hand down his black suit jacket. “Two articles were recently posted online about her devastating circumstances. Have you not read or heard of them?”
“I don’t keep up with the news. It’s all sad and depressing.”
“True enough. I will give you a quick rundown of the situation. Rosemary’s husband divorced her when she was unable to conceive a child, so she was already in a fragile emotional state when she came across her true mate. He could have made her so much better. Instead, he made her worse. Rejected her for being unable to shift. She tried to commit suicide.” His breath hitched just a little too dramatically. “She’s doing better. She started talking again, although she doesn’t say much and still spends long periods of time simply staring at the wall.”
Struggling to keep her tone even, Mila said, “While I sympathize, I’m not sure how this relates to me.”
Pierson took a deep breath and straightened the lapels of his jacket. “It has come to my attention that you are involved with a male shifter from the Phoenix Pack.”
“Dominic, yeah.”
“He is Rosemary’s true mate.” He threw out the sentence like it was a bomb, and her cat predictably rumbled a menacing growl, lashing out with her claws. “He didn’t just reject her, Miss Devereaux. No, he swept her off her feet and formed a true-mate bond with her. Then he threw her away. Perhaps it was all a game to him, or perhaps he couldn’t stand the weakness that she possesses as a latent shifter.”
It was becoming harder and harder not to pop this guy right in the face. Silently encouraging her cat to stay hidden, Mila said, “It doesn’t make sense that Dominic would ever hold prejudice against latent shifters. His Alpha female was once latent.”
“Then it was simply a game for him. He hasn’t even visited Rosemary since she tried to kill herself. Hasn’t expressed an ounce of remorse and refuses to admit that she’s his true mate.”
“And you’re sure that she is?”
Pierson’s eyes hardened. “Rosemary recognized him as hers.”
Mila shrugged. “It’s not uncommon for people to make that kind of mistake. They can confuse infatuation with—”
“It was no mistake,” he clipped, his tone leaving no room for argument. But Mila got the feeling that he very simply needed to be right. Needed to have someone to blame other than himself for what had happened to Rosemary.
Lifting her chin, Mila said, “I’m sorry, but I find it difficult to believe that Dominic would ever do the cruel things you’re accusing him of. Plus, if his animal was truly mated to another, I doubt it would accept my presence in his life.”
Pierson took a step toward her. “I came here to give you a friendly warning. This is not a man—if you could even call him a man—that you should want in your life. To him, women are objects. Toys. He has no respect for them. And he’ll hurt you just as he’s hurt others. If you have any sense, you’ll get rid of him.”
“I appreciate the warning.” Mila tipped her head toward the door, gesturing for him to go.
Nostrils flaring, he said, “Be smart, Miss Devereaux. Don’t let this creature ruin your life.”
Baring a fang, her cat lashed her tail like a whip. “You’re not really concerned for me. There’s another reason you want me to separate from him. What is it?” But Mila already knew. Pierson had decided that if his daughter couldn’t have Dominic, nobody could. Not just as revenge for Rosemary, but because he didn’t want Dominic to be happy. She also had the feeling that Pierson would carry on this hate campaign for years if he wasn’t somehow stopped.
“There are plenty of reasons why you should cut him from your life. Only one of those pathetic shifter groupies wouldn’t see that.”
Mila’s gaze snapped to the door as it swung open, letting in a stream of traffic noise and the scents of hot bread, meat, and peppers as Dominic stepped inside, deli bag in hand. His blue gaze was hard and intent on Pierson, who went tense as a guitar string the moment he noticed the newcomer.
Sensing her male’s anger, Mila’s cat became even more agitated. Dominic’s body language was casual and relaxed, but he was spilling a dark, ominous energy that almost clotted the air. It was like being in the same space as a jungle animal while it lazed in the grass, watchful and alert—you were acutely aware of the threat they presented and