An Alpha's Lightning (Water Bear Shifters 2) by Sloane Meyers Page B

exactly what that would entail. Which meant revealing to her that he was a panda shifter.
    Over the last several weeks, his attraction to her had continued to grow. Not only was she beautiful on the outside, she had a beautiful heart. She had become one of his best friends, and he didn’t want to take a chance on doing anything that might hurt her. He didn’t want to mate with her without telling her who he really was. And he wanted to make her fully aware that he had very real enemies out there—enemies who might take their hatred of him out on her, if they knew he loved her.
    Love. Ace let the word roll around in his mind for a few moments. It was a strong word, but he felt strongly toward Jade. He would lay everything out for her tonight, and he would hope that she still wanted to take a chance on a relationship with him.
    Ace climbed the stairs to Jade’s apartment and rapped on the front door a few times. Jade opened it seconds later, wearing a pair of navy sweatpants and a gray long-sleeved t-shirt. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun, like it frequently was when she was working.
    “Hey,” she said softly. She sounded nervous and unsure of herself, which was unusual for her. She was used to being in charge and taking decisive action. Ace had often thought that she would have made a good alpha, if only she had been born into a shifter clan.
    She’d make a good lifemate to an alpha , Ace’s bear whispered to him. He pushed away the thought. Before he started making lifemate plans, he needed to find out if she was willing to accept the idea of dating a shifter in the first place.
    “Can I come in?” Ace asked. A silly question, but he somehow felt weird walking in without an official invitation.
    Jade nodded, and Ace followed her into the tiny apartment. Ace had to hide his surprise at how small the place was. He knew the rescue center was a nonprofit organization, but, still—Jade was head of rescue operations there. Surely, they paid her enough to afford something a little more spacious than this.
    Jade gestured to the couch, and Ace sat down. Jade sat in an armchair across from him, bouncing her foot up and down in a nervous, rapid rhythm.
    “Jade,” Ace said. “I have a few things I need to tell you.”
    Jade stood up and held up her hand. “Wait. Me first,” she said, then started pacing the room. Ace forced himself to shut up and let her take her time deciding what to say.
    “I wanted to explain why I was so resistant to dating you at first, and why I changed my mind,” she said.
    “You don’t have to explain anything to me,” Ace said. “I’ve respected your decision from the beginning.”
    Jade shook her head. “No, I need to explain this. It’s a big part of who I am. If we’re going to be together, then I need you to understand some things about me.”
    Ace sighed. “Fair enough,” he said. He had a feeling that whatever it was that Jade wanted him to understand wasn’t going to be nearly as difficult to swallow as what he was going to tell her in a few minutes.
    Jade stopped pacing for a moment and took a deep breath. “I was engaged before, to a guy named Mike,” she said, then started pacing again.
    Ace frowned in confusion. Was that her big confession? “Jade, it’s okay. We all have exes. As long as you’re not currently with Mike, your past with him is none of my business.”
    Jade stopped and stared at Ace, her eyes full of anguish. “No, you’re not understanding. I’m not worried what you think about my exes. But I wanted to explain to you that I’m not currently with Mike, because Mike is dead. He died a month before our wedding.”
    Ace’s own heart clenched in his chest at the look of pain on Jade’s face. “Oh, Jade. I’m so sorry.”
    Jade started pacing again, and her words spilled out faster and faster. “He was a police officer, and got shot during an armed robbery. It was awful. I was supposed to be meeting him for dinner that night, but he never