“Crystal,” Dusti murmured, anger turning to fear.

“Good.” Crayla smiled. “We’ll get you adjusted to life with a clan. Rule number one, never fight with me. I’m in charge of all the women. You do as you’re told. Treat my son well and we’ll get along great.” She turned to her mate. “Take me home. You know how fighting makes me want to fuck. I need you.”

Velder lifted her and the woman wrapped her arms and legs tightly around the guy. He strode toward the door with her in his arms. Dusti gawked at her in-laws until the door slammed behind them.

“I’m going to need therapy,” she whispered. “Yeah. I hope they have shrinks in this clan.”

She slowly turned and walked to the bedroom. She really didn’t want to get a good look at the horror of Drantos’s back but he needed to be cared for. She knew he’d do it for her if she were hurt. He already had when she’d needed his blood, and he’d licked her wounds. Her leg didn’t even hurt anymore.

The bathroom light had been left on, the only source of light in the bedroom, and she paused at the open doorway. The sight of a naked Drantos stretched across the big bed on his stomach froze her. His ass and arms had been spared the whip but from shoulders to waist, the horrific cuts haunted her. They no longer bled and actually appeared a lot better than they had when he’d hung over his father’s shoulder on the walk to the cabin.”

“I’m okay,” he rasped.

She inched closer. “You’re awake. I thought you were sleeping.”

“Come here. Don’t look at my back. It doesn’t hurt near as bad as you’d think.”

“What can I do?”

“Just lie beside me and let me feel you.”

Dusti hesitated at the side of the bed but stripped off the sweater. She bent, tugged off both sets of socks, and removed the sweats last. She hoped no one entered the cabin to find her stark naked. She tried not to make the bed move when she climbed onto it to stretch out on her side inches from him. Her gaze met his.

“My mother will never touch you. I heard her threat. She just tried to intimidate you. It’s her job.”

“It worked. She’s scary.”

He grinned. “I would never allow anyone to strike you. That includes my family.”

She reached out to brush her fingertips along his arm. The warmth of his skin under her touch made her relax while she breathed in his masculine, woodsy scent combined with soap from his father cleaning his wounds.

“I don’t know if I can live in your world, Drantos.” She knew tears welled in her eyes. “What they did to you wasn’t fair and I don’t know how you could just stand there, taking that asshole whipping you.”

He slid his hand on the bed to touch her leg. He gripped her firmly. “You just don’t understand our ways, but laws are important. We’re the keepers of them. They could have banned me from all the clans. It would have been a death sentence in the long run. I would have become the hunted for everyone we’ve ever had to punish for breaking our laws.”

“You mean like other banned people?”

“Them, and we’ve had to deal with some Vampires and Lycans who made trouble in the area.”

“They whipped you because you didn’t agree with your dad or some such shit. How fair is that?”

“Life isn’t fair. The laws were set into place for reasons. There can only be one leader in a clan. Our lives depend on fast decisions. We don’t have time to vote on everything. I’ve seen your political debates on television. It’s confusing and gets messy with so many people wanting different things for their people, until it seems nothing ever really gets accomplished. We’re not humans. We respect strength in a leader, structure, and laws. There’s no crime in clans, no insubordination. We follow our clan leaders’ orders or punishment is swift. Any sign of weakness makes that leader appear unable to do his job.” He paused. “I took that whipping so they’d know no one is above following the law. He couldn’t spare me, Dusti. It could cause someone to challenge him to take his place. That means the winner rules the clan and the loser dies.”

“That’s horrible.”

“It’s life here. It works. I know it’s very different from what you’re used to but it’s necessary.”

She contemplated that. “I’m going to end up getting whipped at some point.” A shudder ran through her.

“Never,” Drantos rasped. “I wouldn’t allow it.”

“You couldn’t even stop them from whipping you.”

“I chose to take the punishment, and I’d do the same for you.”

“That makes it worse. So I mess up and you get your back torn up again?”

He reached out and curled his fingers around hers. “I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

“I don’t even know when I’m breaking laws.”

“You’ll learn, Dusti. Just don’t fight with anyone and listen to me when I tell you to. It will be fine.”

“Am I allowed to fight with you? Because couples do that.”

“We won’t. We’re true mates.”

“What’s a true mate mean?”

“What we are. It’s when two people come together who are so compatible that they begin to feel and think what the other does. Does that make sense?”

“I guess.”

“For the ones who mate when it isn’t true, we call that settling. It’s when they take a mate without the true bonding. It usually only happens when they can’t find the right person or their true mate has died. They don’t want to be alone for the rest of their lives. They can love each other but it’s a shadow of what they could have. It would be as if two humans joined together in a relationship.”

“You make that sound insulting or something.”

“I don’t mean to but human relationships are different. You’ll understand once our bond strengthens. We’ll be able to sense what the other is feeling. It’s as if we’ll become one person in two bodies. Do you understand?”

“You said my grandfather killed his mate. How is that possible if they were bonded?”

“He’s a cold bastard. Maybe he settled for her. I don’t know. I wasn’t around them enough to judge what kind of bond they had. He has no heart. He kills without mercy.”