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  "The Heart of the Hoard is ... more complicated than that. I'll tell you all about it, but maybe not just now." She turned her head, gazing in the direction Heikon had gone, with a wistful look on her face.

  Ben pulled her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers. "Do you miss it?"

  "No, not really. Well, yes, but only because it was my parents'. They were innocent, you know. Heikon thought they betrayed him, but they were loyal all along."

  "They were good people," Ben said quietly.

  "Yes," she murmured. He could see the gleam of unshed tears in her eyes, and reached up to pull her down so that her soft head rested in the crook of his shoulder, her body half on and half off the bed.

  "I owe you an apology," Ben said.

  "What?" Tessa started to raise her head. "Whatever for?"

  Ben pushed her head gently back into the crook of his neck. "For earlier. I could see you felt out of place here. I do too. I don't know why I didn't say anything; I guess ..." He heaved a sigh. "I've spent so long play-acting for my dad, pretending that I fit in here ... I suppose I do it automatically now. But I shouldn't have let it come between us. You were feeling alienated, isolated, and I wasn't helping."

  "It's so odd to me how easily you can read me," she murmured. "Most people can't."

  In Ben's chest, his panther was purring. "I've always been pretty good at people. I'm just sorry that I didn't catch on right away to how you were feeling."

  Tessa laced her fingers through his. "I could have said something. Maybe we both need some practice at this whole relationship thing."

  "We'll figure it out," he said softly into her hair. "I love you, Tessa."

  She made a little breath-catching noise, and then very quietly, so quietly he could barely hear her: "I love you, too." There was a silence, then she added, "I've never said that to anyone before. At least not that I remember."

  Ben's heart shattered into a tiny little pieces. God, the life she'd lived. He had often been frustrated with his family, he'd frequently had cause to doubt his father's affection for him, but he had still grown up with a mother who loved him. Thinking of Tessa being so alone ... it hurt more than being torn up by a dragon's jaws, more than a thousand slashes from draconian claws.

  But at least this time, he knew better than to stay quiet and let her suffer in silence. Never again. "You can say it to me as many times as you like," he said. "And I'll say it back to you. You're not alone now, Tessa. You'll never be alone again."

  She sighed and turned her face into his neck, and for a little while he just held her like that. Finally she pushed herself up. "Is this uncomfortable? Am I hurting you?"

  "No. In fact ..." He put his arms around her, pulling her all the way onto the bed. She toppled beside him with a delighted squeal. "I'll show you exactly how much better I'm feeling."

  Which of course was the moment someone knocked on the door.

  "That's probably the food my dad was having sent up." Ben kissed her. "We could make them go away."

  "No. You need it to heal. Anyway ..." She kissed him again, long and lingering. "We're going to want to save something for dessert."

  Chapter Sixteen

  Tessa set the last box down and looked around the inside of the cabin.

  Over the last few months, she had watched the cabin go from being a wreck (for the second time, from what Ben had told her) to getting spruced up to its previous rustic glory. She and Ben had come out on weekends, and she'd learned to cut and sand and finish wood. They'd also had unexpected help on a couple of those weekends. Reive had shown up, quiet and polite, with a pair of work gloves and a willingness to help. Tessa still wasn't entirely sure she trusted him. But he wanted to help fix what he'd destroyed, and she respected that.

  Now the hills around Autumn Grove were flushed with brilliant colors, flaming red and gold in the mountain foothills, and soon she would spend her first winter outside the city since she was a small child.

  "You still sure about this?" Ben asked quietly behind her.

  "This is a fine time to ask me, now that I've quit my job and all." But she was smiling when she turned around and slid her arms around his waist.

  She was going to miss the cat rescue, just like Ben was going to miss working for a big-city police department. But she was also excited and eager at the idea of living here. There were so many new possibilities for both of them. The local sheriff's department had offered Ben a position, and he and Derek had renewed their discussion about starting their own private security-consulting business. Tessa was a lot less sure what she wanted to do with herself. She thought that for a little, while she might just try some different things. Volunteer with different places in town. Look into taking some online courses. All she knew was, she wanted to do something to make a difference, like she had at the shelter. She just needed to find somewhere she felt like she fit.

  It was a fresh start for both of them. A new life.

  And she might not even have to start all over at making new friends. She'd shown Melody the bookstore space in downtown Autumn Grove, and she was pretty sure Melody was already in talks to lease it. Of course, it was easier to do that kind of thing when your dad was loaded. But Melody had dreamed of owning her own bookstore for a long time. And even if they wouldn't be working right across the street from each other, they'd still be neighbors.

  Yeah. She was looking forward to finding out what living in the country was like. And if she didn't enjoy it, well, they could try something else.

  Their future was wide open.

  "Mrrrowww!"

  ... okay, one thing about the future she'd already determined was that it was going to have a lot of cats in it.

  After the cats' long ride from the city in their new, large, hard-sided carrier, she'd put them in the bedroom with food, water, and a litter tray, just like the first time she'd brought them here, but a little better prepared this time around. It hadn't taken them long, this time, to start wander out into the cabin. They weren't really kittens anymore, more like teenage cats now, gangly and growing into their fully adult size. But they were still very curious and eager to look around. They'd already been up to the cabin a few more times, accompanying Tessa and Ben on their weekend excursions, so it wasn't totally new.

  This would be a better place for them than Ben's apartment, she thought. There had never been enough space for them there, even if there weren't quite as many cats as there used to be. But these cats would really enjoy their new home. The cabin was full of railings to climb on and corners to creep into. She and Ben had kept most of them, but Toblerone, the bold little orange one, was now a permanent resident of Darius's mansion. Tessa had worried that he'd be lonely without his brothers and sisters, but the last time she'd seen him, he was being petted and pampered by Darius's entire staff, and had a shiny new collar studded with what she sincerely hoped were rhinestones but had a bad feeling might be actual diamonds. Even if Darius was too busy for him most of the time, she had a feeling he was going to be the world's most well-petted cat. He and Maddox seemed to nurse a cordial loathing for each other, though.

  "Penny for your thoughts," Ben murmured, brushing her cheek with the back of his hand.

  She smiled involuntarily. "It's probably not anything you're expecting. I was actually wondering about that bodyguard of your dad's, if that's the right word—"

  "I prefer 'henchman', but go on."

  "Yeah ... I was wondering what he turns into, if you ever found out."

  "No idea." Ben smiled. "You could just ask my dad, since apparently you two are besties now."

  "Besties? As if."

  "So you claim, but I don't even remember the last time he called me, and now he emails you all the time."

  "No he doesn't."

  "Tessa, he just sent you an email the other day asking if you'd had a chance to use that recipe yet, and reminding you that—"

  "—'revenge is a dish best served cold,' I know, so I need to be sure and cool it down properly before servin
g it. Yes, I remember." She stroked her fingers through Ben's dark hair. "It's not that I've forgiven him for all those years he treated you so poorly. It's just easier if—"

  "Tessa, trust me, I don't care if you hang around with my dad. Honestly, if you want to do all the interacting with my dad for the entire household, please, go right ahead. I'll be completely happy to never talk to him again."

  She leaned up to kiss him. "He does care about you, you know. And he's proud of you, I think. In his own way."

  "You know what?" Ben said, and he swept her off her feet into a bridal carry. Tessa let out a startled shriek and clutched at him. "Let's stop talking about my dad. There are a lot of things I'd much rather think about."

  "Like?" she asked, winding her arms around his neck.

  "Like a bed upstairs that's freshly made and needs to be properly christened." He nuzzled against her hair.

  Tessa grinned and wriggled a little closer, pressing against his chiseled chest. It didn't seem to matter how many times she had this man; she still wanted more. "I think that sounds like a fantastic way to welcome each other home."

  ***

  They were lying upstairs in sated bliss, twined together and drowsing, when Ben suddenly raised his head. "Do you hear an engine?"

  She didn't at first, but in the perfect stillness of the afternoon, it came to her eventually: the rising and falling of a car or truck laboring up the winding driveway. A moment later, the engine noise became clear as it drove out of the woods into the clearing around the cabin.

  Ben rose quietly and went to the window, then turned back to her with a grin. "It's Derek and Gaby. Looks like they brought the family."

  As they went down the stairs—Ben buttoning his shirt and Tessa trying to smooth down the disarray of her short hair—there was a knock at the door that sent the cats running for cover.

  "Hey there," Derek said, grinning at them as Ben opened the door. "We decided to be good neighbors and bring you a pie. Where do you want it?"

  "Ooh, what kind of pie?" Tessa asked, craning around him. "Hi, Gaby."

  "Hi," Derek's mate said with a smile. She was carrying their new baby in a front-mounted sling and holding their son Sandy by the hand.

  Tessa had met their family a few times; she and Ben had gone into Gaby's café in downtown Autumn Grove more than once (and would become regulars now that they lived here, Tessa knew; the food was as good as promised) and they had also visited Derek and Gaby in their old farmhouse just outside town. But this was Tessa's first time having them in her house.

  Mine. Ben's. Ours.

  She went to start a pot of coffee, then showed Sandy how to properly hold and pet the cats, who had crept out of hiding to investigate the new arrivals. Tessa was cautious at first, having dealt with cats in the shelter who had been hurt by overly enthusiastic children, but Sandy was a good student, paying close attention and carefully copying the things she taught him. Tessa got out some of the cat toys, and left Sandy and the kittens happily playing while the adults took their coffee out onto the porch.

  "So you guys are moving up here for good," Derek said. "You're really doing it."

  Tessa nodded. "We've already given up the lease on my place. I wasn't attached to it anyway." She had moved in with Ben almost as soon as they'd gotten back from Darius's mansion.

  "And we're keeping mine through the end of the year," Ben said, "just in case something comes up or we change our minds."

  "But I don't expect we will." Tessa looked around at the wind-ruffled meadow and the red-and-gold brilliance of the forest, decked out in its autumn finery.. "It's amazing here. I think the first time I came here, I knew I'd come home; I just didn't let myself admit it yet."

  Ben smiled. "Wait until you go through a winter out here before you say that for sure. This place sometimes gets snowed in for days at a time."

  Gaby laughed. Tessa had taken an instant liking to her; the friendly café owner had shown her nothing but kindness, welcoming Ben's new mate into her family's life. "Snowed in for days, with nothing to do except entertain yourselves in the cabin? How very difficult for you. I'm sure you won't be able to find anything to do." She winked at Derek.

  Ben was actually blushing. Tessa reached out and took his hand. "I think you're right," she said. "We'll figure something out."

  Which was, in some sense, the story of their entire relationship. She never would have dreamed when Ben had walked through the door of the cat rescue, when she'd gotten so mad at Melody for interfering in her life, that she would be sitting here, on the porch of a place so peaceful and quiet where she felt perfectly at ease, starting to find her way into a new family and a new life.

  I finally have a place to belong.

  A note from Zoe Chant

  Thank you for buying my book! I hope you enjoyed it. If you’d like to be alerted by email when I release my next book, please click here to be added to my mailing list. If you'd like to contact me, my email is [email protected]. I love hearing from my readers.

  If you enjoyed this book, the first book in the series is Bearista, in which you meet Derek, his mate Gaby, and Autumn Grove, and get to see some more of Ben Keegan!

  Please consider reviewing Pet Rescue Panther, even if you only write a line or two. I appreciate all reviews, whether positive or negative.

  Cover art: © Depositphoto.com

  ***

  More Paranormal Romance by Zoe Chant

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