Claimed Mate

by Jessica Aspen

  She got up and went to the door, opening it a crack. Her hands were shaking. She wanted to open the door and let him in. Get lost in the heat of his mouth. Have him take away every minute of what had to be the very worst first day on the job ever. But she’d sworn she wouldn’t.

  “Not now, Gabe. My day sucked. All I want to do is open the bottle of wine I bought on Saturday and relax. I can’t deal with the drama anymore.”

  “Okay, no drama. I promise. Just open the door and let me see you.”

  She widened the crack just enough so she could push her face through. “You aren’t supposed to be here.”

  “No. I think, given your sucky day, this is exactly where I’m supposed to be.” He grabbed the door and pushed it open, walking right past her and into the kitchen.

  She put her hands on her hips. “Really? More alpha power plays?”

  “Yep. You need one today. I have a picnic in the car and you’ve got the wine.” He grabbed the bottle off the counter. “Do you really want to relax? Because I can get you relaxed.” He dangled the wine in front of her as one of his patented wicked grins lit up his face.

  Serena shook her head, but it was tempting. The wine. His sense of humor. After the day she’d had, she could use a night of fun. But—she’d said she wasn’t going to see him again. The whole thing with Sam was a mess, and Nancy was already on her back. “My boss will crucify me if she sees me with you again.”

  “Not a problem where we’re going.” He leaned in, his breath spreading warm tingles along her skin. “No one but you, me, and the wine. And I have exactly the thing to make you relax, dreamwalker.”

  “What is it?”

  “It’s a secret, but I promise, in about thirty minutes, you’ll be forgetting all about your troubles.”

  He was so close, his mouth inches away. Images of Gabe kissing her, making her forget anything and everything by stroking his tongue over hers ran through her mind.

  “It’s not sex, is it?” Her voice was rough, shaky with need. She shouldn’t be wanting him to say yes, but she did. “Because I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

  It wasn’t a good idea; it was a great idea. And oh so wrong.

  “No, it’s not sex. Not that I’m not up for that, if you change your mind.” He waggled his eyebrows and gave her a salacious wink, his bright-blue eyes twinkling with humor.

  She laughed. She was relieved he wasn’t asking her to roll around in the back of his truck, wasn’t she?

  “Okay, give me five minutes to change out of these work clothes. Shorts okay?”

  “Shorts are perfect. And something comfortable to walk in. Sneakers would be good.”

  Five minutes later, dressed in a low v-neck shirt and one of her push-up bras, she was tying the laces on her tennies and wondering what the hell she was getting herself into. He might be a perfect gentleman, but she was far from a lady. The thoughts running through her head were already getting her wet and ready between her legs.

  She was crazy. This was wrong. But he’d given her the perfect excuse to go with him and take the risk—he’d promised to behave.

  She’d just have to make herself behave as well.

  Gabe drove deep into the heart of the ranch, up the gravel road until it turned into two narrow, rutted dirt paths, separated by grass. His damp hands slid a little on the steering wheel, and he hoped Serena didn’t notice how nervous he was. He had the feeling this might be the last chance he’d get to show her how good things could be between them, and he wasn’t going to blow it this time.

  “Where are we going?” There was a note of tension under her question.

  “It’s a surprise. A good one,” he hastened to add, seeing her frown. “I promise, if we get there and you don’t like it then we’ll turn around.”

  The last thing he wanted was for her to be upset. He had a different goal in mind for tonight, and the food and the wine in the back were just the beginning.

  “Okay. Oh, look!” She turned away and watched a small group of does and fawns sprinting away from the truck.

  He’d told her he wasn’t taking her anywhere for sex, but that wasn’t exactly true. He’d take it at her pace, but he’d be lying if he didn’t acknowledge that sex was first and foremost in his mind. From the moment she’d opened the door, and he’d seen the way she flushed at the sight of him, tilting her head in that way that told him she wanted him, all his good intentions had fled.

  “Buckle up and hold on to something.” He turned left, taking the narrow road that cut up the side of the mountain and into the trees. The four-wheel drive dug into the dirt, and the truck bucked and jumped around a hairpin turn. Serena squealed and latched onto the grab bar over her head, but her face glowed and the huge grin on her face told him she loved danger as much as he did.

  One more pop of the road, another twist around a group of trees. Gabe laughed. “Whoo-eee! Hang on, honey, we’re almost there.” And they shot around the last corner. He slowed and stopped the car, and turned off the engine.

  Spread out below the rise he’d stopped the truck on was a narrow valley filled with leafy green trees with white trunks and split by a wide creek.

  “Wow.” Her head was up and if she’d been a wolf she would have been on high alert, her eyes eating up the view.

  “You like it?”

  “Absolutely.” She turned toward him, her cheeks flushed with excitement. “Thank you. I so needed the release.”

  Her use of the word release and the look on her face had his cock rising to attention, but he was here for the long game. “Don’t thank me yet. You haven’t even seen the real surprise.” He reached over and pushed the button on her seat belt, just as she reached to do it herself. Their hands brushed, and electricity shot through his skin.

  Serena’s gasp had him scrambling for control. Her mouth was slightly open, and her pupils flared like a rabbit’s before the kill.

  They stared at one another, the silence in the cab thick with anticipation. He swallowed and pulled his hand back, letting the tension ease. He had time, and he didn’t want to scare this particular bunny away.

  They got out of the car. Before she could say anything about what had just happened, he opened the back and pulled out a large canvas handle bag and handed it to her. “You get to carry this and I’ll get dinner.”

  “What’s all this?” She peered into the top. “Towels? Blankets?”

  “Just wait, Miss Nosy. You’ll understand when we get there.”

  “That creek looks pretty, but I bet the water is freezing this high up. I’m not sure I’m going to need a towel.”

  He took out the large, old-fashioned picnic basket, closed the gate of the pickup, and led the way to the trailhead. “Come on, it’s only a short hike.”

  She laughed. “I hope so. Breathing is getting easier, but hiking isn’t high on my list of activities just yet.”

  The trail led down to the center of the valley and along the creek bed, winding in and out of the groups of trees and finally to a clearing that held his surprise. Amid the leafy branches of the aspens and scrub oak, steam rose from what looked like a pile of boulders.

  “Ta-da.”

  “It’s a hot spring! I can’t believe we have this all to ourselves.”

  He watched her take it all in, smiling at the delight in her voice. The tiny wild roses growing in and around the rocks, the dancing leaves of the aspen shimmering in the slight breeze, the open view down to the river where the slanting last evening rays of light picked out the splash of a feeding trout.

  “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”

  “This isn’t the only pack hot spring, and it’s not the easiest to get to, but it’s usually more crowded up here. I had to pull a few strings.” Actually, it had taken nearly all the favors he’d been owed to get the schedule cleared at such short notice. “I wasn’t sure if you’d want to be social or not.”

  She put down her bag and walked over to where the steam rose and peered into the pool. “No, you totall
y read me right. I love people, but I’ve spent the entire day dealing with a control freak who hates me. Lunch was nice, but it’s stressful getting to know new people.” Her voice took on a wistful quality. “Everyone here is pack, but it’s not my pack.”

  He put down the picnic basket on the grass and walked over to her, taking her in his arms. “Yet. It’s not your pack yet. It will be. Just give it time.” She nestled in as if she belonged there, resting her head on his shoulder. Her breath caressing the skin of his neck where his collar was unbuttoned.

  A sense of peace came over him. This was right, so right. Her. Him. A life of sharing the day’s troubles, comforting one another. He could see so clearly what they could have, all he needed to do was show her. And then she moved, canting her hips into his. And his desire, so carefully held back, rushed out. His arms tightened around her. She tilted her head back, lifting her mouth up for his.

  He wanted to kiss her, wanted the taste of her again and again. His wolf howled, pushing him to take what was his.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Vince had watched from his hiding place behind her cabin as Gabe and Serena drove away. Anger burned inside his chest like acid. That shifter had probably taken the credit for his roses. He’d seen the way Serena had looked at the man, like he’d handed her the moon on a platter. He hit the steering wheel hard, winced, and let go, shaking out the pain in the side of his fist.

  “Damn it.” He was a pussy, letting these fucking shifters take his woman. Well, no longer. He had to stand up for himself. It was time to act like a man.

  For years he’d fantasized about taking revenge on one wolf shifter or another. He’d been stockpiling the things he’d need for a long time, knowing there would be a use for them. Well, today was the day.

  He’d had to rush to the old storage shed at the edge of the property and get everything, but it hadn’t taken very long. They weren’t back. They weren’t going to be back anytime soon by the look on that alpha’s face. His anger surged.

  He forced it back down. He could be angry later. Right now, them being gone only gave him the time to do everything right.

  He put on thick rubber gloves and tucked his hair into a hairnet. Then he pulled the hazmat suit on over his clothes, followed by goggles and a face mask. He was completely safe. After everything was tucked away, he sprayed every part of his suit, including the soles of his booties, with Lysol. This way no one would know who he was by his scent. Then he parked his dad’s old Toyota Corolla and switched to one of the ranch’s utility trucks, loading it with a power saw and driving it down the hill to a tight hairpin curve, where the slope caused you to drive faster but the trees hid anything that might be approaching.

  This was the spot. And now was the time. Wulfric thought he had the upper hand—well, he did for now. But after the asshole dropped Serena off, he’d find out that this was the last time he’d have the advantage.

  He’d chosen this spot a long time ago, on one of those days when he needed an outlet for his frustrations. The tree was perfectly situated, and just big enough for him to use the saw and cut it down. A few online videos, some careful planning, and it toppled exactly where he wanted it—right across the road.

  While he worked setting up the trap, Vince daydreamed of Serena. When he’d first met her, he’d fallen instantly for that dark-eyed, quiet look she’d given him. She’d been so nervous and he’d helped her in any way he could. He’d known right away—this one was his.

  She was a dreamwalker from a different pack, which meant she wouldn’t have any biases against him. And she hadn’t—she’d been so nice to him. He could tell he was making progress. But as soon as he turned his back, those Wulfric boys were pissing all over her. All his life, wolf shifters had made him feel like less than a man. First his father. Then all the adolescent boys at the shifter boarding school, where all shifters went to take the Bite. And after, when he’d found out he wasn’t going to get a real wolf, it was everyone. All the sly glances and excuses the pack made for members who didn’t have a wolf. It all sucked the big one. And he wasn’t going to take it anymore.

  He kicked the log a few times with the bottom of his foot, making sure it was secure, and pulled out a bottle of industrial cleaning fluid, spraying everything he’d touched. Then he walked back up the road and checked. Nope, the shadows hid the log perfectly from this angle. He took one last look, before heading back to the truck, every step feeling lighter than the last. It was done. That shifter bastard wouldn’t know what hit him. Vince drove down the mountain back to the ranch and switched his supplies into the Toyota. Time to fix the other brother and clear the way to Serena.

  He drove his own car out the ranch gates, making a right and heading for an old mining road that cut off into the property bordering the pack’s holdings. The road was steep and rutted, and the old Corolla barely made it up the drive, but he was here. He stepped out and took a large breath. The cabin’s roof was sinking, the faded green shingles almost lost under piles of dried pine needles. The old boards were way past restaining. But it was his, all his. No stinking shifters to sniff him out. No spelltalkers or shamans to poke at him. He’d had enough of that when he’d failed dreamwalker training.

  Out here, he could be himself. And the first thing he was going to do was go to sleep. And dream. He walked to the splintered sides of the old building and unlocked the padlock. Inside, he bypassed the main room with its potbellied stove and sunken old couch, and went straight back to the only bedroom with the large, brand new, queen-size bed. It took up most of the room, leaving him only a narrow space on one side to strip his clothes off and pile them in the corner, but the sheets were clean. And no one would bother him.

  He got in and began his sleeping ritual, counting off all the people who owed him. Starting with his dead father and counting on down to his latest addition, the Wulfric twins. The soothing chant ran on in his head until he was in his waking spot in the dreamscape.

  All dreamwalkers could walk the dreams, but only the certified ones were allowed to walk in other’s dreams. It was highly regulated. When he’d failed his tests, and they’d had the spelltalkers put a binding spell on him to hold in his abilities, it had made him howl with rage.

  Out there, in the realms of the astral, he could be an equal to the shifters. He could show them how his wolf could run and fight and kill, just as effectively as theirs could. To know all that and not be able to do any of it? It ate at him.

  And then one day, he’d met his mentor. A man who saw the inequities in the pack system. A man dedicated to the good of all the pack, and not just those who could manifest a physical wolf. He’d shown Vince a way around the blocking spell. Now, Vince could enter anyone’s dreams he wished—as a man, or as a wolf.

  It wouldn’t be difficult to tiptoe into Sam Wulfric’s dreams and push a little here, shove a little there. He’d seen Sam; he was already on edge from his obsession with Serena, and it was obvious she wasn’t interested in him. But Vince would make sure.

  Once he was inside Sam’s head, he’d find his trigger.

  Then he’d aim the gun of Sam’s wild wolf at the first competition he came to. No one else was going to have Serena. No one but Vince. And once the coast was clear, she’d know—she was destined to be his fated mate.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Gabe stood by the edge of the hot springs and held Serena close. A tremor ran through him. God, how he wanted her. Needed her. And he could tell by the softening of her body, the way she turned up to him like a sunflower, that she wanted him too. Desire pulsed inside of him, pushing him to lower his mouth to hers and brand her with his taste.

  “Serena.” His hands tightened on her arms, and he swallowed hard. “I said I wasn’t bringing you here for sex. But you’ll have to help me, if that’s really what you want.”

  Her hands gripped his biceps. “Gabe, I—”

  He pulled back from the edge and looked deeper into her eyes. Yes, he saw his need reflected there, but he also saw the sam
e damn hesitation that had made her push him away every time he got close. He forced himself to let her go and back away.

  He knelt down and rummaged in the bag for a plastic glass. Their fingers brushed as he handed her the glass, and he spilled a little wine on the grass from another tremor of need.

  “Sorry.”

  “No, I’m sorry.” She lowered herself to the other side of the blanket and took the glass, staring into it like it held all the answers. “I don’t mean to be such a tease. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

  “Nothing’s wrong with you.” He let his gaze roam her from her shiny hair to the tips of her toes in scuffed, dirty sneakers and all the curves in between. “Not one damn thing.”

  A hot blush turned her cheeks rosy, and she hid behind her wine glass, taking a sip of the deep-red alcohol.

  He got busy taking packages out of the basket. “I don’t know what the hell is in here. I had Daisy pack it for me today. She’s one of our counter girls who comes in to help, but I didn’t have time to see what she packed.”

  “You don’t cook in the restaurant?”

  “I used to. But then Dad died and someone had to take over the business side of things.” He caught himself from saying Sam was no good at that part. He didn’t want to bring his twin anywhere near the party. Tonight, it was just Serena and himself and no one for miles to get in between them. “Anyway,”—he opened up a sandwich and peeked inside—“I think this one’s our chicken salad. If you like cranberries and walnuts, it’s very good.” He peered at another one. “This one looks like prosciutto, mozzarella, tomato, and basil. And if you don’t like either of those, I think there’s another one in the basket.”

  “No, they both look fabulous. What if we split them, so I can try both?”

  They settled onto the blanket, and he poured himself a glass of wine. She talked about work, and he talked about his day on his enforcer shift with Rico. And by the end of the meal as the sun began to set over the ridge, things between them were relaxed and comfortable.