"It means not only do I vouch for you, but I ensure that all Shifters stay away from you, always, including Liam. The bond of the mate supersedes the authority of the clan leader and even the Shiftertown leader. If Liam has a problem with you, he has to come through me first. Trust me, he doesn't want to have to go through me."
Liam, instead of getting upset, sat down and leaned back in his chair again, grinning his annoying Irish grin. "It's an interesting solution," he said. "Very interesting."
Elizabeth looked from Liam to Ronan. "What are you saying? That I'm now your mate? I don't want a mate!"
"Tell her she can reject the claim," Kim said. "Be fair. She doesn't understand complicated Shifter rules."
Liam shrugged. "A mate-claim only means that Ronan now protects you, and that you're off-limits to all other Shifter males. Doesn't mean you're mated. Yet. And yes, you can reject the claim. He can't force it on you." Liam said the last part reluctantly, as though he'd be happy for Elizabeth to be stuck in the claim.
"Then I reject--"
Ronan put his fingers over Elizabeth's mouth. "Wait. Let it work, first. If you stay under my claim, then Liam can't make you tell him about your past, or any other detail he wants to poke his nose into. I stay with you and protect you from angry gang leaders who want to kill you. Once the danger is over, you can reject the claim. We can't stop you. That's Shifter law."
"I'm not Shifter," Elizabeth said, her breath warm on his fingers.
"Doesn't matter. I am. Elizabeth Chapman, I mate-claim you, witnessed by Liam the leader of the Austin Shiftertown, Sean the Guardian, Kim the leader's mate, and Katriona, the leader's firstborn."
As Elizabeth stared at him over his blunt fingers, Ronan sensed a click inside himself, as though something that had long been unresolved had at last completed.
Elizabeth was a survivor. Ronan saw that in her. She was a survivor as much as he was, as much as the cubs in his house were, as much as Liam and his family were.
Elizabeth drew a breath. "All right. For now, I won't reject it."
Ronan relaxed, feeling a tightness in him loosen and flow away. Elizabeth held his gaze, her chin lifted. Nothing submissive about her.
"But that doesn't mean I'll do everything you say," Elizabeth said.
Ronan growled, feeling suddenly playful. Wait until he got her home and she looked at him with that challenge in her eyes. He'd never mate-claimed anyone before. Was this how it felt, an unexpected lightness, sudden joy? An excitement, anticipation of the next moment, of every moment? Ronan no longer wanted to work his shift. He wanted to take Elizabeth home and simply be with her.
Liam looked past Ronan to his brother. "Sean? You've not said a word. What do you think?"
Sean came out of his relaxed stance, unstrapped his sword, and tossed it to the battered sofa. "I'm thinking you brought me back here, away from my mate, for nothing," he said, moving to the door. "Elizabeth knows what she's doing, and you don't need me."
Without another word, the quiet Morrissey opened the door wide and walked out into the noise. Ronan watched him make straight for Andrea, and Andrea smile up at him in her warm way, welcoming him back.
*** *** ***
Elizabeth sensed the change in Ronan as he led her out of the office again. He guided her with his hand on the small of her back, gentle pressure, but one she couldn't ignore.
She noticed that every Shifter outside the office looked at Elizabeth in open curiosity as they emerged, then they glanced at Ronan, then again at Elizabeth, then their expressions blanked, and they looked away or backed off. They did it subtly, pretending they didn't, but they did it. How they knew Ronan had made this "mate-claim," Elizabeth didn't know, but it didn't matter. They knew.
Sean was now sitting in the booth with Mabel and the dark-haired, pregnant woman, and Elizabeth headed that way, Ronan tightly beside her. Scott had vacated one place, though Mabel and Connor remained, sitting firmly together.
Before Elizabeth and Ronan made it across the floor, a tall, blond man in cowboy boots and a button-down shirt, sleeves rolled up to expose brawny forearms, walked right in front of them, longneck in hand. The jukebox had started up with a country tune that was part gritty rock.
"Hey, there," the Shifter said. "I'm Ellison, and I need someone to dance with. Someone female. That lets you out, Ronan."
He hadn't looked at Ronan, keeping Elizabeth pinned with his gaze. His gray eyes held the predatory tinge of a wolf's.
Elizabeth shrugged, feeling itchy. The music had a good beat, and she liked the song. "Sure, I'd love to."
Ellison started to reach for her, then he inhaled sharply and looked at Ronan. Ronan never moved, never said a word, but Ellison's face fell. "Aw, hell, Ronan. Why does every pretty woman who comes near Shiftertown get grabbed before I even meet her? You all could save one for me."
"You snooze, you lose," Ronan said.
"You can reject it, you know," Ellison said to Elizabeth. "The mate-claim."
"So I've been told." Elizabeth was suddenly fed up with everything. She'd been anxious about Mabel and about her store, which one of Marquez's men could be torching even at this moment. Now she had to add Shifters, mate-claims, and macho males who passed females around like pieces of meat. All right, so maybe the last thought was unjust, but they seemed to regard women as things to protect from each other and the rest of the world.
Elizabeth straightened her shoulders. "I said I'd dance. Don't you have to work or something, Ronan?"
If she thought Ellison would laugh and waltz away with her, she was wrong. Ellison kept his gaze on Ronan. "Do you mind?" he asked. "Promise I won't touch."
Ronan considered a moment, then he nodded. "Take care of her."
"Hot damn. Come on. Before the song's over."
Ellison led Elizabeth off but carefully didn't touch her until they reached the dance floor. Elizabeth looked over her shoulder at Ronan, who watched them go, unmoving. Ronan stared at them for a while, then he turned his broad back and made for the entrance of the club, where he stationed himself like a sentinel.
Ellison could dance. He had a long-legged grace despite his large size, and could two-step with the best of them. He never lost the beat and led Elizabeth so she didn't, either. He twirled her and spun with her, all with great enjoyment. Through it all, she never lost her awareness of Ronan. The entire club separated her from Ronan, but Elizabeth sensed him at the door, solid as a boulder, his big arms folded, his gaze taking in everything.