“To have one Carson disappear is unfortunate. But two Carsons?” Kyle chuckled. “If I was a suspicious kinda guy, I might smell a rat.”
Something smelled rotten, that was for sure. Rael frowned. “Wait a sec. How come there’s nothing online about Dellan being missing?”
“Beats me. It’s in the police records, but it’s not being made public. Maybe someone is pulling some strings. And it would have to be someone pretty rich or powerful—or both—to quash the story. Put it this way. I had to call in a few favors to get my source to even tell me.”
“What kind of favors?” Then Rael reconsidered. “Wait. Don’t answer that.”
Kyle laughed. “Is that it? Is that all you wanted?”
“You did good,” Rael told him.
“Anytime, honey. You know that. Now get off the phone and enjoy your awesome hotel—alone.” He paused. “I’ll bet you’ve got a king bed too. Sure you won’t get too lonesome all alone in that big ol’ bed?”
“Nice try. Thanks, Kyle. Talk soon.” Rael disconnected the call, then made a few notes. Looks like I’ll have something else to talk about tomorrow. He yawned. Time for a nap. With the phone on silent.
Except he couldn’t sleep. His stomach was in knots, and his brain wouldn’t quit. After half an hour of restlessness on the couch, he gave up and went to the bed. Maybe that would prove more conducive to sleep. He closed his eyes, forcing himself to breathe deeply and slowly, willing himself to fall asleep.
Eventually, sleep came, and he sank into it, only to find himself standing inside the glass cage. What shocked him was that he wasn’t afraid, not even when the tiger dropped down from its branch as it had done that morning. It stilled, its gaze locked on Rael. Then it launched into the air, a graceful arc of stripes and sinew, and landed right in front of him, its heavy paws connecting with a dull thud as it hit the ground.
Rael couldn’t resist. He knelt on the floor of the cage, his pulse racing, and reached out to bury his hands in soft fur, stroking the noble head, the tiger’s breath warm against his own face. He ran a single finger down one curved incisor, feeling its sharp point but still without fear. Next Rael ran his hands over the tiger’s flanks, aware of the heart beating beneath the fur. He pressed his face into it, breathing in the tiger’s scent.
It was glorious.
Then the fur was gone, and Rael was left holding a naked man. A beautiful man with rich brown hair, tinted with bronze. And God, his eyes. They were green, but with amber flecks around the iris. A short, stubbly beard, peppered with gray, covered his jawline and chin. The man was thin, and Rael swore he could feel every one of his ribs. The man clung to him, gazing up at him, those gorgeous eyes locked on his.
“Help me.”
Oh fuck. That voice. It was the same as before—only now it pulled at Rael, tugging at his heart.
“Who are you?” Rael demanded. Before the man was able to reply, Rael drew him closer and kissed him, unable to stop himself from responding to that voice. The moment the man’s lips met his, a warmth rushed through him, spreading to every part of his body.
They parted, and the man frowned. “I have a name?”
Rael smiled. “Of course you do. Everyone has a name. What’s yours?”
The man’s frown deepened. “It’s… so difficult to remember.”
“Try,” Rael urged him.
“Kiss me again,” the man implored.
Rael pulled him until he was in Rael’s lap, Rael’s arms around the thin body. The man looped his arms around Rael’s neck, and Rael leaned in to kiss him, leisurely, aware for one brief moment of an odd taste. Something… chemical, almost.
Then the man pulled back and smiled, and an overwhelming feeling of happiness surged through Rael, bringing tears to Rael’s eyes.
“I remember now! I’m Dellan.”
With a shock, Rael found himself awake and cold in a dark room. Shivering, he switched on the bedside light and glanced at his phone.
Fuck. It was one in the morning.
He touched his face, disturbed to find tears there. Rael shivered again, unable to shake the dream. But was it a dream? He could still remember how the tiger’s fur had felt. The significance of the tiger becoming human wasn’t lost on him. Clearly, Rael was imagining him as a shifter. But as for it being Dellan?
He sat up and shoved pillows behind him. He needed to talk to someone, and there was only one person who fit the bill. Thank God she’s still a night owl. He speed-dialed, listening as it rang once, twice, three times….
“What’s wrong?”
He breathed more easily at the sound of his mom’s voice. “Can we talk?”
She laughed. “That is why you called me at this hour, right?” Then her voice softened. “What is it, sweetheart? You sound… strange.”
He told her about his meeting that day. The tiger in the cage. Dellan’s disappearance. The dream. And when he was done, he waited for her to respond, to tell him everything would be okay and there was nothing to worry about.
He wasn’t prepared to hear her crying.
“Mom?” he said in alarm. “Mom, what’s wrong?” He waited as she got herself under control, hiccupping as she tried to stop her tears.
“Oh, Rael. You don’t get it, do you?”
“Get what? That I’m dreaming about a tiger shifter?”
She drew in a deep breath. “Think about it. Think about how you reacted when you heard his voice. How you felt when you stroked his fur. When you kissed. When you touched each other. When he smiled.” Laughter bubbled out of her. “Oh, my sweet boy. He isn’t just any shifter. He’s your mate. Your fated mate.”
“My—” Whatever words he was about to say died in his throat.
I have a mate?
Chapter Three
THIS MADE no sense. For one thing, if mates were even a thing, she would’ve told him about them when he hit puberty. When they first had “the Talk” about what was coming up fast—his first shift.
Then it hit him. Mom obviously hadn’t told him everything.
“Mom?”
She sighed. “I know what you’re going to say, and I should have mentioned it before now. But sweetheart, I never, ever thought it would happen.”
“Why not?” Rael was trying to digest this new information, but it kept sticking in his throat.
“Rael… mates are rare. Like, unbelievably rare.”
“And how rare is that, exactly?”
Mom sighed. “The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292,000,000. Finding your mate? You have a better chance of winning Powerball, trust me.”
“Is that why you didn’t tell me about them?”
There was a pause. “Why should I tell you about something that is so rare among our kind, it’s almost a myth?”
He stilled. “But… then, Dad isn’t your mate?”
Another soft sigh filled his ears. “I love your father very much. I know he loves me. But no, honey, we aren’t mates. I just happened to meet another lion shifter who was this gorgeous guy with eyes that made me melt, and we fell in love. And to be honest, I’d have still fallen in love with him if he hadn’t been a shifter.”