Page 45 of Rhett

She slapped her hand against her chest. “Oh God. My heart is racing so fast that I’m feeling light-headed.” She stopped in her tracks, peering over at me with panicked eyes. “Is this normal?” Her breathing became loud and heavy. “Oh God. My skin feels tingly.” She held out her arms in front of her, examining them as if they were foreign objects. “Am I shifting right now?”

I blinked, trying to tamp down my beast clawing its way to the surface to soothe her.

“Nova, you are not shifting.”

She ignored me and mumbled, “My muscle just twitched.”

She jumped when I settled my hands on her shoulders. “No. It didn’t.”

She glared at me. “How would you know anyway?”

“Because I’m a shifter.”

She rolled her eyes heavenward. “You don’t know shit.”

“Nova, take a deep breath. Calm your mind.”

“What makes you think I’m not calm?”

“Because your eyes are dilated like you’ve just seen Bigfoot.” I paused. “And I can hear your heart beating faster and breath quickening. Your body is preparing to fight or flee a threat by boosting adrenaline production.”

Her hands were trembling. “How about you mind your business and turn down the volume on your shifter hearing?”

“It doesn’t work like that, Nova.” Closing one hand over hers, I held her trembling one cupped between us. She struggled against my firm but gentle grip. “Talk to me.”

I could hear her heart pounding faster, but she stopped fighting my grip. “My animal is talking to me, and it’s freaking me out.”

“And what is your animal saying?” I asked.

Nova scrunched up her nose. “She thinks you’re my fated mate.”

“That’s what I suspected. I can smell you. Correction, I could always smell you, but now your scent has changed.”

She blinked rapidly. “Changed into what?”

“Into a scent that makes my mouth water with the need to know what every inch of your skin tastes like.” My nostrils flared as the scent of her arousal reached me. I fought the need to bury my face between her thighs and taste her sweet nectar. “But we both know that our mating would be a fucking disaster,” I said, still determined to deny with every ounce of my being that she was my fated mate.

“You’re damn right,” she snapped. “Besides, Imani and Nyx told me that our eyes are supposed to turn amber. Yours are still blue. Have mine changed?” She squared her shoulders and took a deep breath as if waiting for bad news.

“No.”

Her shoulders sagged with obvious relief. “Good. You’re not my mate.”

What the fuck!

I frowned. “You don’t have to look so relieved about the possibility of me not being your mate.”

She snatched her hand away. “Why not?” She glared at me. “You’ve made it abundantly clear, several times, that you hate me because of my Hunter bloodline.”

I rolled my shoulders to relieve the tension. “I don’t hate you. Never have. Never will. I—”

She cut me off. “It doesn’t matter. No amber eyes. No mate match. My animal is wrong, so…”

“Nova!” Bonnie’s voice bellowed from outside the house before pushing at the broken door that was barely hanging on to its hinges.

Nova sidestepped me and moved toward Bonnie.

“Are you okay?” Bonnie asked, pulling her in for a brief hug.