Corbin hated the feelings he sensed coming off his mate. She was actually shaking.
“I’m miserable.”
“Baby,” Zach stood, but didn’t advance. “We don’t want you to feel like that.”
She stared at him, her mouth a thin line. “You can’t do anything about it. I’ve been put in my place a few too many times today. Forgive me if I’m a little off-balance.” After a pause, she turned around and stomped to Corbin’s bedroom.
When the door slammed, Corbin flinched. “That went well.”
“Let’s give her a few minutes. She’s hurting.”
Corbin stood. “I need a beer.”
“I hope you have two.”
“I have a case.” Corbin stepped to the refrigerator, pulled out two bottles by the neck with one hand, and turned around to hand one to Zach.
“Good.”
Both men twisted off the tops and took long swigs before facing each other again.
Zach broke the silence. “Sucks about your parents. I had no idea you had lived with that hanging over you.”
“My entire life.”
“How did you turn out the way you did?”
Corbin smiled. “How do you know I did? Maybe I had no choice but to change my opinions when I stepped into that cabin.”
Zach shook his head. “Not buying it. You would have balked and put us off if that were the case.”
“I was stunned, if you recall.”
“Yeah, but I could feel the emotions warring inside you. You were shocked, yes. But only because mating hadn’t been on your agenda for this year. You didn’t flinch at the fact that there were two of us or we were white. Or half-white in Laurie’s case. I would have caught that vibe.”
Corbin blew out a breath. Zach was sharp. “I’ve never agreed with my parents. They’re bigots.”
“Apparently half the population of both Cambridge and Sojourn is racist and closed-minded.”
“What should we do?”
Zach shrugged. “Nothing we can do. Live our lives and hope people come around.”
“And you think that’s going to happen?”
“You have another plan?”
Corbin shook his head. He didn’t have a clue.
»»•««
When the door to the bedroom opened, Laurie wasn’t surprised. Even though her mates had remained quiet in the kitchen and living room area of the apartment for the last half hour, blocking her of the majority of their thoughts, she knew they wouldn’t give her much time.
No matter what, she had to admit they were dedicated to her. But at what personal cost? She’d brought them nothing but strife. Since the moment she’d met Zach, she’d caused problems. Hell, she may have even affected the weather.
Was it her fault the spirits were in town? What if her presence brought the black auras back down the mountains? Melinda said no one had claimed to have spotted a single vision in months. Maybe the Native American spirits weren’t warning of impending doom for the community or something to do with the weather. Maybe the black shadow she’d seen twice now was warning her specifically to get the hell away from the area.
She flipped onto her back and stared up at her mates as they stepped toward Corbin’s bed and stared down at her.
“I don’t like the vibe I’m getting from you,” Zach said.
She tried to smile, knowing she failed miserably. “Sorry. I’m thinking.”
Corbin crawled onto the bed. “Quit thinking whatever is making your face contort like that.”
She licked her lips and reached to pull him down alongside her. “You can’t tell me how to feel,” she teased.
Zach took up a spot on her other side. “We sure are a bucket of laughs tonight.”
She wanted to giggle at his quip, but she couldn’t bring herself to even smile.
“It’s late,” Corbin said. “Let’s get some sleep. I bet it will all look better in the morning.”
“It can’t look worse,” she muttered as she closed her eyes. At least now that they were next to her, she had a better sense of peace. It wasn’t perfect. There was a distinct unrest hovering like a black storm cloud in the air, and not the kind of cloud that brought spirits in its wake but a real actual storm that threatened to bring torrential results.
It took a while for her body to calm enough, and finally sleep sucked her under.
»»•««
A loud crash made Laurie bolt upright in bed. Her gaze darted to the window. The blinds were disheveled, several of them broken. The entire apparatus fluttered back and forth.
Zach and Corbin jumped to their feet next to the bed.
Corbin yanked open the drawer to the bedside table and pulled out his gun.