Hunting a Mate

by Celia Kyle, Mina Carter

  “Yo, you listening to me?”

  Paige shook her head—again—and tore herself from baby bump imaginings. “What? Sorry. You said something.”

  Chloe dropped her head back and stared at the ceiling. “I love you, but why are you here?”

  “Oh. That.” Right. She needed to stay on task. Focus. Paige huffed. “I found my mate.”

  “Yay!” Chloe’s smile was blinding.

  “And then I had an incident.” That’s what her family called them. Incidents.

  “Oh.”

  “I ran.”

  “Honey,” Chloe murmured.

  Paige wasn’t sniffling. She wasn’t. “And then I almost got hit by a car.”

  “Paige,” her best friend padded closer.

  “He’s really hot. And sexy. And, and, and…” Paige held out her arms. “And look at me.” She pointed at her still half-shifted face. “I mean, really look at me. Who wants to be mated to this? So I ran and kept running until I knew he was gone and then I snuck back to my car and came here.”

  “You should have talked to him.” Her friend leaned forward, the baby bump keeping them separated, and hugged her tightly. “If he’s your mate, you know he’s probably frantic trying to find you. Is he a shifter?”

  Paige nodded. “A cougar, I think.” She stiffened. “Oh, God, you can’t tell Holt. I bet he has all kinds of cougar friends and I don’t wanna—”

  “Can’t tell Holt what?” Holt’s deep baritone reached her a split second before the man himself strode around the corner. The man was mated to her best friend, but she had to admit he was one hunk of werecougar. All those muscles and those eyes and that smirk.

  And pop there was another whisker. Paige groaned and squeezed her eyes shut. If she didn’t look at him, he didn’t exist. “Nothing.”

  “Chloe?”

  “Your mate shouldn’t speak. Ever. And he really needs to put a shirt on.”

  “You have a mate,” Chloe chastised.

  “Doesn’t mean I’m blind.”

  Laughing, her friend released her and turned to her mate. “Baby, put some clothes on before we end up with a ferret in the entryway.”

  Then it was Holt’s turn to chuckle and she glared at him. Which was hard to do with closed eyes, but she gave it her best shot and ignored his snort.

  “Sure, but Paige’s mother is blowing up your cell phone.” Holt’s heavy tread told her the male approached. That was followed by a little moan that could only come from the two sharing a kiss. And… there was another whisker. “I’ll leave you two alone.”

  Just then Chloe’s phone rang for what could have been the hundredth time. “You can open your eyes. He’s gone and it’s your mother, again.”

  Great. When she was a teen, it sounded like a great idea to put a tracking device inside her car. They’d cut a small hole in the bottom of her car, plopped on a ferret-sized door only she could open and to top it off, installed a sensor. It’d tell her family if she had an incident and then one of them would check in to make sure she didn’t need anything.

  It was great. In theory. Ideally she’d expected one of her sisters to check in. Instead, it was always—always—her mother.

  “Fine. Hand it over,” she grumbled and took the phone from Chloe. She swiped her thumb across the screen and brought it to her ear. “I’m fine, Mom.”

  “Hmm… You can’t be that fine if you had an incident.”

  Thank you, Captain Obvious. “It was just a scare. You know I’m with Chloe—”

  “Her.”

  Three letters that her mom turned into a slur. Her speciest mother didn’t care for Paige’s human BFF even if Chloe was now mated to a werecougar and pregnant with his cubs.

  “Yes, Mom. Chloe. You called her cell phone, remember? It’s obvious I’m with her. And I’m fine. I was just—”

  “You know why this is happening.” The woman would not let her speak.

  “I…” Met my mate and freaked out. “I…”

  Chloe snared her arm and led her deeper into the house. Hopefully to the kitchen where copious amounts of ice cream could be consumed.

  “It’s almost that time. I spoke with Lucas. He agreed to—”

  Paige groaned. “Mom, I doubt that has anything to do with—”

  “—reserve a hotel room at the Worthington. A suite. Isn’t it kind of him to—”

  Paige ignored her mother’s words. “—why I had an incident.” She knew why she’d spontaneously shifted. It began and ended with a muscular male with golden eyes.

  “I disagree. Should I tell Lucas to pick you up at seven on Friday? You should be fine by Monday morning.”

  She slumped into one of the kitchen chairs and a pint of berry ice cream appeared before her. She didn’t care that it was only ten in the morning, and she hadn’t eaten breakfast.

  “Mom, I really think it’s time we discussed alternate arrangements.”

  “No. Lucas’ family has been—”

  “Seriously, Mom. Do you hear yourself?”

  “—helping you for years,” her mother finished.

  “And…” And I have a mate. As soon as I get over this pity party, I’ll find him and he’ll sate my annual heat and desperate need to mate. “And Lucas won’t this year.”

  She had to admit the sex with Lucas was fantastic. He made her feel beautiful and desirable, but he was with her out of obligation, not actual attraction. Sure, he could get it up and get the job done, but… Knowing her mate was in town, she didn’t want anyone else. Ever.

  “I don’t see why you’re being difficult.”

  Of course she didn’t, and Paige wasn’t about to tell her. Not until she had a mate in hand. “It’s my body, Mother. My choice. Lucas won’t be assisting me this year.”

  “Paige Baxter, I can’t believe you’re going to disappoint that poor boy this way.” Her tone was condescending and held more than a bit of censure.

  Enough was enough. She’d been building up to this for years and now she was done. “Mom, I am not having sex with a man just because he’ll be disappointed. You’ve acted like my pimp since I was eighteen. I’m done now. I don’t need you to organize my annual fucking. I’ll call and apologize for closing up shop, but from this day forward, it’s my mate or nobody.”

  And before she lost her nerve, she tore the phone from her ear and ended the call.

  Silence reigned for one beat, and then two, and then she raised her gaze to meet Chloe’s. The woman squirmed in her seat and bit her lip as if she ached to speak.

  “Go ahead.”

  “I’m so proud of you!” Chloe launched herself at Paige and she caught her friend, returning the choking hug.

  A heavy, pounding knock came from the front of the house, but Chloe remained glued to her as she shouted to her mate, “Holt, can you answer that! We’re busy!”

  And by busy, she meant hopping. Chloe hauled Paige to her feet and—still hugging—hopped in circles.

  “Let’s just hope my decision doesn’t kill me, huh?”

  If she didn’t sate her heat, she could die and that would… suck.

  * * *

  Archer’s brother Holt was taking too damned long to answer the door. He’d struck out with Mari and Maddox Roe, the sister and brother duo refusing to tell him where to find his mate. All he knew was her first name was Paige and she was a ferret. So he called the ferret alpha for help and he’d been cock-blocked by an old guy with fluffy, white eyebrows.

  Fine, the fucker didn’t think Archer was intimidating enough? He’d haul his large ass, cranky and mean as fuck, brother over there. Because someone—the ferret alpha or the M&M Mating Agency—was gonna tell him where to find Paige.

  Archer pounded on his brother’s front door again, shaking the wood panel in its frame.

  “HOLT! Stop fucking fucking in there! She’s already pregnant,” he bellowed. Huh. Two fuckings in one sentence. Now he knew he was pissed. “Brother with a ferret problem here!”

  Lifting his hand, he pre
pared to hammer on the door again. If that didn’t work, he’d knock on windows, starting with Holt and Chloe’s bedroom. The male had a mate and a family—everything Archer needed. He could spare a little time to help his brother.

  Or else Archer would call in reinforcements.

  Their mother.

  Before he could bring his knuckles down on the wood, the door yanked open to be replaced by an angry-looking Holt.

  “Break my door, pipsqueak, and I’ll break your face,” he snarled, then looked Archer up and down. “What’s got your panties in such a bunch?”

  “Mating agency. Found my mate but she ran!” Archer spilled out in one breath. “And I rang her alpha and the fucker cock-blocked me. Can you come terrify a ferret for me? You just gotta look at him. I doubt you’ll even have to speak.”

  Holt did the slow blink thing that meant something Archer said had surprised him. “Terrify a ferret? What…another one?”

  “Yeah… huh? What do you mean ‘another one’?”

  Taking a step forward, Archer tried to jostle Holt out of the way to get a look-see. With a regular guy or even a normal shifter, he’d have managed it—he wasn’t a small man himself—but Holt was a fucking freak of nature. Like trying to move a cliff. A delicate scent found its way to his nostrils and his eyes snapped open.

  “You terrified a female ferret?” Archer demanded, backing up to look his brother in the eyes. He didn’t need Holt’s answer, the scent was enough—her scent was enough. Frightened. Female. His.

  Archer roared with rage and swung for his brother, landing a heavy blow that knocked him back into the hallway. “You asshole! Where is she?”

  Not waiting for his brother to get up (no sane person would wait for Holt to get to his feet after decking him like that), Archer rushed down the corridor. The scent was easy to follow, especially with his cat roaring encouragement from within. They’d found their mate. Here! And they didn’t have to rip off the head any asswipe ferrety alpha. Fuck, yeah.

  Female giggles reached his ears and he zeroed in, sliding around the corner and barreling into the lounge only to stop dead. There, her arms wrapped around Chloe in a bear hug was Paige. His mate. She was even more beautiful than he remembered from his brief glimpse of her earlier.

  “Yay! Finally, you found your mate. This is awesome. Tell me all about him. What’s his name? What does he look like?”

  “You know what I look like,” Archer interrupted. The women jumped apart with a squeak. Then, boom, there was a charge in the air that accompanied a partial shift. Paige wailed and covered her face with her hands, hiding those beautiful eyes from view.

  “Noooo… Don’t let him see me!” Her cry filled the room.

  Whatever Archer had expected when he caught up with his mate, this was not it.

  He’d been thinking about her running into his arms and trailing hot kisses over her skin and eventual nakedness.

  Frozen in place, he looked on helplessly while Chloe glared at him. “Archer, I love you like a brother, but if you don’t get out of here this instant, I will end you.”

  She put a comforting arm around Paige’s shoulders, somehow managing to look intimidating in spite of her huge baby bump. How she managed it, he had no idea, but having been raised by a cougar (and not the hot kind) for a mother, he knew that look. Listen or die. Those were his choices. And human or not, Chloe looked scary as hell right then.

  He cleared his throat. “S-she’s my m—”

  “Mate!” Paige wailed and peeked at him through her fingers. Two whiskers escaped at the same time and she clamped her eyes shut again. “Go away. You can’t see me like this.”

  “Hey…it’s cool,” he murmured, keeping his voice low as he made frantic eye gestures to Chloe to get the hell out of his business. “Whiskers are cute. I like whiskers on a woman.”

  Fuck, that sounded wrong, but he didn’t care. He had to get her to calm down before the shift took over entirely.

  “I like whiskers on my woman,” he whispered and reached out to pull her into his arms and away from Chloe. She was his mate. If there was soothing and calming to be done, he’d do it. Unless… She squeaked again and suddenly his arms were filled with a small, furry, pale wriggly body. Her clothes fluttered to the ground and he quickly scooped her into his hands to keep her from falling to the ground.

  Shit.

  “Okay. Hey, shhh. It’s all right,” he crooned, holding her gently as she struggled to escape. He’d never held a ferret before but he was a shifter. There were some things a body just knew. She stopped fighting and looked up at him, those big black eyes seeming to look into his soul. Damn, that was a heavy thought right there. She dived into the crook of his arms, shivering and hiding her delicate face. Gently, he stroked a hand down her back and looked up as Holt entered the room, holding his jaw.

  “We’ll just be leaving then.”

  Chapter Three

  Paige wasn’t sure whether Archer was naturally a talker or if he couldn’t shut up because of nerves. She wanted to think it was because he was nervous around her. That being in the presence of his mate made him twitchy and uneasy.

  During the drive from Chloe’s to her own apartment, she’d practically heard her mate’s life story. Oldest son. New partner in his brother’s construction company: Catson Construction. Even though she’d known about the name of Holt’s company for over a month, it still made her whiskers twitch when she thought about it.

  Catson. And Holt was a cougar.

  Yeah, Paige had fun laughing over stupid things like that. When Archer chuckled at the name as well, she figured maybe things weren’t totally screwed up. Then she scratched her nose with her paw and realized they were lingering just shy of totally on the screwed up scale. Dammit.

  By the time they pulled into the parking lot of her apartment building, she also knew his favorite color was whatever she was wearing—or wasn’t wearing if he managed to talk her out of her dress.

  It should have sounded creepy. It didn’t. It made her little ferret heart flutter in anticipation. It felt as if it’d beat out of her chest when he’d flushed red right after he finished the statement.

  He was drop-dead gorgeous and… sweet. How many cougars would take a look at their cowering, ferret mate and be so gentle, so caring? Not many. Before today, she would have said none. But Archer… just cuddled her close. He’d even looked hesitant to release her when they got to her car. But he had. He’d placed her gently on the front seat and then climbed behind the wheel to take her home.

  Her home for how long? Where did he live? Did he want to move in? Or would she go live with him?

  So many questions and absolutely zero answers. Mainly because she was still furry. She’d have to wrangle the furball under control and fix that when she got upstairs. He’d found her, he looked like he wanted to keep her, so she’d have to figure out how to have a relationship without spontaneously shifting every five minutes.

  Maybe she could push it to ten…

  He turned off her car and then looked at her, eyebrow raised. That was so sexy.

  “You wanna shift out here or…” His other eyebrow joined the first. Not quite as hot.

  Paige remained in place and tilted her head to the side in the universal shifter sign of you’re kidding, right?

  Archer chuckled. “Okay then, Paige. Am I carrying you?”

  He held out one arm toward her, large hand cupped as if waiting for her. Hell yeah, he was carrying her. She used his palm as a starting point and raced up his arm, crawling higher until she sat atop his shoulders, curled around his neck. She nuzzled him, rubbing her scent on his skin as she wiggled closer.

  He did the same to her, turning his head slightly so his cheek scraped hers. “Hey there,” he murmured.

  Well, he was back to being sexy again.

  Paige clung to him as he slowly climbed from her car and straightened, focusing on holding on rather than their surroundings. He was a big man with a fluid stride, but her nails were teeny tiny
. One wrong move and… splat. She’d fall to the ground in a small heap of fur.

  Obviously, she was familiar with splat.

  Back to not paying attention. She distantly recognized him locking her car and listening to her vehicle chirp in response. She even noted the elevator ding when it arrived and then again when it deposited her on the twelfth floor.

  She did not take notice of the two bodies standing outside her apartment door. Until it was too late.

  “Who are you?”

  “What are you doing with Paige?”

  The two voices overlaid the other, one feminine and one masculine, and they were too familiar for her liking.

  Her mother. And Lucas.

  God. Hated. Her.

  Archer stiffened but didn’t slow his approach, and he breathed deeply as he neared them. Her house keys in his hand jingled with his every step and both Lucas and her mom jumped out of the way when he reached for the lock. “Archer Moore. Paige’s mate.”

  The words were said without feeling, a bland recitation for her mother, but she sensed the undercurrent that lingered beneath the surface.

  Archer Moore. Paige’s mate. What the fuck you got to say about it?

  Yeah, he was way too sexy for her liking. If he didn’t pull back on the hotness, she’d never shift back to two legs.

  “I don’t think so,” her mother sputtered and then made mistake number one—she reached for Paige.

  Paige had already loosened her grip, knowing her mom was gonna get grabby. It was her first reaction when she had an incident. Grab her and hide the family’s little secret from view. Then they’d negotiate with witnesses so Paige’s behavior wasn’t spread far and wide.

  Archer sidestepped her mom’s reach, placing his shoulder nearer to the door and angling Paige away from her mother. As if her mom was a threat. Ha!

  “Who do you think you are?” Mom reached for her again. “Give me my child.”

  That was mistake number two. Well, it was a combination of her mom’s mistake and then some on Paige’s half because when Archer moved and Mom reached for him she almost lost her balance and…