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“So...I'm not losing control of my beast? I'm
not going to shift uncontrollably and hurt her?”
    “You'll never hurt her.
She's your mate,” Thor said. After a pause, Thor asked, “Does
she know, about what happened to you?”
    “No.”
    Dylan and Thor glanced at
each other.
    “You didn't tell her?”
    “No. I didn't want to
scare her. And I don't know how much I should...”
    “You should tell her
everything,” Thor said.
    When Luke winced, Thor put a
hand on his shoulder and went on, “When I first met Aubrey, I
thought the same way you did. I didn't want to scare her and I
thought I was protecting her by keeping her away from my world. When
I was working undercover with the Mob, I saw and did things which
tainted my soul and stained my hands. I tried to shield Aubrey from
the darkness and violence of my world and I tried to push her away.
What I ended up doing was hurting us both. Aubrey's my mate, and
she's strong and brave. She is a part of me. I should have let her
in right at the beginning.”
    Luke blew out a breath and
nodded. “I...I understand.”
    “Talk to Nicole,”
Dylan advised. “Thor is right. Your mate is your world and
your strength. Don't hide from her, and don't hide anything from
her.”
    There was a sharp rap on the
door and Baxter burst into the room.
    “You rascal!”
Baxter grabbed Luke in a headlock and rubbed his knuckles into Luke's
blond hair.
    “Hey!”
    Luke wrestled Baxter to the
ground and finally managed to disentangle himself. Baxter dusted
himself off and grinned. “Someone has found his mate, eh? And
he's claimed her too. You smell like a freshly mated bear, Luke!”
    Luke looked up and saw a
crowd at the door. Some of the Black Bears were still in their
security vests and had grime and blood on their faces. They should
be exhausted after an intense mission and fierce firefight. Instead,
they were crammed in the doorway of the small meeting room, craning
their necks and pricking up their ears to catch the latest juicy news
and gossip.
    “Shouldn't you guys be
off?” Luke glared at them. “Your shift's over. Go home.
Catch some sleep! Move along now, nothing to see here.”
    “You have something to
tell us, Luke?” Paige, another team leader, called out
gleefully.
    Luke huffed in exasperation.
“You're all such busybodies.”
    “We are concerned,”
Baxter corrected. “We care, therefore we share. Now share,
Luke. Don't skimp on the details.”
    Through the meeting room
window, Luke saw his alpha and beta, Ethan and Caleb, strolling past.
The two tall men glanced at the crowd of jostling Black Bears in
amusement and gave Luke a knowing smile. Ethan and Caleb were good
bosses and leaders. They knew everything that happened within the
company and the clan. But they weren't coming to help him this time.
He would have to fend off his gossipy, over-caring-and-sharing clan
members and colleagues on his own.
    “Is nothing secret and
sacred around here?” Luke groaned.
    The Black Bears laughed as
they pounded him on the back. Luke threw his hands up in surrender.
When you worked with a clan of shifters who were experts at
surveillance and security matters, nothing could remain a secret for
long.

CHAPTER
TWELVE

    Nicole rocked the baby to
sleep in one arm and held her phone to her ear with her other hand.
She had been trying to reach Anna Ward but Anna wasn't picking up her
phone. She thought Anna would have calmed down and rushed back for
her son by now, but nope. No sign of Anna.
    She tried Anna's home number
but the line had been disconnected. She rang Anna's mobile number
again. “Come on, Anna, where are you?” she hissed under
her breath.
    Blowing out a breath in
frustration, she put down the phone and frowned at the baby boy.
“What happened, Brendon? What's gotten into your mom? What's
gotten her all worked up and weirded out?”
    Nicole drained her cold
coffee and left her pancakes untouched. She paid for her half-eaten
breakfast and grabbed her