“Then what do I do?” Winter asked. “I’m not just going to walk away.”
“Don’t,” Ahm said. “I almost lost Bryce because I feared what my people would think, how they would react. Although Dasani is considered an adult, he is still young. If you show him that you will protect him, give him a happy life if he turns his back on his family, you just might win him over.”
“Might?”
“Familial bonds are strong among my people,” Ahm said. “If you are to sever Dasani’s, you have to give him a safety net he is positive will be there. A Shadow elf’s worst nightmare is being rejected by his family, his tribe. Show him what he will gain instead of what he will lose.”
“I don’t even know how to find him,” Winter said.
“Our lands are not accessible unless a Shadow elf takes you there. But trust me, he will come to you. The only thing stronger than a familial bond is mating. He will be drawn to you no matter how much he fears his father’s wrath. He may fight your mating, but he’ll come.”
Winter clenched his jaw at the thought of Dasani’s situation. “But I thought interfering with mating was against our laws.”
“It is.” Ahm nodded. “But proving that Egbar is interfering won’t be easy. Dasani won’t turn on his father. He’ll say the decision was his.” Ahm stood and gripped Winter’s upper arm, giving it a light squeeze. “You have a battle ahead of you. But anything worth having is worth fighting for.”
“How’s Ashayla?” Winter asked about Ahm’s daughter, not only because it was the polite thing to do but because he genuinely liked the little girl.
The question brought a wide smile to Ahm. “Growing bigger and more spoiled by the day. She has the entire Lakeland family wrapped around her little finger.”
Winter didn’t doubt that. “Thanks for talking with me,” he said as he pushed his Stetson back onto his head.
“Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.” Ahm patted his shoulder and walked back inside.
Winter stood on the porch, wondering if he could convince his mate to walk away from everything he knew in order to be with him or if the elf would leave Winter to live a lonely and mateless life.
* * * *
Ahm closed the door behind him and shook his head. He hadn’t wanted to discourage the tiger shifter, so he hadn’t told Winter everything.
“Everything okay?” Bryce asked from the couch.
“Fine,” he said. It wasn’t his place to tell of Winter’s troubles. The shifter had come to him in confidence. But Ahm remembered how he had hidden his scent from Bryce for years, how he had watched the man from afar, hadn’t told anyone that Bryce was his mate for fear of what his tribe would do.
He knew how Dasani felt. But Egbar was a different matter. The Shadow elf wouldn’t just reject Dasani if he found out his son was mated to a shifter. The man would peel skin from bone. Rakeym suspected that there was a growing uprising among the Shadow tribes—those who wanted things to change versus those who were willing to die to keep to their old ways.
And Egbar was leading the rebellion.
* * * *
After leaving Kevin’s, Dasani returned home. He didn’t want to push his luck. He’d already been gone all day. After Dasani had snuck off for weeks to spy on Winter, and then been kidnapped, his father’s patience was going to wear thin.
Winter.
Dasani rubbed his chest as the ache started to grow. Up close, the man was beautiful. And his voice… Dasani would never forget the deep timbre. It had vibrated in his chest and all the way down to his toes.
But the brief encounter was all he would ever have.
“Why the long face?” his sister, Sheba, asked as she stepped into his bedroom. “Has father been after you again about me?” She glanced around as though Egbar would suddenly appear behind her.
He got up and pulled her farther into his room before he closed the door. He kept his voice at a whisper. “I found my mate,” he finally confessed to her. Keeping the fact that he’d found Winter bottled up inside of him had nearly made him burst. He never kept secrets from Sheba, but he’d been so afraid that his father would find out that he kept the news locked inside.
Her grey eyes widened. A smile lit her face. “Do tell.”
Dasani toed the carpet at his feet as he felt a blush steal over him. “He’s the most handsome man I have ever seen. Big. Strong. And he has the dreamiest eyes ever.”
She giggled. “He sounds wonderful. Tell me he’s one of the warriors.”
Dasani shook his head and looked away. Sheba was infatuated with the Shadow Warriors. She thought them gods. “No.”