The Scent of Seduction Read Online Free Page B

hurt you. I could never hurt you. We are mates. My wolf recognises you. Close your eyes, and open your senses. You'll see it for the fact it is."
    "Are you crazy! I'm not going to close my eyes while standing in a parking lot with a stranger who says he's about to claim me."
    She was breathing rapidly, her fists clenched—a hair's breadth away from bolting back into the bank for safety—but she knew she could never outrun him. If he chose to pursue her, he would have her in his strong arms within seconds.
    "Okay, that's sensible. Look, before we continue this debate, will you please tell me your name? I'd like to know who I'm arguing with.” He smiled.
    "It's Nicole Holland,” she found herself answering quickly.
    "Nice to meet you, Nicole. I know you have no reason to trust me, but you obviously know what I am—what being my mate means. So tell me why it's impossible, other than stubbornness."
    She pushed back the hair that had blown in her face again. “First, I'm not a werewolf so telling me to open my senses won't achieve a thing. There's no reason for me to recognise one of you as a mate. Second, I'm pretty sure I've already been marked. And third, I have no interest in being some chauvinistic Alpha asshole's chattel. Why do you think I ran in the first place?"
    A low growl rumbled in Jaryn's chest. “First, there is no mating mark on you. I would detect it. Second, I'm a shifter not a werewolf. It's an entirely different concept. Third, I believe somewhere in your family history there is a shifter because we can identify each other—call it a sixth sense if you will. And, you did recognise our connection, so don't think you can lie to me. You can't lie to a shifter, and you especially can't lie to your mate and expect to get away with it. Once you stopped fighting, you clung to me like I was a piece of driftwood on the open sea. And fourth, I don't know where you got your ideas of what it means to be an Alpha's mate, but I have no intention of treating you like a chattel. In our pack, mates are honoured, protected and treasured."
    He slowly stepped forwards and, taking Nicole's hand, he placed it on his chest. “The concept of a mate is that we find the one individual who is a perfect match for us out of the entire world population. Those odds are astronomical, so any mating is treated like the miracle that it is. Being your mate also means that I can sense your emotions, especially when they are running hot. Earlier I detected fear. And I suspect it had to do with more than dealing with the shock of all the new feelings coursing through you. Tell me. Let me help you."
    Nicole's fingers dug into the hard warm chest. Her breathing had instantly calmed with Jaryn's touch. This was the complete antithesis of how Adam made her feel. He was right—she did want to cling to him, but fear made her skittish as she imagined an abused animal might feel. She'd been through too much in the past year and a half to accept anything on blind faith.
    Faith no longer existed, not in her.
    Since the revelation and integration of shifter communities some twenty years ago, humans had been clamouring to learn more about their culture. The discovery of the mating bond a decade ago meant that the world learned a secret that the shifter community had kept secret for centuries. It was said that when a shifter met his or her mate, a biological response was triggered in the two individuals, linking their psyches together. Wolves, along with a several other shifter species, mated for life and those fortunate enough to be part of a pair experienced a love greater than any previously known in their existence. There were entire dating services dedicated to humans searching for a shifter mate for that very reason. Those masses didn't care that the odds of it happening were few and far between.
    She'd promised those she'd left behind who had aided in her escape that she'd find some way to expose Adam Broyles for the monster that he was. Could