee, looking shaken but determined not to let the incident daunt her.

"He did. During Transition, Shifters walk around in a state of heightened sensitivity to . . . everything. Pheromones, fighting instincts, hunger pangs, you name it. Scott probably sensed us getting hot, and his bear brain suddenly decided I was his rival for the warm female in the Den. When he wakes up, he's going to be embarrassed, so go easy on him."

Elizabeth's hands tightened around her mug. "But if he's that easily triggered, is Mabel safe from him? What about Cherie? Even Rebecca? I can't let Mabel stay here with him like that."

"No, no. Mabel will be fine. And Cherie. Scott knows they're cubs. Mabel might not be a kid anymore in human terms, but to Scott she is. Shifters are even more freaked out about touching cubs than humans. That's ingrained in us, even during the Transition. As for Rebecca . . ." Ronan had to shake his head. "She's a big Kodiak, like me, and she doesn't take shit from anyone. She's already knocked Scott clear across the house a couple of times. He mostly leaves her alone. But you." Ronan's amusement faded. "I think you'd better stay with Sean and Andrea. I didn't realize a human would trigger the frenzy. But then, I don't know much about humans."

"I trigger a frenzy? No one's ever said that about me before."

Ronan reached for Elizabeth's hand and twined his fingers through hers. "That's why I'm going crazy wanting to touch you." He lifted her fingers to his lips.

"Careful," Elizabeth said softly. "We don't want to upset Scott."

"He's out. Completely out. But I take your point." Ronan kissed each of her fingertips in turn. "I can't seem to stop touching you, Lizzie-girl."

"What are we going to do, then?"

Ronan loved her eyes, so different from a Shifter's, the blue of them pure and dark. "You can accept my mate-claim. Then Scott will know, without doubt, that you belong to me. He won't try to touch you then."

She frowned, brown brows coming together. "How would that work?"

"Honestly?" Ronan shrugged. "I don't know. It's scent, instinct, maybe the pheromones again. We just know."

Her fingers lay motionless against his. "What would it mean, exactly? Me accepting your mate-claim?"

He spoke carefully. "It means that you agree to be joined with me in two ceremonies--one under the sun, one under the full moon, in the sight of the Father God and Mother Goddess. But that's only part of it." Ronan leaned across the table to her, inhaling her goodness. "You accepting the mate-claim means that you are mine, and I am yours. We belong to each other. For always." He squeezed her hand. "I'd like that."

Ronan saw longing flare in Elizabeth's eyes, and loneliness, a need to fill the empty spaces in her heart. He also saw fear.

"I've gone down this road before," she said. "I decided then that I'd never let a man have power over me again. It's dangerous. I won't do it."

Ronan felt her terror through their twined hands. He ran his thumb over finger, soothing. "This is why you changed your name and started over again, isn't it?"

"Yes." Elizabeth's throat moved. "I got involved with the wrong person, a dangerous one. I didn't realize how dangerous until too late. I only saw a very rich man with a big house who could take care of me, and Mabel too, and he seemed to adore me. That's before I figured out he was a dealer, and into all kinds of very bad things. Mabel was only fifteen, and he was already starting to want her to do favors for his high-flying clients, to sweeten them up. You know what I mean. When I objected, he showed his true colors. He turned into an abusive dickhead, threatening me with all kinds of things, including death, and I realized he'd carry out his threats in truth. The only way I could get away from him was to take Mabel and disappear one afternoon when he was out. I had a friend, from my days in foster care, who knew how to create identities. I gave him a wad of cash, he came up with Elizabeth and Mabel Chapman, and here we are."

Ronan listened, not letting his rage spill over into her fragile hand he still held. "What is his name?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"No, Ronan." Elizabeth's gaze flicked to his, her quiet desperation increasing his anger at whoever this abusive dickhead was. "He's an evil man, and he's surrounded by trigger-happy guards with the latest in firepower. You'd die before you ever saw him."

"I'll never do to you what he did, Lizzie-girl."

"I know." Elizabeth pressed her palm to her chest. "I know that in here. My head is still all f**ked up."

"Let me explain something," Ronan said in a quiet voice. "To me, you accepting my mate-claim means that I protect you, no matter what. If that includes protecting you from myself, then so be it. I take care of you, I cherish you, I don't let men like Marquez or whoever this ass**le is hurt you. You never have to fear them again. Or me, or any Shifter. I'd be your bodyguard. Bodyguard for always."