Furred Lines: A Fated Mate Romance

by Jade, Amelia

  “My family was killed by a rogue werewolf,” she said at last. “Stephen was hunting him, trying to bring him down before he did any more damage. They lived out in the woods, preferring privacy to the city life. Anyway, as he tells me, he got there too late. The wolf had killed everyone but me. He managed to save me, and he felt guilty about what had happened, so he adopted me and raised me as his own daughter.” She pursed her lips, thoughtful for a second. “Yeah, that’s the story. I’ve worked at his company ever since he started it when I got back from college.”

  Aiden nodded. “I see. And you’re, what, mid-thirties did you say?”

  Willow gave him a look, and he just realized he’d asked a woman her age. Shit. But he needed to know. “On the dot, actually.”

  He nodded, trying to play it off, not wanting her to know the thoughts racing through his head. Thirty-five years ago. He would have been twelve. The age difference mattered exactly not at all to him. That’s not what he was thinking about.

  Rogue or wild Weres were an extremely rare occurrence. To the point that they were all documented and reported. He could think of exactly twice that it had happened during his lifetime. Neither one of which had occurred thirty-five years ago.

  What other lies is her adopted “father” telling her? “Government agents.” “Rogue Weres?” Right.

  ***

  Once back at the pack house, Aiden returned to dutifully pretending not to have any interest in Willow whatsoever.

  That was what Stephen expected from him, and that was what he was going to keep up the illusion of. He’d finally managed to get her cell number during the last bit of the drive back though, and now was free to talk to her as often as he wished, without Stephen interfering.

  In fact, they’d just finished making plans to both head out of the pack house that evening and “accidentally” end up at the same spot. He couldn’t wait. Neither of them had been willing to classify it as a date, but Aiden knew a date when he saw one. The two of them were going to be alone and unchaperoned—the horror!—for the first time. His excitement was threatening to bubble over the top, and he was forced to counter it with an extra dose of dour frowning anytime anyone was around.

  “Aiden.”

  He froze as Stephen called his name, appearing from around the corner of the hallway that led to his office.

  “Yes?”

  “Good job with the pickup today. Not everyone can handle the fact that we do clandestine government work.”

  “Ah, thanks.”

  I’m pretty sure I just committed a crime, or helped aid criminals. Either way, Mack would likely be pissed about whatever it is you’re up to. Now my hands are dirty too though, and you know it.

  That was probably the plan all along. Get him doing stuff that could incriminate him, so that if they went down, it would look bad enough that he’d be taken down with them. Whether Aiden knew what he’d been doing or not, it wouldn’t matter. He was an exile, and Mack wasn’t going to give him another chance. He had to bust this whole thing wide open, and soon.

  “There’s a party going on tonight, outside of town.”

  “Oh yeah?” He tried to feign interest, wondering how he was going to get out of this one.

  “Yeah, boys-only sort of thing.” Stephen smiled, making it clear that there wouldn’t just be boys there.

  Aiden had an idea what it was he was referring to.

  “Bonfire?” he asked, trying to sound hopeful.

  “Yeah, definitely. Everything is on the house. We’re leaving around seven.” It wasn’t an invitation. It was a command.

  Aiden was expected to be there.

  “Do you have these parties often?” he asked casually, trying to sound eager.

  Stephen shook his head. “No, we haven’t had one in a while. But the pack is too worked up. We’ve been doing a lot lately, and it’s time the boys let loose and relaxed. Work off some steam.”

  “I understand completely.”

  And he did. Stephen wasn’t talking about a brush party. He was talking about a Frenzy. An organized orgy, essentially. From the sounds of it, complete with drugs and human women. Aiden wanted to hiss in anger at the idea that Stephen was putting one together. The women were rarely there out of a desire to be, and judging by the way his pack acted, he doubted that all of them would be returning home.

  “Seven sharp,” Stephen said.

  “I’ll be ready.” He smiled and let a low chuckle echo between them.

  His Alpha smiled and disappeared back to his hallway.

  Shit.

  “Willow is not going to be happy.” He spoke the words under his breath.

  “No, she isn’t.”

  He spun to find her standing behind him.

  “How long have you been there?” he asked, swallowing nervously.

  “Long enough to hear all about how much fun you’re going to have tonight at the party .” She practically spat the word at him.

  So much for her not knowing what was involved at the Frenzy.

  “Look, Willow, I—”

  But she was gone, disappearing up the stairs to the second floor. Moments later a door slammed.

  “Son of a bitch.”

  What the fuck was he supposed to do now? He couldn’t not go to the party. But he wasn’t going to sleep with anyone while there. And he had to ensure that the women all made it home safely. On top of all that, he was somehow supposed to prove to Willow that it wasn’t his idea to go, that he’d simply been pretending so his Alpha didn’t suspect him of anything!

  What a clusterfuck.

  He headed for his room, his brain already switching into high gear. He had plans to make. Right now, as much as he hated it, he had to put Willow’s thoughts toward him as a secondary priority.

  Spoiling Stephen’s party and yet somehow managing to ingratiate himself further into the pack at the same time was top priority. The first part was easy. It was the second that took him some time to work through. In the end though, he knew he could make it happen. Aiden started contacting a few friends he had outside of Mack’s pack. In addition to the party, he had some questions about Willow’s family, and the supposed rogue Were.

  It was time he started getting some answers.

  Nine

  Aiden

  The party was in full swing.

  Three separate bonfires formed a triangle in front of the barn, but by now they were mostly devoid of figures. Everyone had moved inside, where sheets and sleeping bags were sprawled out everywhere. Many of them were occupied by various forms. Some sitting up and talking, but most were covered in darkness that humped and moved against themselves. Noises from a multitude of female throats rose into the high ceiling, where they were joined by a few more from the loft of the barn itself.

  Aiden was disgusted by what he saw. There were only seven other shifters in Stephen’s pack. All of them were with two, three, or in Langdon’s case, he’d been seen going off with four women attached to him. In other places, women doped to the gills on some concoction of drugs were simply going at it with each other, so horny that they wanted the first warm body they could find.

  The air reeked of pheromones, sex, and sweat. So far he’d managed to avoid much more than having a woman or two sit in his lap. He wasn’t proud of himself, but every time one woman would plop down, he’d find another to occupy his other leg. The women were obviously brought in because they were willing to fuck anything that moved. It didn’t take him much effort to get them interested in each other, thinking they were doing that to turn him on.

  Once they got good and aroused though, he could put them onto the ground somewhere and let them enjoy each other’s company. Part of him enjoyed the view, watching two women strip each other down and then start pleasing one another. There was a primal nature to that even he couldn’t ignore.

  But he didn’t want to join in. Not just because the women were high on who knew what, or rather obviously wannabe porn starlets. No, the bigger answer was that he ended up c
omparing each one of them to Willow and her curvy figure, honey-blonde hair, and vivid green eyes.

  And every single woman came up lacking in a big way.

  At first the other packmates had given him some looks when he didn’t just randomly grope and fondle the women who threw themselves at him. But as the night wore on they forgot, becoming more absorbed in their own rutting than they were in him. Things got easier at that point, but now he was starting to get anxious.

  Stephen was walking toward him, a gleam in his eye.

  “What’s wrong?” his Alpha asked, obviously hoping to corner him into admitting something.

  “Just thinking back to my days as an RRT member.”

  The Regional Response Teams were composed of highly trained Weres who helped the Alpha and local councils enforce the laws of the Were world. Mostly werewolves, but with the odd bear or mountain lion worked in for good measure, they were a force to be reckoned with.

  “Why does that have you worried?”

  “Because if I were a team leader who had heard of this Frenzy, I’d wait until most of the Weres were good and bedded before I stormed the place.”

  Stephen looked around. “Like now.”

  He nodded. “Like—”

  The front door of the barn burst open as a pack of snarling wolves came racing through.

  “SHIT!” Stephen shouted, picking up a nearby stack of hay and tossing it through the air.

  The wolf it was aimed at didn’t see it coming and they went flying, colliding with another wolf, a smaller gray-tufted beast.

  All around the barn figures were waking up as the RRT deployed. Aiden had already moved to the side into the shadows, preparing to make good his escape, when the cry that he’d been waiting for struck up.

  “Out the back!”

  Aiden stepped forward, swatting another wolf aside that wasn’t looking in his direction. He hit it hard enough to hurt, but he’d had enough surprise on his side he could have snapped its neck. That wasn’t his mission though.

  “BELAY THAT!” he bellowed, his voice clear and oozing command. “OUT THE FRONT. FIGHT THROUGH THEM!”

  Stephen looked over at him from where he’d just hopped back down from the loft.

  “Trust me!” Aiden shouted and pointed at the front doors. Then he leapt toward Stephen. The Alpha’s eyes went wide as he assumed Aiden was coming at him.

  But Aiden kept going, pushing past Stephen and tackling the wolf that was coming at his rear. He fell on it heavily, using his knee to crack some ribs before driving his elbow hard into its head. The wolf lay there stunned while Aiden got to his feet, picked it up, and hurled it at the back door, wincing as it hit a post and whirled away into the shadows.

  Stephen took one look at what had just happened and came to his decision. “Let’s go, boys!” he roared, and as one the now-awake pack shot toward the front door.

  As they went, Aiden allowed himself to flow into his wolf form, ignoring the stomach-wrenching shiver that always came just before he turned. Eight men had run toward the front doors, but now they were eight wolves, led by Aiden’s midnight-black beast and Stephen’s gray and black wolf, the duo running side by side.

  They shot through the opening, flashing past the bonfires while keeping their heads low to retain their night vision as best they could before disappearing into the growth that surrounded the barn. They ran along by scent and sound more than sight until they reached the edge of the field, at which point they regrouped and fled across the meadow and into the forest.

  The pack ran for hours, until they were positive that any pursuit had given up. Then they ran upstream in a small river for half an hour to obscure their scent before finally heading home. Another hour later they were finally back home at the pack house. Stephen ordered them all back into human form and they started washing themselves off in the wading pool out back.

  Meanwhile Patrice went and got them all towels so that they could dry off. The cool evening air didn’t penetrate their skin enough to be a real bother, but it wasn’t exactly comfortable either. Their breath was visible each time they exhaled, which was often as they fought to recover from the run.

  All around him the pack were high-fiving and exchanging stories of their harrowing escape. He smiled as several of them even included him in their moments, too caught up in the adrenaline to remember they were supposed to hate him.

  “How did you know?”

  He turned to see Flint staring at him suspiciously. “Know what?”

  “That they were coming.”

  Aiden shrugged. “I didn’t. But I was on a team for a decade. I know procedure.”

  “Did you know that?” Flint asked, turning to Stephen.

  “Yes, I was more than aware of that fact,” the Alpha said, glaring at his Second, obviously not appreciating the way Flint was acting. “I’m aware that he was kicked off the team, and then kicked out of Mack’s group. But his knowledge came in handy back there.” He looked at Aiden. “How did you know going out the front door was the option?”

  “It’s one of their tactics. I’m not sure if any of you noticed, but only eight of them came in the front. Which meant another four were waiting out back for you. If we’d gone that way, none of us would have escaped. At least, certainly not as a coherent group. They could then track us down individually.”

  Stephen seemed satisfied, and then waved for them all to head inside.

  Aiden allowed himself to be swept up into the moment again, despite the turmoil he was feeling inside. Even as shoulder-slaps, fist-bumps, and congratulatory remarks rained down on him, he was feeling sick to his stomach.

  I just assaulted several members of a Regional Response Team. Who have now seen me participating in an illegal Frenzy. I’m so dead. No matter what, I’m screwed unless I can find out just what Stephen is up to.

  He decided to use his goodwill from that night as best he could to ingratiate himself with the rest of the pack. A genuine smile spread across his face. Perhaps tonight had been good for something after all. He could use this to his advantage, to bring down Flint, Stephen, and the entire damn pack.

  Ten

  Willow

  The noise when the pack returned was unmistakable.

  Not only that, but it was early, and she was still up. Nobody sounded upset or worried, but she hadn’t expected to see anyone until the next morning. Willow wasn’t an idiot; she knew what her father had organized out in the bush. Whores and illicit substances to try and get his men to relax and stop fighting each other.

  And Aiden had gone to take part.

  The double doors at the rear of the house parted, and the pack walked in, all smiles. In the middle of them, Aiden seemed the recipient of the praise. She watched, shocked as he accepted high-fives and praise with a big grin on his face. The group walked up to her and then stopped.

  “I guess you had all kinds of fun tonight, didn’t you,” she snapped, glaring at Aiden before leaving.

  It might not have been the wisest course of action to openly show that she had feelings for him right then and there in front of everyone, but she just didn’t care. Besides, the others weren’t dumb. If they hadn’t already figured out that the two of them were involved, then they were dumber than she thought.

  Storming off, she first headed to her room, but then decided against that. Aiden would go right there to find her, to try and talk to her. She didn’t want that. Instead she took a left near the front doors and went down a hallway and into the library. As a child this had been one of her favorite rooms. The high bookshelves filled with all sorts of hardcover books, more than she could ever hope to read in a lifetime. As she’d grown older, her interest in reading had waned somewhat.

  Now though, she plopped herself down in a chair on the far side and contemplated why she’d stopped coming to the room.

  Because you realized you were already living in a fantasy world, filled with werewolves and other creatures that most people don’t know exist. After that, books became bori
ng to you, since you were living it.

  It was true. Especially after college, Willow had truly begun to retreat from the human world. Going away to school had been a hard experience for her. Surrounded by people that all seemed immature, and on top of that, were completely blinded to the real world all around them. People who would have laughed if she’d told them she grew up adopted by werewolves.

  There had been several occasions where she was drunk that Willow almost spilled the beans. With modern technology it would have been easy for her to get proof for the couple of people who had put up with her while she was at school. In the end though, her loyalty to her father had won out, and she hadn’t done anything.

  Upon receiving her diploma, she’d come home and gone straight to work at his company, where she didn’t have to worry about being ridiculed and called crazy for things she’d seen with her very own eyes. Home was her shelter. Her safe place.

  “This is cozy.”

  She sighed heavily at Aiden’s voice. Of course he would find her. He was a werewolf. Why had she felt that coming here would make things any more difficult for him than if she’d just gone to her room and locked the door? She couldn’t obscure her scent, which meant he’d find her anywhere. Willow was just going to have to suck it up and deal with the fallout now.

  “It was.” Her voice sounded frosty and harsh, even to her.

  “Until I got here, you mean.”

  “Mmm.”

  “I’m assuming this is about the party. I’m not aware of anything else that might have angered you, but please do correct me if I’m wrong.”

  Willow stayed silent.

  “It’s not like I wanted to go.”

  He was still standing at the doorway, having remained respectfully out of the room. This had the added effect of forcing him to speak to the back of her head. She turned to look at him now, pinning him in place with a glare.

  “It sure didn’t sound like that earlier,” she shot back. “I was there, Aiden. I heard you talking to my father about it.”

  The broad-shouldered werewolf sighed. “Willow, your father is my Alpha. If he tells me I’m going, then I’m going. I don’t really have much choice.”