Shooting her an incredulous look, he began pulling on his jeans. “I can’t just sit there and say nothing while someone insults you.”

“Exactly—so you’re better off staying here.”

Not a chance would he remain behind at a time when she’d need him at her side. “I promise I won’t lose it, okay? I can’t promise I’ll stay quiet if she’s upsetting you, but I won’t lose it. I’m not letting you face her alone.”

Appreciating his support, she smiled. “Thanks.”

When they were fully dressed, they walked hand in hand through the tunnels. The thought of seeing her mother again made her stomach sink, but the thought of Nick meeting her father made her heart pound. She could easily recall the times Stone Critchley had met her boyfriends, and just how those meetings had gone—just how badly those meetings had gone. “Um, when you meet my dad…if he scowls at you, don’t worry, you’re fine. If he smiles, well, be on your guard. And no sudden movements. And try to make eye contact with him as little as possible. Oh, and don’t—”

“Shay, relax.” He squeezed her hand reassuringly.

Relax? Ha. Not going to happen. Finally, they reached the large kitchen. Roni and Marcus were standing in the doorway, regarding her parents with studious eyes. Clearly Roni had wanted Nick to have an ally nearby. As for Marcus…well, she wasn’t sure why he was there. Although it was fair to say that he’d been a good friend to Shaya when she was going through all that crap with Nick in the beginning.

Instantly, the two people seated at the long dining table were on their feet. Her mother was, of course, looking the victim as usual. Her father’s expression was as indulgent as always.

Coming around the table, Stone took Shaya into his arms. “Hi, baby girl.”

She returned his tight hug. “Hey, Dad.” Pulling back, she said, “This is my mate, Nick.”

Stone’s expression immediately turned assessing. “Is it now?”

“Nick, this is my dad, Stone.”

“Pleased to meet you,” said Nick, shaking the human’s hand. He had the same eyes as Shaya, but there was none of her impishness there—instead, there was ruthlessness and danger. He and his wolf recognized a predator when he saw one, and the male before him was certainly one. He also knew that Stone would recognize Nick as a fellow predator, and that was important because he had no intention of letting anyone try to intimidate him.

“Likewise,” drawled Stone, sounding not at all honest.

Nick then turned his attention to Shaya’s mother, and he wished he hadn’t. The woman was practically sneering at her daughter, a statue of disapproval. His wolf growled, wanting Nick to warn her against hurting his mate. Nick was about to do just that when Shaya slipped her hand into his again and gave it a double-squeeze—a clear “please leave it.”

“Mom, Nick. Nick, this is Gabrielle.”

He merely exchanged a curt nod with the female. “Shall we sit?” Without waiting for a response, Nick took the chair opposite the one her father had claimed. The others quickly returned to their seats. Before anyone could speak, the door opened and Taryn entered. Going to stand beside Roni, she nodded at Stone in greeting, who returned the nod.

“Hello, Taryn,” said Gabrielle, flicking her braid of red curls over her shoulder.

Taryn gave her a withering look. “Mmm-hmm.”

Stone leaned back in his seat, arms folded across his chest. “So…you’ve finally decided to claim Shaya. I’m interested to know what took you so long.” It wasn’t a query, it was a reproach delivered with a snarl.

“Then you should ask Shaya in private,” advised Nick.

“I’m asking you.”

“Yeah, but I don’t explain myself to other people—only to Shaya.”

Stone narrowed his eyes, his gaze studious, but he said nothing. Nick had the feeling that his answer had won a little of Stone’s respect…or maybe the guy just liked that although Nick was a bastard, he wouldn’t be one to Shaya.

“How’ve you both been?” Shaya asked her parents, smiling, breaking the awkward silence. The tension in the air was practically crackling. Having Nick’s arm draped over the back of her chair and his fingers playing with her hair was a comfort she so needed right then.

Gabrielle answered instantly. “If you must know, I don’t feel good at all—not that you truly care. I haven’t slept in weeks. No doubt it’s stress, seeing as my own daughter has left me and barely answers my calls.”

Shaya held her smile in place. “Forgive me if I don’t enjoy being insulted and sent on a guilt trip for having my own life.”

“You’ve always been selfish and difficult,” Gabrielle claimed. “Never sensitive to my predicaments.”

Sensing Nick’s irritation building, Shaya squeezed his thigh under the table. “Have you consulted a healer?” It was second nature to feign interest.

“Yes. He said there’s nothing wrong with me.” She huffed. “Can you believe that?”

Well, yeah, Shaya could.

“What is it you believe is wrong with you?” rumbled Nick, wanting the woman’s focus away from Shaya. He had no tolerance for people who faked ill-health when there were so many people out there who were truly ill.

“I have a thyroid problem, I know I have. I don’t care what the healer said, I know my own body. And I checked my symptoms on the Internet. Maybe Taryn can take a look at me while I’m here.”

The Alpha female merely made a noncommittal sound.

“So you no longer believe you have heart failure, deep vein thrombosis, and a fractured ankle?” asked Shaya dryly. She hated herself for being frustrated and angry with her mother, but she’d really had enough of the emotional manipulation. The number of times Shaya had heard the words “I think I’m dying” was unreal, but there had never been a single thing wrong.

In the past, Shaya had over and over rushed Gabrielle to a healer; by the time they arrived there, her mother had gone from weak and pitiful to excited and chipper—she loved the attention. It had gotten to the point where Shaya’s life had revolved around Gabrielle and her “conditions.” It was part of the reason why Shaya had switched to the Phoenix Pack, though she had still gone to visit her mother at least every other day, feeling guilty if she didn’t.

Of course when Shaya moved to Arizona, there was no one to fuss around Gabrielle—Stone certainly didn’t “entertain her dramatics,” as he referred to it. As she’d expected, Gabrielle hated that. She believed she was entitled to Shaya’s time, attention, and aid. Gabrielle looked about to reprimand Shaya, but then Stone was speaking again. Not to Shaya, but to Nick.

“Tell me about yourself.”

Nick recognized that deceptively friendly tone all too well. He’d used it himself with the web designer. “I’m not applying for the position of being your daughter’s mate. I am her mate. We’ve claimed each other. If you want to ask me questions for no other reason than that you’d like to get to know me, I’d be happy to answer them.”

Stone smiled, making Shaya tense. “I tried to do a background check on you.” His tone was even, calm—that meant bad things, she knew. “No one would tell me anything. Why is that?”

Nick didn’t answer. He just smiled.

“If you have more contacts and allies than I do—and I have a lot—you must have won the loyalty of many people. All I’m really interested in knowing is if you’ve won the loyalty of my daughter and if you plan to give her the same in return.”

“Shaya’s always had my loyalty.”

“And he has mine,” Shaya told her father, leaning against Nick for a few seconds.

“You believe he deserves it?” It was a genuine question from Stone.

She nodded. “He hurt me, but he had his reasons for not claiming me—good ones. It’s complicated.”

Stone sighed, grumbling, “It always is with male shifters.”

Nick noticed his mate’s smile of amusement and gave her a mock scowl.

“What about you, Taryn?” asked Stone. “If anyone’s as protective of Shaya as I am—other than Nick here of course”—said with so much patronization that Marcus almost choked on a laugh—“it’s you. Is he worthy of her?”

Taryn snorted. “No one’s worthy of Shaya. But she’s right—he had his reasons for not claiming her initially. He’s proven over and over that she comes first. Also, he’s totally whipped, if that makes you feel any better.”

Nick scowled at the blonde. “I’m not whipped.”

“Of course you’re not,” placated Shaya, patting his arm, “you’re just well trained.” She laughed at his low growl. Turning to her father, she said, “I wanted to tell you, I have an interview for a mediator position. If I get it—”

“You’ll get it,” insisted Nick with utter confidence.

“—it’ll mean I get to go traveling. Maybe I’ll even see some of the places you used to tell me all about when I was little.”

Stone’s smile was genuine this time as he took Shaya’s free hand in his. He gave Nick a small nod, which could be translated to “I’ll accept you for now.” It might not be a gushing reception, but it was enough to lift her spirits. Then Gabrielle went and spoiled the moment.

“Traveling? Have you not learned anything from watching my relationship with your father? Mates shouldn’t be separated for long periods at a time.” She looked at Nick then. “You’ll soon have an idea how I’ve felt all my life.”

“I’ll be going with Shaya,” Nick told her, barely refraining from snapping at the woman. “Where she goes, I go.”

“Nice idea,” said Stone.

Gabrielle turned to her mate, spluttering. “You never took me with you.”

“I couldn’t have taken you into war zones, despite that it was an appealing idea at times. Then you’d have known what suffering really is. And maybe you would have stopped being so self-centered and paid attention to our daughter.”

Gabrielle gasped in outrage, but it was Shaya she snarled at. “It’s difficult to give attention to an ungrateful, inconsiderate—”

“Enough,” said Nick quietly, his voice still filled with authority. Gabrielle’s eyes widened. “No one speaks to my mate like that. Not even her mother. In my opinion, though, I shouldn’t have to order her mother not to do so.”

“You don’t know what it’s been like for me,” claimed Gabrielle. “You don’t know how hard it is to lose one child and then find that the other is selfish and—”

“One more insult,” rumbled Nick, “and you leave.”

Shaya rubbed her jaw against his upper arm, hoping to calm him. “I’ve never asked you for anything, Mom. But I’m asking you now…if you can’t be happy for me, if you can’t be part of my life without trying to hurt me, leave me alone.”

“Trying to hurt you?” echoed Gabrielle, her tone incredulous, but Nick was aware the female knew what Shaya meant.

“You displaced your guilt onto Shaya.”

Gabrielle gawked at Nick. “Excuse me?”

“You were heartbroken when your other daughter died in the womb—of course you were. You felt responsible, felt guilty. But you couldn’t handle the weight of that guilt, so you transferred it onto Shaya. And she’s carried it all her life, and you let her. The times you left her alone in the house…you did that because that was what your mate did to you, left you alone. You wanted someone else to suffer. All your life you’ve escaped your own pain by dumping it on Shaya. No more. As she said, if you can’t be in her life without hurting her, you need to leave it.”

Gabrielle spluttered again and looked at her mate, expecting him to defend her. He didn’t. Nick knew it wasn’t because the guy feared him; it was most likely that he knew Nick was right and that Shaya deserved better than what Gabrielle had to give.

“Well, what will it be?” Shaya asked, her voice strong.

Gabrielle averted her gaze, concentrating on a spot on the wall. She was quiet for a minute. “When is your mating ceremony?”

“In a couple of days.”

Without looking at Shaya, she said, “We’ll be there.”

Shaya knew that was the equivalent of Gabrielle saying she was backing down and wished to stay in her life, but it wasn’t the “sorry and I love you” that she would have preferred—not that she had expected, or would ever expect, to hear that, but a girl could dream.

Abruptly, Gabrielle rose to her feet and headed for the doorway, where she waited as Stone said his good-byes to Shaya and Nick.

Just as she was about to leave, Nick called out, “If you hurt her again, Gabrielle, the choice of whether or not you remain in Shaya’s life will be taken out of your hands.”

Again Gabrielle looked to Stone for support. Again, she got none. Still, she claimed haughtily, “Her father would never allow that.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure of that. Like me, he has Shaya’s best interests at heart. But you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” Swallowing hard, the woman left with her mate following behind her, who was shaking his head at the woman—looking exasperated.

Nick turned back to Shaya, pulling her into the cradle of his shoulder. “Okay, baby?” When she nodded, he nipped her earlobe. She gave a cute little yelp. “Don’t lie.”