Claiming Her Mates: Book One

by Dia Cole

  I clenched my hands into fists imagining what would happen if the Alpha male found one of us screwing her. He’d kill us slowly and painfully.

  Havana let out a soft noise in her sleep.

  Liam looked up sharply as Mason made a soothing noise that settled her.

  If we were to survive, I needed Havana as far away from them…and me as possible. But how can I do that without bringing down Nathan’s wrath? I rubbed my jaw as I racked my brain for a solution. Outside, the sun peeked over the horizon illuminating the changing landscape. Desert shrubs gave way to large pine trees.

  As we continued rising in altitude, I yawned, feeling the pop in my ears. At least we were heading in the direction of home. We’d be safe when we got there. Winterhaven was a sustainable settlement with all the food, water, and housing our faction would need for the foreseeable future. Due to her paranoia, Tasha had been forcing us to prepare for some cataclysmic event for years, and she’d make sure that, unlike the humans, we would survive it.

  A wave of melancholy gripped me as we approached Sunridge. Even the remote ski town would be overrun by the infected soon. I studied a tight cluster of snow-covered cabins in the distance. The virus would rip through this place going from cabin to cabin.

  Wait. Cabin. Yes. I grinned realizing there was a way I could fulfill Nathan’s request without endangering Havana or taking her to the lodge with us.

  I glanced over at Liam who was studying the sleeping female in the rearview mirror again. Neither he nor Mason would like my plan. Tough shit. I straightened my shoulders. As the head Enforcer I was in charge until Nathan returned and my word was law. I’ll make sure the female is no longer a threat to us all.

  8

  Havana

  “Wake up, love.”

  With a start, I opened my eyes and found Mason staring down at me. The sunlight streaming through the car windows backlit his blond hair, making it look like a halo. And his eyes. God, his eyes were as blue as the deepest end of the ocean. I wanted to gaze into them for hours.

  “We’re here,” he said with a smile.

  My face warmed as I realized I’d fallen asleep plastered across his chest. What’s going on with me? I was never usually this comfortable with guys. Hell, it normally took me a couple of months of dating before I could even fall asleep next to a guy, and here I was drooling all over this stranger’s shoulder after we’d met just a few hours ago.

  Blinking away my fatigue, I looked out the window at snow-covered pine trees surrounding the SUV. Snow! I’d never seen the white stuff in real life. Excited, I sat up and a bolt of pain knifed into my spine. I let out a cry before I could help myself. Damn it. The pain pills had worn off. I cursed my last-minute decision to leave the bottle of oxy in my locker. Living with this constant pain was going to suck ass.

  “What’s wrong?” Mason asked his brows knitting together.

  “Just my back,” I said, giving him a strained smile.

  “Let me take a look at it.”

  “It’s nothing, just a recent injury,” I said, waving my hand as if that would dismiss the throbbing pain. Noticing the empty driver’s seat, I asked, “Where’s Liam?”

  “Getting your new home ready,” Gabriel replied from the front seat. He pointed out the window at a small, dilapidated shack. The windows of the ancient-looking structure were boarded up, and the snow-covered roof looked ready to collapse at any moment.

  What the…? “That’s Sanctuary?” With a name like that I’d envisioned a fortified mansion or at the very least some kind of sturdy structure build in this century.

  Gabriel let out a dry laugh. “Hardly. But it’s where you will be staying for the foreseeable future.”

  Mason tensed next to me. “She should stay with us.”

  Gabriel glared at him. “It’s not safe.”

  Mason jabbed his finger in the direction of the shack. “And she’ll be safe in some cabin that’s been abandoned for the past forty years?”

  My heart pounded. “Wait, you’re not really expecting me to stay in there, are you?”

  Gabriel scowled at Mason. “It’s not her safety I’m concerned about. She’s a threat.”

  I gave him an incredulous look. “Says the guy with the gun.”

  Gabriel ignored me. “She can’t be anywhere near us. Not if you want to live out the rest of your days.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Mason said, wrapping his arm around me protectively. “She’s not dangerous.”

  Gabriel cursed. “You can’t even keep your fucking hands off her for a second and Liam’s been mooning over her the entire drive. She’s an attractive Ly—” He looked over at me and shut his mouth. After taking a deep breath, he said, “I’ve made my decision.”

  Mason tightened his arm around me. “You’re wrong.”

  A tension grew between the two men so thick it made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

  Gabriel bared his teeth. “Are you challenging me?”

  Mason made a low rumbling sound in his throat. If the noise had come from a dog, I’d say it was a growl, but Mason was a man. Right?

  Suddenly, the shack didn’t look so bad. “I’ll go look for Liam.” I grabbed the handle and swung the car door open. The cold air burned my lungs and shook the last bit of lethargy from my limbs. Taking a deep breath, I stepped out into the snow remembering a second too late that my boot heel had snapped off. “Ah,” I cried, barely stopping myself from falling.

  “Havana!” Mason slid out of the seat and scooped me up in his arms. “Let me help you.”

  The abrupt motion sent waves of pain radiating down my back. Not wanting to ruin his chivalrous move, I bit back my moan of pain and let him carry me up the rickety steps of the shack. To think I’d gone my entire life without a man picking me up and in the space of twenty-four hours two mouthwatering men had.

  Mason shifted me and opened the shack door with one hand. The door creaked so loudly I half expected the whole thing to fall off the frame.

  I took one sniff of the dank musky cabin air and sneezed.

  Mason laughed. “You sound like an adorable chipmunk when you do that.”

  “No, I don’t,” I said, playfully slapping his chest. I’d long been teased about my high-pitched sneezing.

  Smiling down at me, Mason stepped across the threshold and his foot plowed straight through the floorboard. He fell forward, and I sailed out of his arms.

  Moving so fast he was a blur, Liam snatched me out of the air. “Gotcha.”

  I couldn’t stop the gasp of pain that escaped my lips when the auburn-haired giant gently set me on my feet. Wincing as I rubbed the small of my back, I said, “Wow, you move fast for a big guy.”

  “I’ve got all kinds of moves, beautiful,” Liam replied with a wink. He looked over at Mason. “Sorry, I didn’t have time to warn you. The floor is bad over there.”

  Mason tore his loafer free of the broken plank. “This place is an uninhabitable death trap.”

  I wholeheartedly agreed. The dark space was covered with spiderwebs and inches of dust. It contained only one room no bigger than the dressing room at the club. The only furnishings consisted of a small table and bench, a wooden rocking chair, and an old green-and-red plaid couch that looked like it might be home to a colony of fleas.

  “Oh. It’s not so bad. It’s actually kind of nice with the creek right out back. Most important, the stove still works.” Liam marched over to the large black woodstove in the center of the room. “I’ve cut enough wood for several days, just make sure to keep the stove going.” He opened the rusted metal door to the stove to show me the fire flickering inside and then patted the four-foot-tall pile of logs he must’ve stacked next to the stove.

  “She shouldn’t stay here,” Mason said, eyeing the small section of roof that had collapsed in the far corner of the room.

  Liam straightened to his full height, the top of his head skimming the exposed timber ceiling. “I agree, but it isn’t up to me.”

 
“It’s up to me,” Gabriel announced carrying in my duffel bag. He stepped over the hole Mason had made in the floor. As he set the bag down on top of the table, it sent a plume of dust into the air. Gabriel coughed, looking around the room. “Isn’t this cozy? You know people pay a lot of money for rustic travel experiences these days. Who needs running water and electricity when you can have the sights and sounds of the forest?” He lifted his arms up and turned in a half circle. The heel of his boot crunched through another weak floorboard.

  I’d stopped listening halfway through his monologue. “There’s no running water or electricity?” Hysteria filled my voice. Roughing it was staying at a motel without cable. I’d never been camping before. I couldn’t imagine anything more horrific than sleeping on the ground outside with nothing but a bag and a nylon tent separating me from the creatures in the wilderness. I glanced at the area by the door that probably served as a kitchen space. There was a rusted basin, but no faucets. “Where’s the bathroom?”

  Liam rubbed the back of his neck. “There’s an outhouse out back, but I think a family of raccoons might be denning in there.

  “Raccoons,” I shrieked.

  “No worries. We can bring you a bucket,” Gabriel announced cheerfully.

  “A bucket?” This isn’t happening. I laughed. “Very funny. Joke’s over. I know you aren’t going to leave me in this dilapidated shack with no running water or electricity in the middle of the forest alone.”

  Liam and Mason flinched.

  Gabriel pressed his lips together. “Count yourself lucky, princess. There’s nothing around this cabin for miles. No houses. No stores. No people, which means no infected will find you and eat you.”

  “What about bears?” I cried.

  “There are no bears around here. Your only threat is a couple of lonely wolves,” Gabriel retorted.

  I wrapped my arms around my chest. “Wolves?”

  Mason shook his head. “Gabriel is making a bad joke. You’re not in danger from anything. Liam stocked the shelves with some food we picked up from town. We’ll bring more food and supplies when we come check on you. Won’t we?” He gave Gabriel a hard look.

  Gabriel returned his glare. “Come on, let’s leave her to get settled in her new home.” He strode to the door.

  Desperate not to be left there, I played the only card I had. “Nathan wouldn’t like you leaving me like this. He said you were bringing me to a safe place.”

  Gabriel whipped around. “This is a safe place, princess. Just because you’re a pampered pet who’s going to have to live without the finer things in life doesn’t mean you aren’t safe. Besides, given the way you spoke to Nathan on the phone, he probably doesn’t give a damn about what happens to you now.” He stalked through the door and marched out to the SUV.

  Who the fuck does he think he is? I was no pampered pet. I’d been on my own since I was sixteen. Anger roared through me along with the desire to punch that ass in the jaw so hard he’d have to wire it shut.

  “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Mason announced.

  I grabbed his arm, not wanting him to leave. “Please don’t go.” I despised the plea in my voice. There was only one thing I feared in life. That was being alone. Looking around, I amended that fear to being alone in a dark, abandoned cabin.

  “I have to. For now.” He gently twisted his arm free and kissed the top of my hand.

  “Where are you staying?” I asked.

  “The lodge is a few miles north of here.”

  “We aren’t far and we’ll be checking on you,” Liam rumbled behind me.

  I turned to see the big guy holding the head of a huge brown-and-beige snake in his hands.

  I stumbled back a step. “What’s that?”

  He looked down at the serpent. “Nothing you need to worry about.”

  “You found that in here?” My voice climbed one note shy of shattering glass.

  “It’s more afraid of us than we are of him.”

  The creature shook its tail and a dry rattling sound filled the room.

  “I highly doubt that,” I squeaked. Trembling, all I could do was back away as he carried the vile thing to the door.

  Liam stopped in the entryway and called back, “Remember keep the stove going, you don’t want to lose your only heat source. There’s supposed to be a big storm coming. It’ll be cold as a witch’s tit outside.”

  I nodded weakly. This can’t be happening.

  Mason headed for the door.

  “Wait. Don’t leave!” I begged.

  An agonized look crossed his face. “I’ll try to talk some sense into Gabriel. Hopefully, we can get you into the lodge in a couple of days.”

  “A couple of days? I can’t stay here a couple of days.” My throat constricted as I looked around the room in growing panic. I can’t stay here a couple of hours.

  “I’ll be back,” Mason promised. The door creaking shut behind him sounded like a coffin closing. My coffin.

  “Oh, God.” I swallowed hard and eyed the woodstove warily. “It’s just for a few days.” Damn. I need to call Syd. She’ll know how to survive in this place. That crazy girl loved all this outdoorsy stuff as much as I hated it. She followed homesteading and canning blogs the way I followed fashion and celebrity posts. Careful to avoid the holes in the floor, I walked to my bag and pulled out my phone. Of course there’s no signal. I sighed and carried the useless device to the couch. As I sat down, something moved inside the cushions.

  I shot to my feet and an army of mango-sized rats poured from the fabric. Screaming, I bounded on top of the table. Hyperventilating, I watched the vermin skitter into half a dozen different holes in the walls. Oh, God. “I’ve changed my mind!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “Take me back to town. I’ll take my chances with the zombies!”

  9

  Mason

  I glared at the back of Gabriel’s head the entire five-mile drive up to Sanctuary. “We shouldn’t leave Havana in that hellhole.”

  The dark-haired Enforcer didn’t respond, but based on the angry looks Liam was hurling at him, Gabriel was likely getting an earful from his friend.

  I could’ve tapped into their telepathic argument, but I saw no reason to tick both males off. Getting on the wrong side of Enforcers was never a bright idea.

  I looked over at the empty seat beside me. Even though I’d known Havana for only a few hours, I missed her. She was a fascinating mix of vulnerability and sexy seductress. I’d never met a female like her.

  Spying her discarded jacket on the floorboards, I bent down and picked it up. Unable to resist the impulse, I held it up to my face and inhaled deeply. Her amazing scent filled my nostrils making my stomach tighten with need. At once, my mind flooded with the memory of her incredibly soft skin and the rich, raven strands of her hair.

  A growl escaped my lips. I won’t let her suffer in that hovel. She was an injured female trapped in that poor excuse for a shelter without a jacket or even proper footwear. Leaving her in that situation felt wrong on every level. Even if she hadn’t been the most enchanting creature I’d ever met and her scent hadn’t twisted me up inside, leaving any female to fend for herself went against both my human and Lykos instincts.

  Neither Liam nor Gabriel should be okay with the situation either. A Lykos male’s entire purpose was to care for and protect females, not endanger their lives. I opened my mouth to plead Havana’s case again, but Gabriel jerked his head up.

  “I don’t want to hear another fucking word about her from either of you.” He turned and glared at me with his one good eye. “We did our part. We got her out of town.”

  “But we were supposed to take her to Sanctuary.” Liam pointed up the snowy road.

  “Technically, the cabin is on the edge of Sanctuary land,” Gabriel replied, crossing his arms. “She can’t stay with us.”

  “Why the hell not?”

  Gabriel snapped his head around to glare at me. “Because she belongs to Nathan.”

  I
shook my head. “But she said they—”

  Gabriel held up a hand cutting me off. “I don’t care what she said. What I care about is what the Alpha will do if he discovers that one of you made a move on his female. He’ll be here soon. He'll decide what to do with her.”

  I closed my mouth. I’d had enough interactions with Alphas to know that you didn’t get between them and what they wanted. The memory of Tasha’s face flashed into my mind. How naive I’d been when I’d encountered the ruthless Alpha female. Having lived among humans my entire life, I’d been confused and panicked by my first transition. My instincts had led me to Winterhaven where the sentries took me in and brought me to Tasha’s chamber.

  At the time, she’d seemed like a goddess with her golden hair and skin. Little did I know she was a monster.

  After hearing the story of how I’d been found as a baby outside the Saguaro Valley Fire Department, adopted, and raised overseas, Tasha’s citrine eyes had gleamed.

  She’d stroked one of her hands over mine. “Pledge yourself to me, Mason Wheeler. Join our faction and together we’ll track down your biological parents.”

  Dazed by her beauty and burning with the need to discover my origins, I’d readily agreed. Only later, when Gabriel had paid me a visit, did I learn the ramifications of my rash decision. The Enforcer explained that I now belonged to Tasha and she forbade any long-term relationships between humans and our kind. As such, any contact between my adoptive parents and myself would result in their immediate termination.

  I’d been shredded when I realized what I’d done. Although my adoptive parents had always been rather reserved, I knew they loved me. No doubt they’d worried themselves sick over losing contact with me so abruptly, but there was nothing I could do to rectify that without putting their lives in jeopardy.

  Months later, without delivering on her promise to help me find my birth family, Tasha forced me to accept a position at the Saguaro Valley General Hospital. Although I was an emergency room physician on paper, my true purpose was to screen the blood of patients for Lykos genetic markers. Tasha didn’t want any others of our kind being lost among the humans.