Strengthening Their Bonds (Miracle Book 13) Read online

  Strengthening Their Bonds

  Miracle 13

  Devastated that his mate didn’t believe he was enough, Arjun Rowe decided it was time to leave Tevin and let his mate find whatever it was he was still looking for. It devastated him, but Arjun would do anything to make his mate happy, even if that meant letting him go.

  Tevin Acker was heartbroken that he’d driven Arjun away. He hadn’t meant to, but there had always been something lacking in their mating. What? Tevin wasn’t sure, but he had been driven to discover what it might be. Never once had he considered he might lose his mate as he searches for that missing link.

  Baz Krusen had always hoped to meet his mate, but he hadn’t imagined meeting him when he was leading a group of shifters from human hunters. Nor had he once thought that he would end up with two mates. When he discovered one of those mates had run away, he was determined to find him and fix the bonds of their mating.

  With humans determined to capture shifters, will the three men be able to find their way back to each other? Strengthening Their Bonds will take all three of them coming together but only if they can forgive the past.

  Copyright ©2020 by Shea Balik

  First Edition

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  Printed in the United States of America

  Cover by Harris Channing

  Edited by Avril Stepowski

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  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  EPILOGUE

  Also from Shea Balik

  CHAPTER 1

  “Tevin, Arjun,” Kirill bellowed

  Tevin Acker glared at Arjun, who sat in the rocking chair on their front porch as if nothing were wrong. But Kirill had been their Alpha for too many years for him not to know when the man was about kill someone.

  Since he was yelling for them, Tevin had to assume Arjun had done something to piss the man off. Kirill might not be the Alpha now that they’d all decided to make Miracle their home and follow Edrick, but that didn’t mean Kirill wouldn’t be happy to kick their asses.

  But Arjun just kept rocking, the soft smile on his face of what would appear a happy man. It was a good look on Arjun, one Tevin loved to see on him, if only they weren’t about to come face to face with what sounded like a very enraged polar bear shifter.

  “What did you do, Arjun?” Tevin asked, resigned to whatever fate was in store for them.

  Arjun had a way of getting into trouble that not even Tevin could quite understand. His lover was wicked smart, but unfortunately, extremely bored. That combination didn’t go well together, especially when Arjun’s favorite thing to do was to blow things up.

  Arjun shrugged. “I didn’t do anything. I swear. This time it isn’t me.”

  If Tevin didn’t know better, Arjun’s complete look of innocence would have convinced him the man hadn’t done a thing. But when it came to his lover, Arjun rarely thought any of the mishaps he created were his fault.

  “Arjun…” Tevin started.

  But Arjun sat up and planted his feet on the ground. “I swear it Tevin. I haven’t done anything. You know, just because something goes wrong in Miracle, doesn’t mean I did it.”

  “I never said…” But before Tevin could get out the words, Kirill stomped out of the trees that surrounded the house Tevin and Arjun had built.

  “Oops,” Arjun said with a giggle.

  Tevin just stared at the pink and green glowing frame of a very angry Kirill.

  “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t kill you Arjun,” Kirill bit out as if Arjun’s death were already a foregone conclusion.

  “It’s not my fault you tried to get into the auxiliary armory,” Arjun said as he started to rock again, as if his life wasn’t on the line. “You gave me two specifications and I completed them both.”

  That seemed to only get Kirill madder. “I told you I thought someone had tried to break in and you were to make sure that didn’t happen and inform me who it was if someone did try.”

  “Did you get it in?” Arjun asked.

  Kirill opened his mouth as if to yell, then stopped and said, “No.” The word was spat out as if Kirill hadn’t want to admit that. But it didn’t take long for him to start yelling again. “But that’s because there was an automatic weapon shooting at me.”

  Arjun lifted an eyebrow at Kirill. “Did it stop you from going in?” Not waiting for Kirill to answer, Arjun gave a sharp nod. “Yes, it did. I do believe that was mission one.”

  “What if it had been kids playing instead of a trained soldier, who could get out of the way of the bullets? You could have killed someone.” Kirill’s face was so red, Tevin feared it might catch on fire, but he knew Arjun was far from done pissing off the polar bear shifter.

  Sure enough, Arjun waved off Kirill’s concern. “They were blanks. No one would have gotten hurt.”

  “You used blanks to protect the auxiliary armory?” Kirill bellowed. “What if it had been someone trying to steal our weapons?”

  Arjun stopped rocking, then leaned forward. “Then they would have run into the next booby trap.” Once more Arjun leaned back and started rocking. “Besides, it stopped you, didn’t it? And we know who was trying to get in.” Arjun’s grin was positively evil. “By the way, that shit doesn’t wash off.”

  “What?” Kirill bit out.

  “It takes about seven to ten days to eventually wear off. I wanted to be sure whoever tried to get in without authorization wouldn’t be able to hide it.” Arjun made it sound as if what he said was completely logical. In fairness, to Arjun, it was. The man’s brain was far more complex than any of theirs, which was why everyone had such a hard time understanding him.

  “Look, Kirill, I realize what Arjun did was a bit…unconventional, but it did work, which was what you asked for, right?” Tevin was hoping to make Kirill see that even though Arjun hadn’t exactly gone about it in a way that pretty much a
nyone else in the world would have imagined, it had worked.

  “No.” Kirill took several long strides until he was right at the railing of their porch, which, although they’d made it out of tree logs, creaked as if it was about to snap when Kirill put his hands on the top. “What I asked was for Arjun to guard the auxiliary armory, not set up his damn booby traps.” Kirill’s tone was low and deadly.

  Unsure if he planned on actually hurting Arjun, which Tevin couldn’t exactly blame him considering Kirill looked like a giant pink and green fairy at the moment, Tevin stood up and went to Arjun’s side.

  But his lover, being someone who never backed down from anyone, sat there, staring at Kirill with a smirk on his face. “No,” Arjun said, way too serenely considering the situation he was in. “You said Edrick and Saber believed someone had been trying to break into the auxiliary armory and you wanted me to protect it and find out who the culprit was. I did both things.”

  Maybe if he’d left it there, Kirill would have been willing to see reason, but Arjun never was one to know when it was best to stop. “How is it my fault you were the one trying to break in?”

  There was a roar of outrage. Then Kirill leapt over the railing as if it wasn’t really there. Tevin tried to get between them before Kirill killed Arjun, but Kirill was too damn big and much to Tevin’s chagrin, his wolf was no match for a polar bear with long ass arms.

  Arjun let out a yelp that was quickly cut off when Kirill wrapped his hand around Arjun’s throat. Tevin’s wolf growled a warning that Kirill ignored.

  “My mate was with me,” Kirill yelled. “He could have been killed.”

  Arjun, who could just barely breathe, rolled his eyes and croaked out, “They were blanks.”

  “Kirill.” All three of them froze as Harper, Kirill’s mate, stood on the porch with his hands on his hips, glaring at his mate. “Let him go, now.”

  Tevin had no clue sweet little Harper could demand anything in a tone that left no room for argument. Even big, bad Kirill apparently was cowed by Harper for, albeit reluctantly, he did as his mate commanded.

  “I warned you not to come here and take this out on Arjun,” Harper told his mate. “If was your own damn fault and you know it. I told you to ask Arjun if it was safe. The man was with your pack for years. You know he likes to set booby traps. Any idiot would have realized when you assigned him the task of protecting that place what he was going to do, but you thought you knew better.”

  Harper put his arms out to his sides and spun in a slow circle, showing off the pink and green iridescent color covering him from head to toe. “Tell me, does it look like you knew what you were doing? Because I gotta tell you, I’m not a fan of glowing.”

  “Oh, but the colors look really good on you,” Arjun said. “The pink is very becoming with your skin tone.”

  Tevin stared at Arjun, sure the man had lost his damn mind. Since when did Arjun notice someone’s coloring?

  “And the green…” Arjun tilted his head then frowned. “Well, to be honest, that one doesn’t necessarily do you any favors. I think blue would have been a better choice, but pink and green were all they had for a quick delivery. But you mostly ended up with the pink, so it works for you.”

  Never in a million years could Tevin have imagined this happening when he woke up that morning. Then again, when it came to Arjun, it was like that most days. There was no telling what his lover and best friend would say or do that would turn their world upside down.

  It was why he’d asked for permission to build their home on the edge of one the new properties Alpha Edrick had managed to purchase to provide room for those that were flocking to Miracle. Anyone who had been persecuted for being gay, mating a different shifter species, or… Hell, Tevin wouldn’t have enough time in the day for all the various reasons people were shunned, beaten, or even hunted and killed by their old packs.

  Even in Miracle not all were accepted. Like Arjun. Sure, he was… eccentric, but wasn’t everyone to some extent? He didn’t understand why those who were adamant that everyone should be given dignity and respect, despite their differences, would ostracize a man who only wanted people to like him.

  Arjun didn’t wear his emotions on his sleeve to anyone but Tevin, but the amount of nights he held his lover as he cried himself to sleep because of the way others treated him, tore him up inside. If only Tevin were a stronger wolf, he would teach them a lesson.

  But Tevin wasn’t a big wolf. He wasn’t exactly small, but at best he would be considered average. Arjun wasn’t much better as a fox. Cunning, sure, which was what made him so good with booby traps. But he was still small, and not a match for bigger predators.

  “Kirill, seriously, you know Arjun might not have done it the way you had hoped, but his plan was effective.” Tevin hoped to diffuse the situation, which would be easier now that Harper was there to help. “I’ll have him write down how to get in and out of the armory without setting off any of his traps and get it to you tomorrow, okay?”

  Technically, Arjun really should have done that already. Yes, they didn’t want anyone getting in there that shouldn’t, but that didn’t mean no one could get in. He hoped. With Arjun, he couldn’t be sure he had left a way in.

  Harper, sweet man that he was, took Kirill’s hand and led him off the porch as he answered for him mate. “That would be great Tevin. And Arjun, thank you for keeping us all safe.”

  They had just reached the edge of the tree line when Harper turned back and called out to Arjun, “And thank you for the compliment about the pink. Who knows? I just might try dying my hair pink after this wears off and see how it looks.”

  Tevin breathed a sigh of relief when they finally disappeared. If only things were better between him and Arjun. But just as they had known the moment they met, yes, they were mates, the bond wasn’t there like it was for other mates. Neither of them knew what it meant, but Tevin was sure that was one of the reasons why Arjun was so restless.

  It kept getting them both into trouble and Tevin feared, one day soon, they’d be asked to leave Miracle completely.

  CHAPTER 2

  “You did leave a way into the auxiliary armory, right?” Tevin asked after Harper had led Kirill away from their home deep in the woods and far from town, where few liked Arjun.

  Crushed that Tevin would ask that, Arjun Rowe scowled at the man he wished would just love him. “Once,” he exclaimed as he stormed into the house, needing to hide from the world. “One damn time I forgot and you won’t let it go.”

  It was the story of his life. No one tended to forget any of the things he did despite the fact that his methods were much more efficient than anyone gave him credit for.

  “You had to blow a crater in our front yard to get back in the house.” The criticism was still there in Tevin’s voice even after all these years.

  Weren’t mates supposed to stand by each other? Then again, neither of them were sure where they stood when it came to that topic. Well, Tevin didn’t, anyway. Arjun knew in his soul that Tevin was his. Sure, their mating was… different. Then again, everything about Arjun was different, so why would his mating not be the same?

  The connection was there, at least for him, but even Arjun couldn’t deny there was something…off. He couldn’t explain it, but it was almost as if there was a piece…well, missing.

  Despite that, Arjun would die for Tevin, without any hesitation. He would do anything to make his mate happy, but he was beginning to wonder if what would make Tevin happy would be for Arjun to leave.

  Arjun stopped before the fridge and whispered, “Why can’t you ever just support me?”

  Arms instantly came around him, helping to soothe him and his fox, but it wasn’t enough. Not when Arjun knew in his soul that Tevin was doing what he always did, trying to calm the waters. Just like he had with Kirill.

  Tevin was a master at ‘rationalizing’ Arjun to others. How sad did was it that his own mate was embarrassed by him?

  “I do support you, love
. I was just trying to keep Kirill from killing you.” For once, it would be nice if Tevin would start defending Arjun instead of explaining him away.

  If only Arjun believed he was good enough for Tevin, they might figure something out. But he knew, deep inside, Tevin was waiting for whatever it was that was missing. It was as if his mate couldn’t quite be happy.

  “Maybe it’s time I leave Miracle.” Even as he said the words, Arjun’s heart and fox rebelled. He didn’t want to leave Tevin, but he wasn’t sure he could stay either.

  “Where would we go that would be any better?” Tevin asked him, his arms tightening around Arjun’s waist as he rested his chin on Arjun’s shoulder from behind. “I know not everyone is as accepting as they could be, but Miracle has been the only place we’ve found that remotely tolerates…”

  Tevin cut himself off from that final word, ‘you.’

  It only proved that Arjun was right. His mate would be better off without him. “No.” Arjun said as he stepped away from his mate before facing him from the other side of the counter. “I should leave.”

  “No,” Tevin growled out. He hadn’t even gotten the one syllable out and he’d already leapt over the counter and yanked Arjun back into his embrace. This time, his arms were like steel bands as if refusing to let Arjun leave. “There is no way you’re leaving me. We’re mates.”

  That Tevin could state that as fact astonished him. “Really?” Arjun asked as he shoved free of Tevin’s stranglehold. “Because we both know you think there’s something wrong with our mating. I’ve even heard you talk to Nole about it, wondering if it’s possible we’re not true mates.”

  Tevin inhaled sharply. Pain was etched in his dark grey eyes as well as a lot of guilt. That day had left Arjun heartbroken. He’d nearly left Miracle, but there had been a threat to the town by a nearby pack and he just couldn’t leave without helping.