Royal Mate

by Juniper Hart

  She wasn’t going to shoot the woman in cold blood. The woman seemed mildly amused at Cara’s threats, but she wasn’t about to actually commit a violent act. Cara wouldn’t feel right putting a round in her. And maybe she was an ally that just came across poorly.

  The assassin reached for the door.

  “Stop it! Stop it! I’ll shoot you!”

  The assassin’s eyes went up in amusement. “Oh?”

  She moved her hand away before putting it closer again. Farther away. Closer. Farther. Closer.

  “Shoot me, human. I dare you.”

  “Quit it,” Cara snapped.

  Her shoes were starting to soak in the blood from the murdered individuals lying on the floor. She was probably about to go into shock; actually, she was amazed she hadn’t already passed out.

  “You can’t let him out.”

  “You think you can tell me what to do?”

  “Please, just leave,” Cara said, sounding defeated.

  The vixen grinned. She had Cara and she knew it. She reached for the door again with a twisted little smirk on her rather attractive face.

  That’s when Cara shot her.

  She didn’t mean to. She was trying to just fire a warning shot, but at the last second, the girl moved and Cara’s finger twitched a little too much and the assassin caught a bullet in the thigh. She dropped to the ground, dropping her whip in the process.

  “Seriously? You shot me?”

  “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to!”

  She clutched her thigh. It looked like the bullet had gone straight through and out the other side.

  “Ow!” said the vixen as she straightened her leg, putting some weight on it. “You shot me!”

  She gave Cara a funny look. Cara couldn’t quite distinguish between if she was impressed or furious or a mixture of both. But she never got to figure it out because the assassin reared back the whip and swung it at her. The whip didn’t look like it could do much damage, but Cara quickly discovered that it packed more of a punch that one would imagine. It swung straight over Cara’s head and hit the wall of the hotel. It cleaved straight through it, bringing down a great portion of the wall. Cara screamed, and wondered why she’d ever left her apartment the day she’d met Reuben. She popped off a couple more shots.

  The gun had some real power. Reuben had said it was a nine-millimeter, which directly translated to man stuff that she wasn’t interested in. The fourth shot sent the gun flying out of her hands, leaving her essentially defenseless against an enraged superhuman.

  She scampered backwards, dodging another strike of the whip. It completely ignored the rules of physics and moved like another part of the assassin’s body.

  Cara was going to be murdered by a prehensile whip.

  But, as it turned out, the rest of the wall keeping Reuben inside the room collapsed from the damage. A fast-moving black shape shot from the hotel room and tackled the assassin.

  What transpired was one of the most amazing things Cara had ever seen: an enchanted whip-killer and a werewolf. More specifically, a very angry werewolf. She was never sure what part of Reuben’s personality stayed when he was in werewolf form, but he remembered her name and incessantly asked her to open the door so there must be a part of him that lingered.

  The fight was brief, but ferocious. The woman kept getting solid hits on Reuben with the whip, flashing off his fur in chunks. He reached for her with his clawed hands, but she lopped his finger off with a quick thrust of the whip.

  “Reuben!” Cara screamed.

  She didn’t know what to do, but she was sure her screams were not helping anything.

  Reuben stared at his hand and missing fingers in disbelief. Howling at the vixen, he made his next move and grabbed her entire chest with his massive clawed hand. To counter his attack, the vixen reared back the whip, but Reuben was too fast. He flung her, sending her flying through the wall, over the bed, and smashing through the window on the other side of Reuben’s hotel room. She landed on a car outside, setting off the alarm.

  Leaving Cara alone with Reuben.

  He panted heavily once, twice. His huge, shaggy form was even more disturbing in person. One of the first things she’d done upon meeting him was take out her phone to see if there were any real pictures of werewolves on the Internet. Turns out, there were a couple. Most were costumes or illustrations of what people thought werewolves looked like, but there were a few gems that Reuben himself had identified as either real or an incredibly good rendition of the real thing.

  Apparently, you could tell from the skull. It didn’t look like a dog’s; werewolves’ heads tended to be very triangular with jagged, crocodile-like teeth that stuck out of their mouths at random directions. That way, when they bit something, flesh was coming with them.

  Cara retreated, tripping over the couple before trying to make her way back into her room. Fumbling with the door, Cara tried to shut it to offer some sort of protection, but Reuben got there first. His huge form could barely fit between the doorframe. She didn’t move. He’d told her one time that much of his vision while he was a werewolf was based off movement. When he’d been human, he’d been careful to warn her that if she ever ran into him when he was in his werewolf state, she must not move.

  So she tried to sit still, huddling in the corner, while the feral beast that just threw someone through the entirety of a hotel room stared at her, wondering if she was really there or if it was just his imagination playing tricks on him.

  He decided she was real.

  “Cara, come here.”

  Tears streamed down her face, as she tried to suppress her whimpers. Reuben slowly approached her as he dropped to all fours and sniffed her. Even when he wasn’t in an upright position, he still towered over her. He looked like a bear – a big, terrifying bear.

  Cara couldn’t move; her back was up against the wall. There was nowhere to run.

  “Reuben, please don’t hurt me.”

  A huge claw came at her face, and Cara closed her eyes and winced expecting a huge blow. Instead, she felt the huge paw begin to stroke her face and hair.

  “I can’t hurt you, Cara. I won’t hurt you.”

  Cara opened her eyes to see Reuben’s werewolf form staring at her intently. She couldn’t recognize any of Reuben’s features in the face, except his eyes, which were a strange hue of orange with a tint of gold right around the pupil.

  Feeling brave, Cara lifted her hand to feel the fur on his face. Reuben leaned into her hand as she stroked it. It felt rough and thick, yet somehow familiar.

  The moment didn’t last. Sirens were roaring down the street, and there was no doubt they were headed to the hotel.

  “We have to run,” said Reuben.

  “Ya think?” Cara snapped sarcastically.

  She started for the door, but hesitated.

  “Pick me up.”

  “What?” he snapped.

  He loomed over her like a furry mountain. It was unsettling to see him speak in his wolf form.

  “Why?”

  “Just do it!” Cara demanded.

  Confused, he picked her up as easily as he could a watermelon.

  “Now what?” He was sniffing loudly and looking anxiously towards the sirens.

  “I’ll play dead,” Cara explained as quickly as she could. “If we don’t figure something out, the murder of those two people will be pinned on us. If bystanders see some unexplainable beast carrying a dead chick out, they’ll assume that the beast also killed those two people. They will look elsewhere for a suspect, and they’ll assume I am dead. They’ll never assume that the man I checked in with was a werewolf, so you’ll be in the clear, too.”

  “Okay,” said Reuben.

  His answer was simple, but Cara didn’t expect much more.

  She didn’t understand why Reuben suddenly took on a calm demeanor. She had seen the damage that he could do while he was a werewolf, but her instincts told her to trust him. She didn’t really have a choice.

/>   The plan worked out perfectly.

  Cara heard gasps, crying and a woman scream, “Oh my god, what is that thing? Is that girl dead? She’s not moving!”

  Reuben walked out the front door, where more people gasped at his appearance. He flung Cara over his shoulder and ran. The sheer speed at which Reuben could move was astounding. Cara felt the wind rush past her face and saw trees pass her at lightning speed.

  Finally, they stopped. They were in what seemed like a forest, surrounded by towering trees that waved in the cold night breeze. He placed her on the ground and licked her cheek, which was kind of gross, but she just went with it. After all, he was in a dog-like form.

  Her teeth were chattering, and she hugged herself. “It’s so c-cold out here…”

  Reuben leaned up against a tree and said, “I can keep you warm.”

  Cara went to him, as they lay on the ground. Reuben wrapped his body around her, bringing her warmth and comfort. Soon enough, she had fallen asleep without the slightest bit of fear that Reuben would attack her.

  3

  Cara woke up, entwined in the arms of her naked lover, who was back to his human form. He started to stir.

  “Are you okay?” e asked, burying his face in her hair and tightening his grip on her.

  Cara sat up to face Reuben.

  “What happened back there?”

  “You mean the woman?”

  “Well, yes, that too. But I meant, why didn’t you kill me? I thought you lost yourself when you shifted.”

  He looked off at the rising sun.

  “I don’t know. It’s never happened before. My instincts just somehow kicked in and I was able to focus. It’s normally like a hurricane in my head when I transform, but just for a moment, I could think.”

  He paused, laughed and looked down, almost like he was embarrassed.

  “What?” Cara pried. “Did I say something bad?”

  He held up his hands in mock surrender.

  “My dad once told me that when a werewolf chooses a mate, there’s a physiological change that occurs.”

  “A mate? I’m sure you’ve mated with lots of people. Your skills are highly indicative that I wasn’t your first.” Cara smirked, thinking back to their passionate evenings of lovemaking.

  “Choosing a mate isn’t the same as fucking. It’s selecting a lifelong mate.”

  “Umm… like marriage? Don’t you think I should have some say in this?”

  “It’s not that easy, Cara.” Reuben pulled her to his naked form and wrapped his arms around her once again, continuing to explain. “From the moment we met, I knew there was something different about you. My constant need to be near you was overpowering. I tried to deny it, but last night it became apparent. I have chosen you as my mate.”

  “You keep saying mate, but I don’t know what that means,” Cara said. “How does that have anything to do with you being able to control yourself?”

  “Typically, werewolves choose other werewolves as mates. While transitioned, we would never hurt another member of our pack unless they were a threat. With humans, other creatures, and sometimes with werewolves from other packs, it’s a different story. We can’t control ourselves around them. When we choose a human as a mate, it’s as if that human becomes a member of the pack. Cara, I love you, but it’s so much more than that. Love is just emotion. This is more powerful and real. I can’t hurt you and my natural instincts to protect you are even stronger than my instincts to protect myself.”

  Cara turned to kiss Reuben. She pulled back and looked into his eyes.

  Could she love him? No. She barely knew him.

  What am I doing? She then answered her own question with other questions. Why do I care? Why am I keeping this from happening? Letting go of all her inhibitions, she couldn’t resist the obvious any longer.

  “Reuben, I love you, too.”

  Reuben lay on his back and pulled Cara on top of him. She leaned down and passionately kissed his lips, feeling a new fire now that she knew he felt the same way about her. Her protector. The thought excited her, but not nearly as much as the excitement from feeling his length grow between her straddled legs. Her hips moved with his in perfect unison. Cara removed her remaining clothes and allowed Reuben to ravage her as only a man in love could.

  Even though the sex was a pleasurable distraction, Reuben and Cara were still in a dire situation. She wanted to say something to make her life seem normal again, but she was at a loss for words.

  It’s okay? It wasn’t. She’d nearly been killed by the woman with the whip, and they couldn’t go back to the hotel to retrieve her car. Police would have seized it by now, thinking that she was dead.

  Are they going to come after Reuben? As if reading her mind, Reuben explained that he’d used fake identification to check in and he’d worn a hoodie that he found in her car to avoid cameras.

  “Besides,” he explained, “there aren’t any official records of me anywhere. It’s as if I don’t exist. All of my aliases are fake.” Realizing this might be a frightening prospect to Cara, he quickly added, “Everything I have told you is true though and my real name is Reuben.”

  Slightly relieved, Cara’s mind moved on to the next part of her plan. He hadn’t been wearing his clothes back at the hotel, and his wallet was probably in his pants. They were broke.

  “Guess we’re hoofing it to your friend’s place,” Cara said.

  He closed his eyes, trying to contain his frustration.

  “Okay,” he said at last, opening his eyes. “We’re only about five hours from my friend. We can try to get some bus tickets. I’ll figure it out.”

  “Does this guy know we’re coming?”

  Reuben started walking and said, “I wasn’t able to get ahold of him.”

  “Wait.” She hurried to catch up with him. “Are you… are you saying we’re going to this guy’s house not even knowing that he lives there? When’s the last time you saw him?”

  “Five years,” he replied quietly.

  He didn’t seem deterred. That was one thing she admired about him—he didn’t seem to break too easily. If he did, he would have been dead years ago. He had the mind of a soldier; no matter how grim the situation seemed, he always found a way to move forward.

  “Listen, you look hot in your pajamas, but I am going to need some clothes.”

  “Are you sure?” Cara asked, sarcastically.

  She bit her lower lip, trying to reel in her raw feelings of desire while staring at his perfect, naked form.

  Reuben laughed. “Yes, I’m sure.”

  It was still early, so not many people were out and about when they left the woods. As luck would have it, when they made their way back to the city, there was a laundromat in the distance.

  Reuben hid behind some cars because of his lack of clothing, while Cara ran in and grabbed clothes for both of them. She hated stealing, but she figured her victim would have gladly given her the clothes if she knew their situation.

  She grabbed two pairs of pants and managed to grab one t-shirt. They would have to go without shoes for the time being. Reuben took the bigger pair of pants, which fit his waist, but were a few inches too short. The t-shirt was tight on Reuben’s muscular frame, and Cara enjoyed watching his muscles ripple beneath the shirt as he moved. The pants Cara put on were much too big, but she had to make do with what she had. She also had to use her nearly translucent pajama top as a shirt.

  As they walked towards the bus station to wait and hope that there was a bus coming soon, neither of them said anything. There wasn’t anything to say. He was sorry she was in this situation, and she already knew that. He held her hand for comfort, which had the intended effect on Cara.

  People at the bus station stared. Why wouldn’t they? An extremely good-looking guy with a tall, strong build sitting next to a beautiful girl was something most people notice. However, they were also both bruised and wearing clothes that didn’t fit their forms. Realizing her breasts were slightly exposed from
her see-through top, Cara crossed her arms over her chest to conceal her nakedness. She felt her cheeks burn, and concluded that they looked ridiculous, which is why people couldn’t seem to look away.

  The next time either one of them spoke was when they were sitting on the back of the bus. An onlooker had taken pity on them, thinking they were homeless—which technically they were—and bought them tickets. The few other people on the bus gave them weary glances and took seats as far away from them as possible.

  “I didn’t kill those people that were on the floor at the hotel,” he finally said, as he looked out the window at the scenery passing by. “It wasn’t me.”

  “I know. I saw the woman with the whip. You probably killed her though…”

  “Not likely.”

  He turned his head and stared out the window, looking at the trees that were quickly moving past.

  “She’s not a vampire. Her name is Adrianna, and she’s a mercenary, or merc, like me. We used to work together ages ago.”

  He settled into the seat, putting his hand on Cara’s leg. “Trust me, that didn’t kill her.”

  “I shot her.”

  He snorted, apparently entertained by the idea.

  “Really?”

  “You didn’t hear the gunshot?”

  “I don’t remember everything when I’m in that form. All I remember is little bits and pieces. Blurs, mostly. Trust me, we haven’t seen the last of her.”

  “But she can’t kill you, can she?”

  “I don’t see a reason why she couldn’t. But that’s not the bad part. The bad part is that if she’s here, Ezekiel must have put up a bounty on our heads.” He thought about it for a second. “Or someone else who hates me could have put one up. She only works for big money. Probably Ezekiel. Did she hurt you?”

  She told him the story about their little interaction. By the end, he was smiling with just a hint of sadness in the corners of his eyes.

  “You’re lucky she didn’t see you as a threat.”

  “She probably saw that drunk couple as a threat.”

  “Nah, she probably just didn’t feel like dealing with them. I’m rare. Most enchanted beings feel humans are annoyances – play things at best. Your lives don’t matter to them. I mean, there are so many humans compared to the enchanted.”