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“Holy shit,” Lucas yells. “Did you hear that, brother?”

“I did,” Las says, rolling his eyes. “I’m standing right beside you,” he says dryly.

“You both are a pain in my ass,” Logan rumbles.

“As entertaining as this is,” Elijah chuckles, “Saylor doesn’t need to stand here, after a very stressful day, listening to it.”

“Why was it stressful?” Lucas asks.

“Shut up,” Las mutters.

“We will go,” Logan says firmly.

“I appreciate the concern,” Elijah says, holding out his hand. “I’ll call.”

Logan nods as their palms meet.

Elijah slams the door before the brothers can say anything.

“That was rude,” I point out.

“I can be rude. Like a lot,” he warns. “Did you really want to spend the rest of the night trying to get those three out the door?”

“No,” I admit with a sigh. “But it was still rude.”

“I will be rude again—so you know. The only person I won’t be rude to is you, Kitty Cat.” He turns us around. “Why don’t you go change? Get comfy. We are going to end the day relaxing.”

“I don’t know how to relax,” I cringe. When you have lived looking over your shoulder, you adapt to always being on guard.

“Well, I may not be a king of the jungle, but I am the king of relaxing,” he smirks.

This I can believe.

When I came out in Elijah’s shirt that came down to my knees, after giving me a heated look, he set us up in front of the television. He had popcorn (the extra buttery kind), a couple of beers, water, and some chocolate (explaining it was his emergency stash, and I should feel privileged).

He put in a vampire movie. He must have seen my confusion, given his hatred of vampires. He explained it was his version of therapy.

We preceded to have the most relaxing night I have ever had.

I ended up with my head in his lap, his fingers running through my hair, and my hand wrapped around his thigh. I tried to ignore the heat coursing through me, but just being near him eased me.

I drifted off halfway through the movie, Elijah’s soft humming voice soothing a special need in my soul.

I fell asleep with a mysterious, strong cheetah surrounding me and tear tracks on my cheeks.

Chapter Nine

Elijah

Istare into the flames, my eyes burning along with my rage. I tucked Saylor into my bed after she fell asleep on my lap. As much as I wanted to be near her, I didn’t want my emotions to leak through the bond that was forming quickly.

Once two mates meet, even if the bond isn’t complete, it starts to build. When we agree to do this together, bite each other, and accept the bond, our emotions will forever be tied together. I will always be able to find her and feel her.

Her story brings me equal amounts of sadness and anger. These men have made her life hell. I have to hold back from leaving now to kill the two we have. I don’t care about their answers now. All I care about is Saylor.

I never imagined the pull to be so extreme. I have to make her happy. I have to make her safe. I have to be a better man for her.

Hearing her past has brought mine back. I usually fight to push all the memories deep inside my mind. It didn’t help to see that Logan had reconnected with his brothers. That must havebeen where he disappeared to. He got a call when we were at the bar. Then he became quiet and that's when the drinks started flowing constantly down his throat. Tonight was the first time since then that I spoke to him. I assumed he had to have family, though he never confirmed it. The guy exuded sadness beyond what he had been through.