by Elle Boon
For the first time, Joni took in his complete appearance. She’d bet her last dollar he was part of one of the ball teams, maybe one of their top players. His perfectly styled hair along with his good old boy grin said he was used to getting what he wanted. Sorry to be the one to break his streak. She shook her head, avoiding his hand. “Thanks anyway, but I need to give my fiancé a call and let him know where we’re staying.” She held her phone up with a blessedly blank screen this time.
Chuck sighed. “Well, if you change your mind, we’ll be in there.” He pointed behind him to where the bar clearly was, if the low hum of country music was anything to go by.
Her phone ringing kept her from having to answer Chuck. She waved without looking at him again. The number on the display wasn’t one she recognized, but she needed to keep up the farce of having a boyfriend. Gah, she hated lying, knew her face turned beet red when she did.
“Hi,” she answered cheerfully like she’d known who was on the other end.
“Where the hell are you?” a familiar male voice growled.
She closed her eyes and prayed for patience. Her father only spoke to her when she did something wrong, or he needed her help. They were geniuses, but so was she. The only ones in the pack who knew just how smart she was, were her parents. They’d said it kept her safe. Only she thought it was so they could take credit for things she’d done. Which was fine. It really was, she swore to herself while her wolf whined. “I’m so happy to hear your voice,” she said a little too loud, keeping up the happy appearance until she was shut inside the elevator.
“Are you sassing me, Joni Stark?” Her father’s tone went lower, showing his inner wolf was pushing forward.
Her parents used her full name when they were angry, disappointed, and when she’d done what they couldn’t. They were tech savages. Literally savages when it came to anything electronic. It had been thanks to them that their old pack had as much money as they did. With both her mom and dad hacking into accounts, taking money from the rich who wouldn’t miss the money, while they used it to make more. They’d always been one step ahead of being caught, filling the asshole Keith, their old alpha’s coffers. “What do you need, father?” she snarled.
“I asked where you were?” he said in an even tone.
“And I didn’t answer you.” Her mind froze when she thought of their ability to track her. Shit, in her need to flee, she hadn’t considered anyone looking for her.
“Let me ask you another question, then. Why did you withdraw all the funds in the family account?” His voice turned deadly.
Joni pulled the phone away from her ear, then put it back. “First of all, it’s none of your business. Second, or maybe first, the money wasn’t the family’s money, it was mine. Third, and goddess I hope last thing I have to ask, is how’d you find out?” She’d set up her own account when she turned eighteen, seven years ago. Unlike her parents, she didn’t steal from Peter to pay Paul, then turn around and pay Peter back with their ill gotten gains. She may not have a degree from a prestigious college, but she had one she’d been able to get while doing classes online. Keith had known she was smart since her parents had allowed her the freedom.
“Don’t take that tone with me. What’re you doing, footing the bill for your bear?”
Oh, he thought she’d only get a mate if she paid for one? She wanted to laugh and tell them just how wrong they were. Atlas was rich as fuck and was slated to be alpha of his clan. She didn’t say any of that, knowing they’d take pleasure in realizing he’d dumped her after she gave him her everything. Goddess, she was stupid. Hot tears burned her eyes, which she swiped at as the doors opened on her floor. “I’m not footing the bill for anyone, let alone Atlas, thank you very fucking much.” She hung up before he could react, turning her phone off. How he’d gotten her digits, she didn’t know, but come first thing tomorrow, she’d have one of those pay as you go cellphones.
Hell, her heart beat erratically against her chest at the thought she could’ve been followed. “I’m a big girl. I can do what I want,” she mumbled. Pushing the heavy door open, she entered the room she’d rented. The newer looking furniture met her standards, like the bed, which was piled with pillows. Her backpack slipped off her shoulder while she kicked off the shoes she’d worn for the drive. When she’d decided to leave Mystic, cutting off her only family and friends, she’d also left most of her possessions. A new beginning, one where she wasn’t looked at like she was nothing.
The bathroom had all the things she’d need in the morning when she decided to shower. For tonight, she was going to fall into bed and let her dreams take her away.
Her shorts landed next to the backpack, followed by her bra. In nothing but her T-shirt and panties, she crawled under the covers, shivering at the cool material against her skin. She prayed like hell that no dreams of what could’ve been would infiltrate her mind while she slept.
Atlas wasn’t happy. His bear was furious. Neither of them wanted to be where he was driving to, knowing what he had to face. Driving through the town his clan called home, he stared straight ahead, while the ones who recognized his pearl white Escalade were already calling ahead to let them know he was home. “Fucking grapevine at its finest,” he growled. Home, the word even sounded like shit in his mind. For over three hundred years, the White Bear Clan had ruled their little town and everyone in it. Now, it was his turn to take the mantle as alpha, solidifying the fractured pack with a mating. Normally, he’d be elated to return to the clan after a long absence, but this time, the only thing he felt was a sense of loss. “Fuck, this ain’t what I want,” he growled. What he’d wanted was a curvy little wolf shifter who fit him in every way. Just how perfect she would be when they would finally come together was something he’d dreamt about.
He gripped the leather wheel with one hand, the knuckles almost white with the death grip he had on it. An overwhelming urge to turn back, to go back toward Mystic where he’d left his heart and soul, grew stronger with each second, each mile, he put between them. Goddess, Joni Stark was his Fated truemate. Their souls, it didn’t matter they were different species, had connected, assuring him she was his just as he was hers. Only he had to destroy her in order to leave, or she’d have a clan of angry bears tracking her with one goal; to kill her, end her so that he’d do his duty for the clan. His bear growled, wanting the little she-wolf as much as he did but knowing they did the only thing they could to save her.
With his free hand, he stabbed at the touchscreen of his radio, letting the heavy rock music fill the small space. “Fucking archaic rules. When I’m alpha, I’ll be making a shitton of changes, one of the first being outdated laws that forced a mating.”
The time on the dash assured him he’d be making the deadline he’d been given by the clan leader, not that she’d given him any choice. “Come home and mate with the girl, or we come to you and rain hell down on that mangy pack.” The angry words reverberated around his mind at the memory. Oh, he didn’t doubt for a second she’d order something like that. The only reason he hadn’t told her to go fuck herself was an image of Joni lying lifeless beneath one of the female grizzlies who would love to hurt him. He’d not found his one within their tiny town, which was one of the reasons he’d set out, to look for her. Having clan business gave him the perfect escape, which he’d been doing for the last five years. Never, not once in all that time had it been mentioned that he’d been paired to a female he’d never met. Who the hell was the girl named Clementine, and what damn clan was she from? He had visited every clan he’d known, and not once had he met a female of mating age with that name.
The alpha estate driveway was the next turn, but his bear and he weren’t ready. He looked at the time, gauging he had another couple of hours, time he wanted with his own family. Not that they were the loving kind, but at least he could look at those who had a small familial tie to him before he took the reigns as alpha.
Without pausing, he passed the first turnoff, taking the one th
at would lead to where he’d grown up, the one where he’d been the odd bear out because he hadn’t looked like the other grizzlies. They thought he was weak, something to be put down, until they’d tried. Atlas taught them the error of their ways when he’d been barely older than a cub, taking down not only his own father, the alpha, but then the biggest enforcer of the clan. At only seven winters, he’d instilled fear and a prophecy come true. The white grizzly would become the alpha to lead them into the future, but he was to do it by mating with a female of another clan, uniting them. What clan hadn’t been shown, but the time was ticking.
As his Escalade slid to a stop, the door to the cabin opened, showing the immaculate visage of his mother still looking as beautiful as she’d been when he was a cub. Only her cold brown eyes showed her hatred for him. He still didn’t understand why she’d always hated him, other than he wasn’t like her other cubs. His sister shoved past their mother, a wide grin on her face when she saw him, making him smile back. No matter how much his mother hated him, he could always count on his sister Shauny’s love and acceptance, like his brothers, who also accepted him, much to their mother’s dismay. They not only cared for him, they loved him like family were meant to. Abyle and Atika were twins, older by two years, yet smaller than him. Both men ambled out from the barn, their flannel shirts open as if they’d recently shifted and hadn’t had time to fully dress. He raised one hand from the wheel, giving them a small wave in greeting at their nods.
“Well, you gonna sit in there all day or what?” Shauny asked, her hands on hips encased in denim that fit her curves while she yelled from outside his driver’s side door.
Atlas shook his head, pushing the button to turn the engine off. The silence was almost deafening. He pocketed the fob before getting out, leaving his bag inside, knowing he didn’t have a lot of time to visit, not that his mother looked real inviting to begin with. “Hello, squirt. I see you didn’t get much taller since I saw you last,” he joked, rubbing the top of her head with his knuckles.
Shauny swatted at his arm, laughter falling from her easily regardless of the fact their mother was glaring daggers at the both of them. “I’ll have you know I’m now the tallest female in the clan,” she said.
Atlas looked down, noticing, not for the first time, how gorgeous his baby sister was. His eyes met the twins over her head. “We’re gonna need to have a talk with the clan.”
Atika’s lip lifted in a grin. “You’re gonna be alpha shortly. No need to talk to the clan, just make an alpha order.”
Abyle lifted his hand. “I’ll second the motion.”
Their little sister narrowed her eyes. “If you three are talking about me, I suggest you forget whatever insanity you’re coming up with. For one thing, I’m not interested in any of the males around here. Second, I have zero interest in any males...at this time. Third, when I do decide it’s time to mate up, I’ll be choosing who, what, where, and when, not the lot of you.” With each point she held up a finger until her voice was a near rumble.
“Shauny, I need you in the kitchen. Since I didn’t know you’d be stopping by for dinner, I’ll need to add some extra to feed you, Atlas.” His mother’s tone suggested she’d rather chew broken glass and gargle with cat piss.
With a shake of his head and a hand on Shauny’s arm, he sighed. “I’m not going to be here long enough for dinner, Sonya.” He hadn’t called her mom, mother, or anything other than her given name since he’d been a cub. The memory of the day he’d found his father lying in the snow, red staining the white, was so ingrained in his mind it still made his bear agitated. His mother and her cold brown eyes had stared at him while he’d struggled to bring his father’s body home, blame written on her face. He gave a mental brake pump and focused on the present.
“Home for less than an hour, but already your heading back out on your quest for a truemate?” she scoffed.
Atika growled, the warning clear in the deep baritone. “Watch your tone, mother.”
“Easy, brother.” No matter how much he disliked the woman who birthed him, he didn’t want to cause a fight between his brothers and her. “I’m due at the alpha estate to claim my title. I assumed you’d been told.” He looked to Abyle then Atika, finally settled on Shauny, knowing his sister would’ve been up on all the gossip if it had been spoken as if it was a big deal. The fact none of his family seemed to be aware had his bear raking at his insides. Fucking hell.
“Give us ten minutes; we’re coming with you.” Atika, the older of the twins didn’t give him a chance to agree or disagree before he turned and strode back toward the barn where he and Abyle’s home was located.
“I’m coming too,” Shauny said.
“You’ll do no such thing,” Sonya growled, her bear clearly near the surface.
Shauny marched up the porch steps, looming over the matriarch of the family. “My brother, your son, is being made alpha today. His family should be there. Hell, he’ll be in charge of the entire clan, making laws and all that which his father did before him. If you were smart, you’d be coming as well.”
Her words were a reminder that their mother had mated with another after their father’s murder, a grizzly who cared for nobody but himself, and the woman he’d claimed, Sonya ex-mate to the alpha of the White Bear Clan. He hated all three of her sons, but never let anyone see just how much, except his loving mate. How a mother could allow a male to treat her children the way he had was a mystery none of them knew. When Brock had been shot by a human hunter, his skin stripped off his bear form while his body was left for them to find, nobody but Sonya had wept. Luckily, Shauny had been an infant and didn’t know the man or how he’d been.
“Don’t think to tell me what to do in my own home, little girl. Just because you’ve gotten a little too big for your britches don’t mean I won’t knock you down a peg or ten,” their mother warned, her right hand flexing.
Over his dead fucking body would he allow the bitch to lay a hand on his baby sister. She’d put more scars on him than he cared to count or remember, but he wouldn’t stand for one claw to touch Shauny. “I wouldn’t if I were you,” he said in a deadly whisper, somehow finding himself at the bottom of the steps.
Cold, fathomless brown eyes stared at him. “Don’t think I’ll be celebrating when you take your father’s place as alpha. He’d be alive if it wasn’t for you,” she spat.
Atlas nodded. “I didn’t expect you to be there, Sonya Kincaid.” He used the last name of her latest mate, not his father’s, not the legacy his father had left them with. No, the female who had birthed him was nothing but that, a female who’d birthed him. “Go on, Shauny, I’ll wait here for you.” The unsaid warning clear. He’d know if anything happened to his baby sister while she gathered her things to go with him.
Shauny stepped away, then hurried through the door. The loud bang as the screen shut behind her echoed. For a few more seconds, he and his mother stared at one another until she finally turned and followed his sister inside. He didn’t breathe easily until his sister returned.
Chapter Two
Joni woke drenched in sweat, nightmares from what Keith had made her suffer plaguing her throughout her dreams. The time on her phone showed she’d managed a solid five hours which was her norm. A quick shower, and then she’d jump on the road again. This town was not her end destination. The way the locals had stared at her let her know they were not the most welcoming of peeps. It wasn’t that she was that odd, but clearly they didn’t appreciate her all black attire and straight black hair. Maybe she looked too much like the girl from the movie the Ring, only the grown up version. Hell, there were many days she felt like her.
Shaking off her morbid thoughts, she got out of bed, showered and dressed in all black as usual, and avoided looking in the mirror as she left her wet hair to dry on its own. A sheet of paper by the door showed her fees for the night with the amount owed already paid, which of course she’d done when she checked in with cash. She looked back at the small room, mak
ing sure she hadn’t left anything behind, then walked out the door. Her senses didn’t pick up anything. Of course, her wolf was in hiding, which was her new normal, the pussy. Keith had beat her down mentally to where she couldn’t get the animal to come out, even now after the bastard was dead. “I fucking hate him,” she growled, the human version having less heat.
“Excuse me, young lady, watch your language. There are children around,” a woman with two small children snapped near the elevator.
Joni bit her lip on a sharp retort as she stared at the human, noticing her shirt had a skeletal hand with the middle finger sticking up on it. “Sorry, I didn’t see you there.” Joni grabbed her long wet hair, twisting it into a messy bun on top of her head while they waited for the elevator, not saying another word. She could feel three sets of eyes on her as she stood there, staring at nothing. Finally, when she was sure the elevator had to be broken, she took a step back, her intent to take the stairs, when one of the kids raised his hand.
“Was you in the Transformers movies?”
His question caught Joni off guard. “Um, what?”
The woman Joni assumed was the mother put her hand over his mouth. “Charlie, of course she’s not Megan Fox.” Her sneer was enough to let Joni know she found her lacking in many areas.
“Your grandma’s right, I’m not her, but thank you for the compliment, Charlie,” Joni responded. Her little dig hitting home as the elevator doors slid open on a silent swish.
While the woman ushered her kids inside, Joni followed, keeping her smile from showing on her face.
“I’m their mother, not their...their grandmother, I’ll have you know. Of course, children tend to have issues with telling ages.”
Again, Joni could hear the sneer, but didn’t let it go. “Oh, I wouldn’t know. I’m twenty-five and tend to not judge a person by their age, but by how they act, especially toward others.” She shrugged, making her leather backpack almost slip off her shoulder as she did so.