by R. E. Butler
“Maybe.” His eyes were dancing with humor. “Come on. Let’s go home.”
She bit the corner of her bottom lip as she followed him from the office. They walked out the front door, and she handed over the keys to the rental. He drove it to his place, which was nestled in the woods but within walking distance of the bar.
The house was quaint; a single-story ranch with a big front porch and empty flower beds. She could picture filling the flower beds like she’d done for her mom, and even getting some window boxes to add some color to the brick front.
Rehlik popped the trunk and pulled her bags out. She grabbed her purse and backpack and followed him into the house.
“Are you hungry or thirsty?” he asked.
Hungry for kisses and more, yes.
Instead of saying what was on her perpetually horny brain, she said, “I’m good, thank you.”
He left her suitcase next to the couch and sat heavily, patting the cushion next to him.
“Let’s talk. And I mean really talk. I don’t have any expectations about how the night is going to go, but I don’t want you to think that I’m only after something physical to happen between us. I’m alpha, and it’s important to me that you understand what it means and why I’m not looking for a casual thing. We just met, you’re traumatized and freshly branded, and you need time to come to terms with your new reality. Just know that I’ll be by your side, and whenever you’re ready—when we’re both ready—we can move forward. But it doesn’t mean we’re not mates even though we haven’t marked and mated each other. If any males ask about you, my response is going to be that you’re mine, period.”
She knew she looked dumbfounded. She told her brain to shut her mouth, but it just hung open as she stared at the sexiest guy ever saying she was his. It brought up all kinds of emotions within her. She half wanted to cry at how sweet he was being and dance a jig at how grateful she was to be so instantly accepted and cared for. Had she ever really felt safe with the fox clan? She didn’t think so.
Rehlik rubbed the space between his eyes with his thumb. “I’m sorry if I sound like a caveman. I want you to know you’re leading things between us but my wolf is howling for me to make sure that we’re together.”
She smiled. “My fox is on board with that same train of thought too.”
“Good. So let’s talk. I want to know everything.”
“As long as it’s not a one-sided conversation. I want to know about you too.”
“You got it.”
Neither of them said anything for a long moment, then they both laughed and started talking at the same time.
After the laughter ebbed a second time, she sighed and smiled at him. “You go first. Tell me about the coup and why you made an inclusive town like Cider Falls.”
“Ah, fine, but then I want to know about you too.”
She nodded and turned on the couch to face him. He rested his arm on the back of the couch, and she put her head on it, her cheek against his warm flesh. “So I wasn’t alpha very long...”
Chapter Six
Rehlik had never really talked about his history. Trace knew the most about him because he was his second and needed to know, but the members of the pack didn’t know everything. They knew some things, though. But there were things he kept close to the vest, like how it cut him deep to be abandoned by his pack during the coup. And how much he hated the exile brand, even though he told everyone who had one that they shouldn’t be ashamed of it.
He’d just always hated it, because it was a constant reminder of how he’d had to start his life all over again and that his childhood home was forever closed to him.
But now that he’d shared his story with Weylyn and heard hers, he saw the brand in a new light. It might have meant he was excluded at one point in his life, but now it meant he was included—in the Cider Falls pack. If it weren’t for the brand, he’d never have met Weylyn. Even though they’d only known each other a few hours, he couldn’t imagine his life without her in it. The brand had made that happen.
Now he didn’t mind it so much.
“How many people in Cider Falls have been exiled?” she asked.
“A few dozen. We’ve got people like me who were exiled due to a power change, then Trace who’s a hybrid but was exiled because his hyena clan decided his warlock side was too powerful and that made him dangerous. Then there are the purebreds who fell in love with another shifter type and came here so they could be together. Of course there are the hybrids like you too.”
“What kinds are there? I’ve never met anyone who had more than one beast like I do.” Her pretty eyes crinkled at the corners.
“Let’s see, there’s Jair—he’s a blue tiger-wolf mix. Diem owns the bookstore, and she’s a wolf-lion mix. Trace is a warlock-hyena mix, Novak who works security is a gorilla-hound, and there are some humans and other supernaturals, plus some mixed children too. You don’t have to worry about what animals make up your shift because everyone has their own baggage and they’re here because they want to be safe and live freely. I’m sorry you came here under terrible circumstances and that you’ve lost your mom in the process, but I’m not sorry that you’re here with me.”
“I’m not sorry either.”
She leaned forward slowly, closing the gap between them. “Rehlik?” she whispered.
“Yeah, sweetness?”
“I...” Her voice dropped off and her cheeks pinked. He could pick up the subtle scent of her arousal and it made his body throb.
Cupping her face, he gave her a kiss and murmured, “Tell me what you want, Weylyn. I guarantee I want it too.”
“I don’t want us to mark each other tonight, but I want to be with you. I want to get to know you better before we mark each other.”
His wolf didn’t want to wait, but he was in full control of himself and would keep his fangs in his mouth where they belonged. He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Then that’s what we’ll do. We’re mates and the mark is symbolic anyway. No one will doubt what we are to each other.”
“Good,” she said. She leaned in a little closer and brushed her lips over his. He let her lead, her soft kisses slowly growing bolder. Her hands curled into his shirt and she moved to straddle him. He grasped her waist, his fingers slipping under her top to feel her soft, warm skin.
She moaned softly and cupped his head with both hands, deepening the kiss. Their tongues touched and danced, their bodies close and their hearts pounding.
And then his phone buzzed.
He ignored it, focusing on his mate.
It buzzed again.
And then again.
And then it rang.
He broke the kiss with a low snarl as he wrestled his phone from his front pocket and barked out, “What?”
“Sorry, Alpha,” Novak said. “We found some more traps. Gunner almost lost a foot. If his reflexes hadn’t been quicker...”
“Fucking A,” Rehlik said. “Gunner’s okay?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
“By the creek. We’ve found three traps so far.”
Rehlik dropped his head onto the back of the couch and tried to stifle the unhappy growl. “I’ll be there in ten.”
He ended the call and lifted his head.
“You gotta go?” Weylyn asked.
“Yeah. I’m fucking sorry.”
“Well, you’re alpha. That comes with a lot of responsibility.”
“It does. It’s also got terrible timing.”
She swung her leg over and sat next to him. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“Not even a little bit. I have no idea who’s setting the traps or how many there are. If you got hurt, I’d never forgive myself.”
He stood and adjusted his aching cock so it wasn’t pressed hard against his fly. He took her phone and entered his contact information into it, then sent a text to himself so he had her number. “Make yourself at home. I have no idea how long I’ll be, but I’ll do my best to hurry back. Y
ou can go to bed if you want. You’ve had a long day; I don’t want you to stay up if you’re tired.”
“I’d like to wait for you.”
She rose to her feet and all that sweet scent captivated him again. Had anyone ever smelled as good as her?
“I really am sorry.” He kissed her twice.
“Don’t apologize. Just be careful.”
“I will, sweetness. Call me if you need me. See you soon.” He fucking hoped.
He headed to the door with her and opened it, stepping out onto the front porch. “No one should be around here, but lock the door after I leave.”
“Okay.”
They said goodbye with another few kisses, and he pulled himself away before he got too caught up in her. She was addictive on a hundred levels, and he didn’t want to leave her side.
He waited until he heard the door lock behind him and then he took off at a run toward the creek.
He’d been pissed about the traps from the start, but now he was even angrier. Someone was ruining his time with his new mate, which just added fuel to the fire for him to figure it out. As he ran, he knew that he needed to learn who was behind the traps before someone got hurt. Now that he had Weylyn, and thoughts of starting a family were brewing in the back of his mind, he needed Cider Falls to be safe from corner to corner, and that meant putting this threat down.
Whoever they were, they’d just made a powerful enemy.
* * *
Rehlik met with Novak, Dillon, and Gunner at the creek. Three traps were on the ground. Two were new and one was old and rusted. They’d all been sprung.
Dillon, hands on his hips, said, “Two of the traps were buried under leaves and debris along the edge of the territory. The one that Gunner almost ran into was a hundred yards inside our territory, just to the side of a worn path.”
Rehlik knelt next to the traps and picked them up one by one, using his senses to detect any clues on who might have left them behind. Unfortunately, the traps didn’t smell like anything but metal, which told him that they’d been treated with some kind of scent to mask whoever was setting them. He was positive it was shifters, but whether it was purebreds trying to take them out or hybrids attempting to take over? He couldn’t guess. The uncertainty made his wolf crazy.
“What do you want to do?” Dillon asked, looking around the woods.
“Get all the available males out here ASAP, and we’ll do a grid search from one side of town to the other. It’ll take a while, but it needs to be done. We can’t risk anyone stumbling onto one of these damn traps.” They’d keep up with the patrols and get motion cameras installed along their territory as well, which should help them discover who was leaving the traps.
“Will do,” Dillon said.
Rehlik stepped away from the males who were making calls and pressed the button for Weylyn. When she answered on the first ring, he smiled at her eagerness.
“I’m sorry sweetness,” he said. “I’m going to be a few hours at least.”
He explained what happened and the plans for the night.
“I feel like you’re going to say no, but I’ll ask again: can I help?”
While he wanted her by his side, he didn’t want her to get hurt. “Thank you for offering, but it’s probably better if you sit this one out. I want to show you our town, but not at night when we’re looking for traps.”
“And if you’re worrying about me, you might get distracted.”
“Definitely.”
“Okay. Well, I’m willing if you change your mind.”
“You’re sweet. I wanted to say goodnight now since you’ll be asleep when I get home. Make yourself at home and call me if you need me.”
“I will. Good night, Rehlik.”
“Night.”
He ended the call and then let out a curse. He so fucking did not want to have to deal with this. He’d just met his mate. He wasn’t supposed to be traipsing through the woods looking for traps; he was supposed to be finding out what Weylyn sounded like when she fell apart.
“Heavy’s the head, right?” Novak asked.
“Unfortunately, yes.”
It took almost three hours to grid search the town from one side to the other. They didn’t find any other traps, but he still considered it a good use of time. At least he knew it was safe. For now anyway.
He met with Dillon when he was finished with his search. “I ordered motion cameras. They should be here in about a week. In the meantime, we’ll keep up the patrols.”
“Spread the word to the pack that no one goes into the woods alone until further notice and to keep their eyes peeled for anyone or anything out of the ordinary,” Rehlik said.
“You got it.”
He thanked every male who’d shown up as they finished their searches, and when the last one was done, he said goodnight to Dillon and headed for home. By the time he unlocked the front door, he was positively exhausted and couldn’t wait to cuddle up next to Weylyn.
He shut and locked the front door, toed off his boots, and walked into the family room stifling a yawn.
Weylyn was asleep on the couch, curled up with her head on the back pillow. He smiled, thinking she must’ve tried to stay up for him.
He picked her up gently, and she made a soft, sleepy sound.
“Hey, it’s just me,” he murmured.
“Hey.” Her voice was low, and he thought she was probably still asleep.
“Let’s get to bed.”
She hummed and rested her face in his neck. He pulled the covers back on his bed and laid her down, then joined her, the two of them still clothed. She turned into him and snuggled close, a small smile curling the corner of her lips as she slept.
He put his arm over her waist and rested his head on the pillow, closing his eyes and yawning again. The night hadn’t gone how he wanted it to, but he’d ended up with her in his arms in bed and that’s what he’d really looked forward to.
He finally had a mate, and she was in his bed. She was beautiful and sweet, and so sexy she made him think naked thoughts constantly. He couldn’t wait to get to know her better and to see where the day would take them.
“Night sweetness,” he said, kissing her forehead. “I’m so fucking glad you’re mine.”
Chapter Seven
Weylyn woke in the morning in bed with Rehlik’s arms around her. She didn’t remember going to bed. The last thing she remembered was trying to stay awake until he got back because she wanted to make sure he was okay. Clearly her sweet mate had carried her to bed when he’d arrived home.
Mate.
She’d never thought much about the word before, because none of the purebred foxes had considered her mate material. She realized she’d been planning to leave the clan at some point anyway, because chances were good that she’d end up with a human for a mate, and that would’ve gone over like a lead balloon with the alpha. It was one thing for her to be there as a hybrid, but it was an entirely different thing for her to mate someone outside of their kind.
The years of standing on the outside had left her feeling cold toward leadership in general. She’d never had an alpha care about her the way that Rehlik did. Maybe he cared a lot because they were mates, but she suspected he cared about everyone in the pack because he’d been alone at one point and knew what it was like.
Rehlik rolled to his back and stretched. “Morning.”
“Morning,” she said. She went up onto her elbow and said, “What time did you get in last night?”
“After two.”
“Everything go okay?”
“Yep. Well, I mean we did a grid search of the entire town and didn’t find any other traps, which is good. It took forever, but it was necessary. We’ve got a celebration next week for the town’s five-year anniversary and I don’t want to risk anyone getting hurt. We usually do a scavenger hunt in the woods, so I’ll probably cancel that.”
“The celebration sounds fun. I’m glad I made it in time.”
“Me too.”
>
He sat up and rolled his neck. “I thought we could take a walking tour of town and make our way to the gas station for breakfast.”
“Gas station?”
“It’s run by the James family. Gunnar and Archer are the mechanics and run that side of the business, and their mom Patrice runs a small deli inside, with the best breakfast sandwiches.”
“Sounds perfect.”
“They’re all purebreds lions,” he said. He climbed from the bed and she followed suit.
“Were they exiled?”
“Gunner and Archer were. They were supposed to enter into arranged matings, but they wanted to share a female and that was frowned upon. Patrice chose exile and joined them. She was afraid they’d be all alone and end up in the alliance prison. They planned to start a pride for themselves, but they came through town and liked it and decided to settle with us.”
“That’s cool. I wish my mom would’ve left with me.”
“Why didn’t she?”
“She was told by the alpha that she had to stay behind because she’s a purebred. She still could’ve left if she’d really wanted to. But I think she wanted to have an arranged mating set up by the alpha and while I was still around that wasn’t going to happen.” Weylyn opened her suitcase and pulled out clean clothes. She had been thinking a lot about her mom and realized she’d been putting her own life on hold to be there for Weylyn. A purebred male wouldn’t have wanted to be in the same house with a hybrid. “I understand why she didn’t leave with me; I just wish things could’ve been different.”
It hurt, actually. Sharply. She knew her mom would carve out some happiness for herself eventually, and that she was too scared to be out on her own, even with Weylyn. She didn’t fault her mom for staying behind, but she decided right then that she’d never let any children of hers go anywhere alone in exile. It was too heavy of a burden for anyone to bear alone.
“Maybe someday the purebreds as a whole will realize that being a hybrid or loving someone who isn’t exactly like them isn’t a detriment,” Rehlik said. “I mean, look at Trace. He’s a hyena-warlock hybrid. He’s powerful as hell in both his shift and with magic, but his hyena clan tried to kill him when he was twelve and his powers started to manifest. Why wouldn’t they have seen how good of a protector he would be for their people because of his magical abilities?” Rehlik shook his head. “I’ve tried to reason with purebreds over the years and while a lot of them are live and let live—so long as it’s not in their group—there are those who hold to the old ways and think only purebreds should be alive.”