Claiming Her Mates: Book One

by Dia Cole

  “I can’t fight this,” he’d groaned. “I need you, Havana.”

  The memory of the rest of that night made my heart pound. After an arousing threesome with his friend, he’d taken me over and over and it hadn’t been enough. It never was enough with Nathan. We’d been inseparable, until that horrible Sunday evening when my world came crashing down.

  My mind curled into itself as I relived the moment I’d walked up to Nathan’s front door in the rain. Knowing Mira was already asleep, I’d worn a sexy trench coat with nothing beneath. I’d rapped softly on the knocker and struck a sexy pose as he’d opened the massive oak door.

  I licked my lips knowing how much he enjoyed role-playing. “Hi, sexy stranger. My car broke down and it’s raining. Can I use your phone?”

  There was no answering heat in his golden gaze. “Didn’t you get my text?”

  Taken aback by the coldness in his voice I stammered, “N-no. I forgot to charge my phone. It’s dead.”

  “You shouldn’t be here.”

  “But it’s Sunday,” I’d said like an idiot. We’d always gotten together on Sunday nights.

  A feminine voice called from inside the house. “Nathan, who is it?”

  “No one,” he’d called back his expression hardening.

  A sick feeling twisted my gut. That doesn’t sound like the housekeeper. “Who’s that?”

  “Mira’s mother. You need to go.”

  I gasped in shock. “I thought she was dead.”

  He’d clenched his jaw. “Go. Don’t come back here or try to see me or Mira again.”

  His words lacerated me. Of all the ways I’d expected the night to end, no part of me was prepared for him to end our relationship. I gasped through the soul-crushing pain desperately wanting it to be some kind of bad joke.

  “Why are you wasting time talking to that human trash?” a tall, blonde woman asked from over Nathan’s shoulder. She was breathtakingly beautiful in a designer gold satin gown that hugged every curve of her lush body. An unearthly glow seemed to radiate from her tawny skin.

  I pushed back my wet hair self-consciously feeling dull and drab next to her.

  Nathan stepped between us. “Her car broke down and she wanted to use the phone.”

  The woman’s striking yellow eyes bore into me with a predatory intensity that had me freezing in place. I’d only ever seen three pairs of eyes like hers in my life. Tyberius’s, Nathan’s, and the little girl who’d become like a daughter to me. “Invite her in then,” the woman purred. “She could be… amusing.”

  Nathan tensed. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear an expression of fear crossed his face. He twisted around to look at her. “No. I want you all to myself.”

  My stomach rolled. God, could this get any worse?

  “Fine then,” the blonde said, leaning over and nibbling the bottom lobe of his ear. “I’ll be waiting for you in our bed.” With that, she sashayed in the direction of Nathan’s bedroom and the oversize king bed that, just two nights ago, we’d nearly broken in half with our lovemaking.

  I felt all the blood leave my face. “I thought you… me…” I gasped, tears stinging my eyes.

  He glanced back at me, his lip curling in distain. “You meant nothing to me.”

  Nothing to me. Nothing to me.

  The freezing wind seemed to carry the echo of Nathan’s door slamming in my face. I jolted back into the present. Shivers racked my body making my teeth snap together so hard it felt like my jaw would break. I tried to curl into a fetal position, but soon a welcome numbness settled over me. A few minutes later, I barely felt the cold. The phone slipped from my hands. Goodbye, Nathan.

  He didn’t matter anymore. Nothing mattered anymore. I was tired. So very, very tired. Losing the battle with my heavy eyelids, I succumbed to the darkness.

  15

  Mason

  My mind was a jumbled mess as I followed Liam’s truck through the gates of Sanctuary and parked the SUV near the front of the lodge. Havana’s a latent. She’s one of us. Excitement coursed through me. Like me she’d be an outsider among Lykos since those of us who were raised by humans were viewed with suspicion. Long ago, I’d stopped giving a damn about what they thought. I belonged in the human world. With Havana.

  But she belongs to another…

  My heart sank. Although I’d never been a fighter, I’d battle tooth and nail for her. The memory of her sultry moans and the sweetness of her lips made me shift in my seat. I wanted her more than I’d wanted anything in my life. And that included finding my birth family.

  But Havana doesn’t just belong to another Lykos male. She belongs to an Alpha. My shoulders sagged. I had no chance competing with Nathan. Or did I? My head shot up as I remembered our earlier conversation. Havana called him a bastard. She said she’d never take him back.

  Hope flared inside my chest. The rules of our faction were clear. Females chose their mates. Tasha was many things—psychopath, sadist, and master manipulator, but her stance on female dominance never wavered. Males served females, never the other way around. Sadly, this wasn’t always the case among other factions, but in Tasha’s territory Nathan would have to recognize Havana’s choice.

  But what if he compels her to choose him? No. I shook my head dispelling that abhorrent thought. To force a female’s affection would be an act too low for any Lykos Alpha male. Although I didn’t know Nathan well, I’d heard he was honorable.

  Hope returned and on its heels happiness. She’ll be mine. Filled with resolve, I jumped out of the vehicle only to find Liam exiting the truck. I froze and watched the big male walk over to me. What if she chooses Liam instead? The male was bigger, stronger, and could break me in a half and not break a sweat. Doubt chewed at the edges of my joy.

  Liam looked shaken as he walked over. “What do you think Nathan will do to us when he finds out we were with Havana?”

  “Nothing,” I said as we walked up the steps.

  Liam punched in the code on the panel by the door and gave me an incredulous look. “How do you figure?”

  “It was her choice.”

  Liam rubbed his beard thoughtfully as we walked into the lodge. He strode into the library and sat down heavily on a dark leather couch. A broad smile stretched across his face. “You’re right. He can’t punish us if it’s what Havana wanted.”

  I nodded. “And if she were to choose me over him, there’s nothing he could do about it.”

  Liam jumped to his feet. “Why do you think she’d choose you? She wanted to mate with me.”

  A low growl rose from my throat. “She wanted me first and if you hadn’t intruded, we would’ve mated.”

  Liam straightened his shoulders and looked down at me. “Clearly, you weren’t her first choice because as soon as I got there she was eye-fucking me.”

  “Really? And that’s why she asked me to join your little make-out session? Obviously, she wanted a man with more…experience.”

  Liam flinched and then schooled his face into a grimace. “She seemed plenty happy with what I had to offer.” He reached down and grabbed his crotch.

  The crass move had me fisting my hands. “Why would she want to mate with a brainless barbarian when—”

  “Enough, you two. She wanted to mate with all of us,” Gabriel interjected from the doorway. The male shook the snow off his naked body in a decidedly canine move. “She had her hands all over me before I could run out of the cabin.”

  Liam and I both growled at him.

  Gabriel snarled back. “Fuck off if you know what’s good for you. The female’s coming up on her first heat and she’ll fuck any male that gets within a few feet of her. Hell, I remember my father and I having to tie my sister down during her first heat. She kept trying to escape so she could mate with the neighbors.” Uncaring of his nakedness, he padded into the library and studied a wall of books. “No matter how much each of us wants her, she belongs to Nathan. None of us can touch her.” He spun around and glared at Liam and me. “Do you unde
rstand?”

  Momentarily distracted by the gold gem embedded in his eye socket, I didn’t respond. The pain has to be excruciating. The temptation to remove the foreign body so the male could heal was almost irresistible.

  Liam shook his head. “She doesn’t want Nathan.”

  “She hates the Alpha,” I added. “She could choose to mate with one of us instead.” And maybe claim one of us too.

  “You’re grasping at straws.” Gabriel fitted his eye patch over the jewel in his eye socket. “As soon as Nathan gets here, she’ll fuck his brains out and all will be right with the two of them.”

  That thought made me gnash my teeth. Damn it. I can’t let that happen.

  From the expression on Liam’s face, I could see he was thinking the same thing.

  Gabriel cleared his throat. “I know you both want the female. Hell, I want her too, but we can’t have her. I need your word that neither of you will set foot inside that cabin until Nathan gets here.”

  “Fine,” Liam said, crossing his tree trunk-like arms.

  I slowly nodded, not liking the idea one bit.

  “Good.” Gabriel clapped his hands together. “Now, I suggest we all take cold showers and then get something to eat. I’m starving.”

  Liam’s stomach rumbled loudly. “I could eat.”

  As Gabriel and I chuckled at the same time, the tension between the three of us broke.

  “I can prepare something for lunch,” I volunteered. As an Omega, it was hard to fight the instinct to serve the two Enforcers.

  Gabriel smiled. “That’d be great.”

  While he and Liam went upstairs, I headed to the kitchen. Once there, I tossed together sandwiches for the three of us. After setting the plates on the bar counter, I threw down several bags of American chips and dug through one of the full refrigerators for beers. It seemed wasteful that the lodge was stocked with food. But then again, one never knew when the feckless Tasha would want to visit one of her properties. I’m sure the staff felt it was better to be safe than sorry. At least we’d make sure all this food didn’t go to waste.

  “That looks good,” Gabriel said, walking into the kitchen. Thankfully, the dark-haired male had dressed. Although Lykos in the faction were used to public nudity, after so many years around humans, I’d never gotten comfortable with it.

  “Smells good too,” Liam added, following behind Gabriel. Although still shirtless, the big guy was at least wearing pants and had slicked back his wet hair.

  “Eat up,” I said, waving them to the bar stools. I set down the beer bottles and sat down next to them. For the next half hour we ate in companionable silence. Then Liam brought up football and the three of us got into a rousing debate over whether American football or soccer—the rest of the world’s football—was better.

  Conceding the argument before things got too heated, I cleaned up the dishes.

  “You don’t have to do that,” Gabriel said with a raised brow.

  “It’s fine. I’m used to it,” I said with a shrug. Living outside the faction, I’d gotten used to making my own meals and cleaning up after myself. Besides it gave me something to do other than pine after Havana.

  “You guys have to see the theater room,” Liam said, pointing to his right. “It will blow your mind.”

  “Lead the way,” Gabriel said, standing.

  “I’ll be there in a few,” I called after the other two males. I tossed the plates in the sink to wash later and threw out the empty potato chip bags. As I was putting the sandwich meat and mayo back in the fridge, my arm knocked over a can of soda. The memory of Havana licking the soda off me in the car flashed through my mind. My penis throbbed as I remembered how wild she’d been when I’d touched her. With a groan I fisted the can. What’s she doing right now? Is she alone and upset? Gabriel wasn’t the most tactful of males, and he probably hadn’t shared the truth of her origins in a sensitive way.

  Discovering I wasn’t human had rocked my world. Years later, I still remembered the denial, confusion, and fear. Havana must be terrified.

  The need to see her and make sure for myself that she was okay gripped me. I’ll just drive up and peek in the window. If I don’t go inside the cabin, I’m not technically breaking my word. Deciding that I could be back before Gabriel and Liam even noticed I was gone, I snuck out of the lodge. The freezing wind slammed into me as I rushed over to the SUV and started the vehicle. Damn, this storm is bad.

  Even more worried about Havana being alone in that cabin, I drove through the gate and then hauled ass. I was almost there when the headlights of the SUV illuminated something in the road. It looked like a body. A female body.

  Bloody hell. Is that…? With my heart in my throat, I hit the brakes and jumped out of the vehicle. “Havana!” I called out as I raced through the snow.

  The sight of her laying curled up in a fetal position flayed me to the bone. It looked as if she’d emptied the contents of her bag on top of her in a futile attempt to stay warm. Her eyes were closed and her skin was as pale as ice. “Havana!”

  She didn’t respond to her name. Her heartbeat sounded sluggish to my ears. I hauled her into my arms and carried her to the cabin. What happened? Why did she go outside?

  Shifting her weight, I opened the door. Grateful to the welcoming heat from the stove, I set her down in the middle of the bed and did a visual inspection. Trying to distance myself from my rioting emotions, I stepped into my role as a clinician and assessed her condition. Based on her appearance, she was suffering from hypothermia and frostbite. Does she have other injuries?

  Havana’s eyes fluttered open. “M-mason,” she gasped.

  “I’m right here. What happened?” I tried my damnedest to keep my voice steady.

  “I was trying to find you guys. I slipped. My back. I c-can’t feel my legs.”

  Did she do further damage to her spine? I knelt down and slid my hands gently around her back. Damn it. I can’t feel anything through the brace. “How long have you been out there?”

  “I don’t…I don’t know.”

  I need to get her out of these wet clothes and raise her body temperature. “Havana, why didn’t you stay here where you’d be safe?”

  “I n-needed help.” She lifted her left hand. “I’m infected.”

  At first I took the blackened skin for the advanced stages of frostbite, but then I realized it was necrotic veins mottling her skin from the tips of her finger to the middle of her forearm.

  The Z-virus. Shock punched me in the solar plexus. No. It can’t be. Trying to keep my voice calm, I asked, “When were you exposed?”

  “The club alley when I fought Brody.” She let out a shaky breath as if speaking so many words had exhausted her. “Y-you can cure it, right?”

  Shit. If she’d already gone through her first transition, she’d be fine. But she hadn’t so… Panic squeezed my insides as I looked down into her hope-filled gaze. “Of course I can, love,” I lied and kissed her blackened fingers.

  She gave me a ghost of a smile as she drifted back into unconsciousness.

  16

  Liam

  I’d just gone into the kitchen to see what was taking Doc so long when I heard the crunch of tires on the snow outside. “He wouldn’t,” I snarled under my breath.

  I ran out of the kitchen, down the long hallway, and out the door. Through a blizzard of snowflakes, I glimpsed the black SUV driving out the front gate.

  Motherfucker. My knuckles cracked as I fisted my hand. I knew Doc wouldn’t be able to stay away from Havana. Damn it. Gabe will flip his lid when he finds out. Not like the Enforcer didn’t have his suspicions that Doc would run to her the first chance he got. We should’ve expected this.

  “Gabe, Doc’s gone AWOL,” I mentally shouted at my friend.

  “What? He gave his word.”

  Lykos males took oaths seriously. But Doc was raised as a human. He wasn’t like the rest of us.

  Gabe cursed. “I don’t trust myself around the female. Liam,
can you bring him back before he does anything stupid?”

  “Hell, yes.” Unaffected by the freezing temperatures, I tore off my clothing and shed my human form. A quick snapping and popping of bones and joints and I rose as a gigantic wolf. I shook my shaggy red fur and let out a howl of warning for Doc. That fucker needed an ass kicking. No doubt he thought to take advantage of Havana’s heat to mate with her and entice her to claim him.

  Fuck that. I could almost taste her exotic scent in the wind. If she's going to claim anyone, it's going to be me. After scaling the stone wall in one leap, I picked up the pace, my panting breath fogging the freezing air. It was nearly dark and the flurry of snow further reduced visibility. Still, I had no trouble picking out the shape of the SUV stopped in the middle of the road. Puzzled, I ran around the still-running vehicle noting that the driver’s side door had been left open. Why did Doc jump out in such a hurry?

  The sight of woman’s lingerie scattered in the snow made my blood run cold. Havana’s scent was all over. “What happened here? Doc!” I all but screamed into the male’s mind. He didn’t answer. Heart pounding, I reached the front of the cabin just as Doc busted out the door.

  “Stop shouting. I’m trying to treat, Havana.”

  A sinking feeling gripped my stomach. “Is she hurt?” I peered around his shoulder and spied Havana lying on the bed unmoving.