Lorn’s father had helped write their clan laws, and would insist his sons follow them. Some were downright barbaric. Lorn didn’t need to say more.

Lavos was younger—Lorn would be expected to mate before his brother could.

Kira forgot how to breathe. The idea of the man she loved tying himself to someone else for life actually made her sway as her knees threatened to give way.

“Kira?”

She recovered but closed her eyes, lowering her chin to her chest so he couldn’t see her emotions. “I need to go,” she whispered. “I promised my father I’d be home before dark.” She tried to jerk her hand away but his grip only tightened to the point he easily could have broken bones.

“Look at me.”

She couldn’t do it. He’d see the tears she tried to suppress.

He suddenly gripped her face and forced head up. It was so surprising, she opened her eyes. His widened in response as she blinked rapidly to clear her vision of the tears.

“You care,” he rasped.

She tried to turn her head but he refused to allow her that dignity. She did lower her gaze. It was pure torture forming the questions when she knew the answers could possibly cause more pain. “Do you know who? Did you find your true mate?”

“No.” He paused. “My father insists I mate now. He sent word to another VampLycan clan and they found a candidate. There’s a woman who lost her true mate to death before they bonded. She’s desperate enough to agree to settle with me.”

Kira couldn’t bring herself to ask him if he found the woman beautiful. Most of the clan women were. It was in their bloodlines. The men were always sought after for their strength but the women were pursued for their beauty. They made for handsome children who grew into striking adults in the VampLycan culture. It wasn’t much different for Vampires. They appreciated attractiveness and only turned others they found beautiful. It would be a given that whoever the woman was, she’d want Lorn. Not only was he handsome but he was big, strong, and had gained a reputation of not being someone to mess with. Any prospective mate would appreciate all those traits.

Bitterness surfaced and Kira couldn’t stay silent. “Your father was alright with Lavos’s mate being pure Lycan?”

“Yes.”

It figures. The clan would accept a pure-blood Lycan over someone with human blood. It made the pain worse for her.

“Kira?”

She still refused to look at him. It broke her heart. All those nights she’d spent dreaming about him, hoping that somehow they’d end up together, haunted her. It had been stupid and foolish to even consider that somehow she’d be the one to get to spend her life with Lorn. He was a VampLycan and she was mostly human. Few of her father’s traits had been passed down to her, except a heightened sense of smell and she aged slower than a human. She’d never be able to shift forms or grow claws. The strength wasn’t there either. She’d taken more after her mother.

All the carefully constructed protective walls crashed down with Lorn’s hands on her, and being so close, she could feel his heartbeat under her palm. They’d played together every day as kids until that fateful trip to the river when she’d been fifteen. She’d never been a good swimmer to begin with but then a log had slammed into her from the strong current.

That day replayed in Kira’s mind. The air had been knocked out of her and she’d been pulled under water. It had taken her seconds to fight beyond the pain in her side before she could struggle to reach air. The other problem was part of the log had snagged on the shirt she wore, holding her under. She couldn’t break free. Death seemed imminent—but then Lorn had been there. He must have seen what happened and had come to her rescue. His strong arm had wrapped around her waist and he’d torn her away from the log. How he’d gotten her out of the water was a blur, but they’d ended up on the river’s embankment.

Lorn had hovered over her while she lay flat on her back gasping for breath.

“Are you okay? Speak to me!”

She’d stared into his face and realized that he’d saved her life. She wasn’t able to form words but had given a firm nod.

That’s when his gaze had lowered to her chest…and his mouth dropped open.

She glanced down and stared too. Her shirt was gone. It was probably still tangled with the log, lost somewhere in the river.

Her hands had clutched at her breasts to hide them. They’d grown a bit over the summer, the reason she’d taken to swimming in t-shirts instead of a bathing suit top. Her hands barely hid them and the mounds only seemed bigger when she did that.

A low growl had burst from Lorn and he suddenly rolled away to get to his feet. His hair had been longer back then, midway down his back. He’d shoved the wet strands away from his face and refused to look at her.

“Let me get you my shirt.”

His voice had sounded funny, deeper, and she sat up. “Are you okay?”

He’d slowly turned around, and Kira’s mouth was the one to drop next. Her gaze had jerked up, from the front of his shorts to his face. Her father had given her the talk about sex. Lorn was aroused, there was no hiding that, and it was sight she’d never forget.

“I’m getting you my shirt. Stay there.” He frantically glanced around. “Don’t move. Someone else could see you.” He almost ran down the embankment to where they’d left their towels.

She’d grinned, happy that he thought of her that way. One day she wanted to be his mate. She wouldn’t mind if Lorn wanted to kiss her. She’d allow it.

He’d rushed back within a minute and just tossed her his shirt, then spun around to give her his back.

“Put that on, Kira. Hurry up.” He glanced around again. “The others are near. I’ll kill someone if they notice how much you’ve matured.” He growled. “How did you manage to hide it from me?”

“I wear exercise bras. They flatten me out a little and I wear loose T-shirts over them. Dad insisted.”

“He should.” Lorn glanced back then, seeing she was covered. “Why weren’t you wearing one today?”

“We were swimming.” She frowned as she got to her feet, feeling surprisingly good for almost drowning. “We always get dressed in different locations so I just planned to put it on after we were done.”

“Wear them all the time.”