“I don’t understand. She’s mine. She can’t leave.” The bear pushed under his skin, looking for release and wanting to tear the castle down.
Bella widened her eyes and leaned forward. “Calm down, Talen. You don’t understand Earth women. You can’t just tell them they’re yours.”
He glared at her, angry she was going against what he was saying. “She. Is. Mine.”
She rolled her eyes and grinned. “You can say that all you want, but the fact remains you don’t own her. She’s free to go, and she did.”
“I claimed her.”
Her brows flew up. “Did you tell her this?”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
She groaned and dropped her face on her hands, shaking it from side to side. Then she met his gaze. “You’re saying she’s your mate, right?”
He nodded, annoyed he had to repeat himself. Of course Cassie was his mate. She’d been the one from the first whiff he got of her scent. From the first moment their gazes met and his bear roared to sink his claws into her smooth caramel flesh. “The only one.”
“Look, you have to talk to her. She probably doesn’t understand that you claimed her. Hell, she probably doesn’t get that you mated her, because you didn’t bother to ask her if it was okay,” Bella said with a bite to her voice. “No offense, but you should always ask a woman if she wants to be your mate. You shouldn’t take the decision out of her hands. What you did was not right.”
“She’s my mate.”
“It doesn’t matter. She should be allowed to say yes or no to any proposition you have. For a human, mating is like marriage. And one does not just marry a woman without asking her. You propose and when she accepts, you get married or mated in your case.” She pursed her lips and twined her fingers together, her large canary diamond glinting against the chandelier light.
“So I am to get her? Bring her back?”
“Whoa, there, buddy!” Bella raised a hand. “You can’t force her back. She has to want to come back.”
He didn’t understand any of this. Cassie was his mate. He claimed her. They belonged to each other. They belonged together. How could she not see that?
“I have to bring her back,” he said matter-of-factly. “She’s mine.”
Bella sighed. “You still don’t get it, do you? She’s not your property. She’s a woman with her own thoughts and opinions and you can’t just tell her she’s coming with you like she’s a bag of laundry.”
“A what?”
“Never mind,” she muttered. “I’m trying to save you some heartache and possible physical injury here. If you’re going to see her, you have to take it nice and slow and make sure you’re both on the same page. She wouldn’t have left if she thought you wanted something permanent.”
She got a distant look on her face. “Come to think of it, she seemed to be in a rush to go home.” She met his gaze. “Are you sure you didn’t do something to piss her off?”
“No. I left her to handle clan business. I was coming back.”
“It’s been four days.” She said the words like he’d committed a crime.
“There was a problem with the clan. I had to handle it and sleep through injuries I suffered in order to heal.”
She nodded. “Okay. I say you should call Gerri before showing up on Earth and getting told off for being there to begin with.” She scrunch her face in distaste. “What if you were a booty call?”
“A what?” He frowned.
“You know. A good time,” she waggled her brows. “Maybe she only, um…wanted sex. Have you considered that?”
He broke into a grin, thinking Bella must be joking. The smile died on his lips when she continued staring at him like that was an actual possibility. His mate. Use him for sexual pleasure? It made no sense. “What do you mean just sex?”
“Hey, women are not the only ones who are used for sex. What if Cassie didn’t want a mate? Have you considered that?”
Of course not. That was crazy. “Everyone wants a mate.”
“Not on Earth. Not everyone. We’re raised differently there. And if you’ve had bad experiences with the opposite sex, sometimes you prefer to keep it on the sex level and not get emotionally attached.”
“This is crazy talk,” he grumbled and stood. “I’m going to get my mate. She’s coming home with me.”
Bella shook her head. “Good luck, Talen. You’re going to need it.”
EIGHTEEN
Cassie heard her phone ring at the same time she exited her car to head into her doctor’s office. She hadn’t made an appointment but they were usually really good about seeing her last minute.