A Prideful Mate by Amber Kell Page B

away. A minute later they heard a door slam closed and a shriek filled the air.
    “Don’t worry none, darlin’, that’s just Talan’s way. I’ll talk to him later about your situation after he’s done worn Adrian out.”
    After talking with Adrian and finding out what the wolf did, Payce wondered once again about his own mate. “Kevin, what is it you do?” A blush crossed Kevin’s golden skin. “I’m sorta independently wealthy. I’ve got some charities I run and I enjoy my kids.”
    What would it be like to have that sort of freedom?
    “What would you do if you could do anything?” Kevin asked. It was almost like he was reading Payce’s mind.
    Payce took a long time to answer as he thought of all the things he liked to do. “I’d do mosaics for people. I really like doing tile work, there’s something satisfying when a project is done. But my real love is mosaics.”
    Kevin wrinkled his forehead. “You mean like those pictures with tiles?” Payce nodded. “I’ve done a few pools, bathrooms and once a metro station with mosaics. It was really great.”
    “Huh. We’ll get you set up with a nice business, darlin’. Tia does interior decorating for shifter homes, maybe you can work something out with her.” Payce had a feeling it wasn’t the only thing he’d have to work out with the lioness.
    Kevin wondered how he could get Payce to agree to live in a pride house with a bunch of lions and no job. It looked like his mate had a few problems with Tia, not to mention the entire father thing. A few ideas spun through his head as he thought about job possibilities for the jaguar.
    Payce’s cell phone rang, interrupting Kevin’s thoughts about how to get Payce settled.
    Kevin watched curiously as his mate answered. When the jaguar turned pale, he stepped forward and put an arm around him.
    “I’ll be there in a few hours,” Payce said before hanging up.
    “What is it, darlin’?”
    A PRIDEFUL MATE
    Amber Kell
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    “That was the police. There was a break-in at my apartment. My place is trashed.”
    “They’re trying to lure you back to the city. They can’t find you out here.” The pride house was buried in the mountains. Unless you knew what you were looking for it was easy to miss. Hell, sometimes Adrian still got lost.
    “It’s working. I won’t be run out of my home.” The words sent a shaft of pain through Kevin’s heart. “I thought this was your home.”
    “You know what I mean,” Payce said.
    Kevin released his mate and stepped away. “No, I don’t think I do. You never really agreed to move in with me. I just assumed you’d want to because you’re my mate. If your truck hadn’t exploded, were you gonna come live with me?” He saw the truth in Payce’s eyes. The other shifter reached out to him, Kevin dodged his touch.
    “We just met, Kevin, I hadn’t made any sort of decision. I was coming back to tell you I wanted to see how things worked out.”
    “You were?” He hated the hope in his own voice. He sounded desperate. Fuck, he was desperate. There were cautionary tales about mates who bonded then broke apart. All of them ended in murder or suicide, sometimes both. A shifter who lost his mate went crazy.
    Everyone knew that.
    Kevin didn’t want to lose his mate, but even an easy-going man had his pride. His mate hadn’t really wanted him until they’d bonded. Now they were stuck with each other for life.
    In his dreams of finding his mate none of them had involved the gut-wrenching pain of being unwanted by the one man he’d looked for all of his life.
    “I’ll take you back to the city.” Tears clogged his throat. He’d be damned before he let them fall.
    Payce’s fingers briefly brushed his back as he turned. Kevin stepped forward and away from the other man’s touch. He couldn’t bear to face his mate.
    It hurt too much.
    “I’ll go grab my bag.”
    Kevin nodded.
    As much as he loved his family, there was a jaguar shaped hole in his heart.
    A PRIDEFUL