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he had no idea if the man would or not. His lion moved restlessly inside. He didn’t trust Philip. He didn’t like how the man had come out of nowhere and began to suck up his private time with Adrian. He especially didn’t like how the human watched Adrian like he was a steak dinner and Philip just stopped being a vegetarian.
    Instinct had Talan keeping himself between Philip and Adrian whenever possible.
    Adrian sent him a questioning look a few times but Talan didn’t have an excuse for what he was doing. He was working on pure instinct.
    Talan went to see what movies Darren had on his shelf while Adrian stared out the window.
    “It’s too stormy to make it back to the lodge tonight,” Adrian said, contemplating the piling snow. “Do you need to call someone?”
    Philip shrugged. “No. I’m travelling alone.”
    Talan’s hackles rose. “You came to a resort to ski by yourself?”
    “I was hoping to meet someone,” he said with a bashful smile.
    Warning bells clamoured in Talan’s head. Nothing was adding up. People didn’t generally go to resorts by themselves unless they were meeting up with others. And they didn’t generally veer so far from their lodge if skiing alone. “How well did you know the caretaker?”
    Philip’s genial expression vanished as he pulled a gun out from behind his back. The combined scent of cologne and blood had hidden the metallic scent of the gun. Shit! He’d left the man alone with the gun in the drawer.
    “I was hoping to get one of you alone to take care of my problem but you wouldn’t leave him.” He shot an accusing glare at Talan like it was all his fault things hadn’t gone according to plan.
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    TALAN’S TREASURE
    Amber Kell
    46
    “You shot him,” Talan countered.
    Philip shrugged. “You were supposed to leave him. I only winged him a little.”
    “He’s my mate,” he roared. “You don’t ever leave your mate.” Philip’s hand shook as he shouted. “Darren didn’t have any problems doing that.” He pulled his shirt away from his neck, exposing a bite mark.
    “Darren bit you?” Adrian leaned closer, making Talan growl.
    Venom filled Philip’s eyes. “He said I was his one. His one mate. Then he went and slept with everyone in town.”
    Talan’s stomach churned. He’d heard of shifters pulling this before—telling gullible men they were mates so they could have easy sex. The next morning they declared it a mistake and dumped them. They didn’t generally go as far as to bite them, though. “Did he deny it the next day?”
    Philip nodded.
    “He’s infected,” Adrian whispered.
    Talan shuddered at the implication. If a human with the chemical composition to be a potential shifter mate was bitten but not mated, it created a toxin in their system.
    “Am I going to be a shifter?” A smile crossed Philip’s face. “I’ve always wanted to be a werewolf. That’s why I had to stab Darren. He refused me as a mate and told me I couldn’t be like him.”
    “Even if you were mates, he couldn’t have made you a wolf,” Talan said, ignoring the kick Adrian gave him.
    “What do you mean?” Philip’s eyes narrowed menacingly. “He said he could make me one of you, that I could be his true mate. Then when I came over he denied me. Me! ” Rage mottled Philip’s face. His hand shook, the gun wobbling in his grip.
    When the weapon turned towards Adrian, Talan snapped. In a fluid leap, he shifted from human to lion and slammed Philip to the ground.
    Roaring, he bared his fangs.
    The scent of the man emptying his bladder filled the air right before Talan ripped out Philip’s throat. Adrian looked away from the mess, not wanting to watch the blood spurt www.total-e-bound.com
    TALAN’S TREASURE
    Amber Kell
    47
    across Talan’s golden coat. He understood the necessity of killing Philip. Humans didn’t recover from shifter poisoning.
    Adrian wondered why Darren would bite someone unstable or if his cousin had really thought they